Visiting a Bluebell Wood is one of the UK’s great seasonal highlights, Prescott Pinetum Uplyme is a must visit this spring.
Walk back up Venlake Lane and cross Cannington Lane into Woodhouse Lane. Head up the hill from the cross roads and after about 300m you’ll see a footpath marker on your right in Woodhouse Fields.
There is a sign almost immediately opposite it on the left for the Woodland Trust. The road then turns into a footpath that heads up in to the woods.
The Prescott Pinetum, (also known as either Uplyme or Woodhouse Pinetum), sits on a north-east facing slope, and is visible from Uplyme. Hosting a variety of majestic oak, beech and conifer species, overlooking Lyme Regis and the Jurassic Coast, the Pinetum is thought to have been established between 1840 and 1860s, and features giant Wellingtonia’s, Grand fir, Noble Fir, Blue Atlas Cedar, Japanese Red Cedar, Prince Albert’s Yew and Coast Redwoods. Many of the conifers that remain are now magnificent specimen trees, including one UK champion. This site’s diversity of species has earned it a Tree Preservation Order. A single path meanders through the woodland. Look out for the remains of a woodman’s cottage.
Follow the path and then turn right to follow the path back on yourself and down to the lane again. Turn left and follow Dipper Trail out onto the road and then turn left again. The road climbs and at the junction turn left again and follow Seaview Road through the woods again. At the end of the road turn right and back down the Woodhouse Lane and home.