Beauty in Blean Woods

29th October, 2025

Blean Woods is a great place to go out walking with my friends and their dogs. It has lots of  majestic oak and beech trees. It is managed by Kent Wildlife Trust, who say ‘fallen trees are left to rot and decay, creating shelter and feeding ground for birds, bats and insects’. Along one path there is an impressive picnic table with a carved nightjar on it and I learnt that they are nocturnal birds and known for their pointed wings and long tails and are a key species of the Blean.
We saw fly agaric mushrooms which look lovely and are an important part of the local ecosystem, but are poisonous. Reports of deaths are rare, but eating them can cause stomach cramps and hallucinations! It’s easy to park and walk into the woods and at one entrance there is a lovely café which has outside tables and little wooden booths so you can  take shelter from the sunshine or the rain.