Until last year a spectacular bluebell wood had lain hidden from public gaze for centuries.

But its owners are now holding five free open days for people to enjoy it.

The wood is the jewel in the crown of the Norfolk Bluebell Wood Burial Park, at Hainford, near Aylsham.

For generations a heady-scented, sapphire-and-emerald carpet bloomed in the wood each spring, but its existence was unknown as the location was surrounded by farmed fields.

Conservationists Andrew and Caroline Morton have introduced a little more light into the ancient five-acre wood, and now want to share its beauty during a series of open days - on Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23, and then on April 29, April 30 and Bank Holiday Monday, from 10am-4pm daily.

Meanwhile, the bluebell wood at The Stables, Gresham, near Holt, will be open from 2pm to 5pm on April 23. Donations will be for East African famine relief.