My favourite place to see bluebells in London is Holland Park. You can't stroll through them, but you get these gorgeous views through the trees across a sea of shimmering blue that momentarily makes you feel like you're miles away and that a haywain might suddenly appear round the corner. Or even a pig.
Only this year, you might actually get to see a porker in the park in one of London's best postcodes. It's not a creature you'd normally associate with this part of town. But four saddleback pigs have been brought in for a couple of months as part of the woodland management programme. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea had to choose between chemicals or pigs, and the porkers won.Their rooting around will naturally grub up bulbs and wildflowers that have become congested - so next year's bluebells will look even more stunning.
But while it is a beautiful spot, the park is over fond of rules and regulations: dogs on leads and no skateboarding are top of the list. While my skateboarding is hardly going to suffer, I do like the dog to be able to potter about of his own free will; with so much other animal life about (black rabbits and peacocks too), I might bedgrudgingly admit that it's not an unreasonable request. But do they need quite so many signs to remind you? There are so many that I almost missed the notice about the pigs.
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