Bluebells At Bow
With a few bluebells in flower in my garden in Spitalfields, I was inspired make a visit to Bow Cemetery and view the display of bluebells sprouting under the tall forest canopy that has grown over the graves of the numberless East Enders buried there. In each season of the the year, this hallowed ground offers me an arcadian refuge from the city streets and my spirits always lift as I pass between the ancient brick walls that enclose it, setting out to lose myself among the winding paths, lined by tombstones and overarched with trees.
Equivocal weather rendered the timing of my trip as a gamble, and I was at the mercy of chance whether I should get there and back in sunshine. Yet I tried to hedge my bets by setting out after a shower and walking quickly down the Whitechapel Rd beneath a blue sky of small fast-moving clouds – though, even as I reached Mile End, a dark thunderhead came eastwards from the City casting gloom upon the land. It was too late to retrace my steps and instead I unfurled my umbrella in the cemetery as the first raindrops fell, taking shelter under a horse chestnut, newly in leaf, as the shower became a downpour.
Standing beneath the dripping tree in the half-light of the storm, I took a survey of the wildflowers around me, primroses spangling the green, the white star-like stitchwort adorning graves, a scattering of palest pink ladies smock highlighting the ground cover, yellow celandines sharp and bright against the dark green leaves, violets and wild strawberries nestling close to the earth and may blossom and cherry blossom up above – and, of course, the bluebells’ hazy azure mist shimmering between the lines of stones tilting at irregular angles. Alone beneath the umbrella under the tree in the heart of the vast graveyard, I waited. It was the place of death, but all around me there was new growth.
Once the rain relented sufficiently for me to leave my shelter, I turned towards the entrance in acceptance that my visit was curtailed. The pungent aroma of wild garlic filled the damp air. But then – demonstrating the quick-changing weather that is characteristic of April – the clouds were gone and dazzling sunshine descended in shafts through the forest canopy turning the wet leaves into a million tiny mirrors, reflecting light in a vision of phantasmagoric luminosity. Each fresh leaf and petal and branch glowed with intense colour after the rain. I stood still and cast my eyes around to absorb every detail in this sacred place. It was a moment of recognition that has recurred throughout my life, the awe-inspiring rush of growth of plant life in England in spring.
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Find out more at www.towerhamletscemetery.org
Lovely!
Thank you Gentle Author, this blog is beautiful and uplifting, in spirit, in the writing and in the images.
How beautiful. Thank you for sharing. Hope Bow Cemetery stays this way forever.
Delightful images.
Another of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ London cemeteries is situated just south of the river at Nunhead SE15. A truly inspirational location where nature abounds with bluebells too!
A beautiful entry. I, too, will go to the place of death today: my father will find his final resting place this afternoon.
Rain and storm will also accompany us. The weather is just how my father liked it!
LOTHAR SCHMIDTKE (*18.9.1926 – †6.4.2021) – R.I.P.
Love & Peace
ACHIM
Incredible – and wonderful – that a huge city can have such woodland preserved in its midst!
Simply beautiful. Thank you.
Your evocation of an English spring with the celandine, the primrose, the pink lady’s smock, in the overgrown green cemetery reached me in my Californian home, land of “the gaudy melon-flower” (and its ilk), and gave me my much-needed refreshing dose of English beauty. Thank you!
beautiful..any wood anemones too?
I love bluebell time of year and the fabulous contrasting colours of the mauvy blue flowers and the fresh lime green of the beech tree leaves.
I haven’t made my annual visit to our local bluebell wood yet this year and I wonder how they have fared after such a dry April?
Thank you Gentle Author, for this lovely post. I felt a real sense of standing in a dripping woodland when I read the account of your latest escapade. Too long since I’ve done such a walk myself. You’ve inspired me to get my walking boots out and go in search of some bluebells!
Wonderful, thank you. There is nothing quite like the verdancy of May and cemeteries left on the natural side are such beautiful refuges for humans and wildlife alike.
I was there with you GA.. in spirit. Thank you. Lifted my mood this morning.
Beautiful, thank you.
Thank you Gentle Author, that’s a beautiful post, and all those fresh Spring flowers and raindrops. Lovely.
Greetings from Boston,
GA, thank you for that lovely essay and the gorgeous shots of Bow Cemetery in early spring.
Great catalogue of the plants – “I took a survey of the wildflowers around me, primroses spangling the green, the white star-like stitchwort adorning graves, a scattering of palest pink ladies smock highlighting the ground cover, yellow celandines sharp and bright against the dark green leaves, violets and wild strawberries nestling close to the earth and may blossom and cherry blossom up above – and, of course, the bluebells’ hazy azure mist shimmering between the lines of stones tilting at irregular angles.”
Those paths looked so inviting…
This is one of my favorite “Spitalfields” jaunts. I always look forward to your posts describing the cemetery and bountiful Spring growth. The scattering of mirrors so perfectly captured with your words.
A funny coincidence. Earlier this morning I brought a tray of breakfast to my husband, still asleep in the bedroom with shades drawn. “What kind of day is it?” he asked. “A foggy day in London town”, I replied.
**Sympathies and Best wishes to your reader Achim.
Magic! Your words carried me to this secret garden, bursting blooms reminding those asleep that Spring returns again. Bright cloud scudding above, damp carpet yielding to foot fall. Rain drops bless all.
Thank you.
The comments are as pleasing as the images are soothing. One of the latter, though, image_0103 seems to me to be of a most unusual memorial – a gravestone with a stepped outline such that I have never before seen.
Great pics very pretty flowers bravo
Oh, Such Beautiful Pictures!! Thank You So Much!!?????????
Around the old headstones these look beautiful, like they are caring for the ones who lie beneath. I’m in hospital for a few days and these lovely peaceful photos of nature shall help me drift off to sleep tonight whilst taking my stresses away.
I always like to see photos from Bow Cemetery, especially as I now live over the Pond and can’t easily visit. My grandmother was buried there in 1960. I still remember following the horse drawn hearse wagon to the cemetery from her house which was located down the road and around the back of the cemetery.
Thank you. I enjoyed our walk and visit to the cemetery. Flowers always lift our spirits.
Bow Bells !