Dear Mummy, one of the things we love about England is the glorious countryside and there seems to be plenty on our doorstep. However, we never thought there would be lavender fields near us, presuming that we would only find them in France.
Almost by accident we stumbled on ‘The Lavender Fields’ just outside Selborne in Hampshire advertising their open days from the roadside. After hunting them down on Facebook we discovered some open day dates so made it our mission to visit before they closed their doors for harvesting over the summer holidays.
It was the first time we’d visited a lavender field but mummy had often admired people’s instagram feeds full of purple haze. For the last couple of years we alway seem to miss the opportunity to visit the flower fields. We headed out past Alton on the Selborne Road and discovered the farm. After parking the car in a dusty car park (it hasn’t rained for weeks here in Southern England) we walked up the path past working machinery, into a quaint farm courtyard with a lavender farm shop and garden nursery.
For the open day Lavender Fields had organise a couple of stalls and a white marquee for afternoon team and cream teas. There were also kids activities laid on like a tractor ride around the farm, bouncy castles or should I say tractors and some garden games.
See our little vlog of our day out!
The fields were full of different variants of lavender and wildflowers as far as the eye could see and even though we visited in the heat of the day, the vivid colours still popped. It was a little bit too bright for my mummy to take decent shots, but we hope this gives you a flavour of the landscape.
Half of the farm was filled with a wildflower meadow full of yellow flowers, with the occasional red poppy thrown in and the other half was Lavender. The gaps between the plants were really large, so it was easy for my little feet to tread without spiky leaves brushing against bare legs – however we wouldn’t recommend wearing open-toed shoes as it was very dusty and lots of stinging nettles were around on the outskirts of the rows which sadly stung me but mummy and daddy were quick to find a ‘docking’ leave as I call them to help sooth and distract me from the discomfort.
I’ve been studying mini beasts at school and was fascinated with all the butterflies and bees buzzing around. It was very relaxing sitting and listening to them buzz around us and get on with their work, mummy and daddy both reminded me about the important role they play in our lives. Other winged creatures fluttered from flower to flower and I even spotted a dragonfly as I walked through the meadow. Even though we stayed for an hour or so, it was well worth the entrance price of £4 for adults (kids go free).
We took far too many photos and can see why professional photographers use the area as a backdrop for family photos. We would have loved to have visited in the golden hour when the sun wasn’t so high, then the purple would have really popped! We had fun rubbing the lavender between our fingers and figuring out which variety smelt the best!
We’d definitely recommend a visit to the Lavender Fields in Hampshire and the fields usually flower from mid-June until mid-August depending on the weather. As we’ve been going through a heat wave with lots of sunshine it seems the season had started a little earlier than usual. Likewise, if the weather’s cooler the lavender will take longer to bloom.
Some lavender farms only open their doors and allow visitors in as part of a tour so be sure to visit their websites first. Also the flowering and visitor seasons vary between each one with some finishing mid-July and others staying open until the end of the summer. Here are a few for you that we have found, hopefully some are near you? Next year we’d love to visit the Confetti Fields!
- The Lavender Fields – Alton, Hampshire
- World’s Way Lavender – Malton, North Yorkshire
- Yorkshire Lavender– Terrington, York
- Shropshire Lavender– Pickstock, Shropshire
- The Hop Shop – Sevenoaks, Kent
- Mayfield Lavender Farm – Banstead, Surrey
- Carshalton Lavender – Carshalton Beeches, Surrey
- Long Barn – Alresford, Hampshire
- Norfolk Lavender – Heacham, Norfolk
- Lordington Lavender –Chichester, West Sussex
- Confetti Fields – Pershore, Worcestershire
- Woldsway Lavender – Wintringham, Malton, North Yorkshire
- Hitchin Lavender – Hitchin, Hertfordshire
- Cotswold Lavender – Snowshill, Broadway, Worcestershire
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Somerset Lavender – Nr Radstock, Somerset
- Welsh Lavender – Powys, Wales
- Isle of Wight Lavender – Isle of Wight (site currently under construction)
We hope you like browsing through our links and if you find a lavender field that’s not on our list then please let us know!
Love Bella x
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