Keeper’s Cottage Bluebell Wood opening for charity again
A bluebell wood near Kinver is opening to the public for charity for the first time in three years.
It is hoped money raised over the weekend of May 7 and 8 at Keeper’s Cottage Bluebell Wood in Stourton will take money raised for good causes over £10,000.
Keeper’s Cottage opened for the National Garden Scheme (NGS) for four years pre-Covid. In that time more than 1,800 people from all over the West Midlands visited the site.
Owner Peter Brookes said: “Over the four years we raised £8,297 for NGS charities.
“We’ve set ourselves a target of £10,000 – it would be a great achievement to raise that much.”
The bluebells proliferate on the banks of Smestow Brook and the River Stour in Greensforge Lane.
They are believed to have been growing on the site for more than 800 years, qualifying as an “ancient woodland".
“Many visitors tell us they can remember walking through the bluebells as children but they can’t find many large-scale woods anymore because so many are on private land," added Peter,
The woods will be open on Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8, from 11am to 3.30pm. There is ample car parking, and refreshments are available. Entry is a £4 donation to the National Garden Scheme. Child entry (under 16) is free.
The National Garden Scheme, founded in 1927, raised more than £3 million for various charities in 2021, despite Covid. The largest beneficiaries were Marie Curie (£525,000), Macmillan Cancer Support (£500,000) and Hospice UK (£500,000).
