Where to Find Lavender Fields in the North of England - A Trip to Yorkshire Lavender

For many Summers now I have been desperate to visit a lavender field, but with no plans to visit Provence any time soon, where on earth do you go to find lavender fields in the North of England? We're not exactly spoilt for choice in this part of the world and there is, in fact, only one lavender field in the north of England that's worth visiting! Fancy a trip to Yorkshire Lavender?

Driving to Yorkshire Lavender is a bit of a commitment, a good hour and 35 minutes from Newcastle I wasn't sure if the place would be worthy of a road trip.  When you're travelling a fair way from home there's always the risk that your destination might not be worth the petrol!  But having had the idea in the back of my head for a while I decided to gamble and play guinea pig for you all ... the fact that I'm here writing a blog post says it all really doesn't it?

I LOVED my first ever visit to Yorkshire Lavender!

I would drive there again tomorrow, without hesitation, if I could. Family run with a huge amount of love, Yorkshire Lavender is a hillside farm covering 60 acres of gorgeous gardens and lavender fields - and it's just waiting to be explored.

We decided to get ourselves there for doors open at 10:00 am, something I'm very glad we decided to do because Yorkshire Lavender does get busy, in fact an hour or so after we first arrived a coach rolled up and whilst there's plenty of space and it never felt overly crowded, it is so lovely to get there first thing and have a bit of time to explore the gardens before anyone else.

Whilst I'm very very thankful that Yorkshire Lavender doesn't seem to suffer from the Instagram hype that some of the lavender fields in the south have (I'm looking at you Mayfield Lavender!) let's not pretend that people don't love to visit the fields for a beautiful Summer picture and during our visit we saw everyone from families to older couples and tourists hopping in and out of the lavender for a snap.

The prime spot for taking a picture has to the lavender maze. The lavender maze has the most impressive amount of lavender bushes, all tightly packed together into a sea of purple with paths running between the flowers allowing visitors the chance to walk amongst the flowers. There's no fear of trampling the plants to get an idyllic shot, there are plenty of openings and walk ways to allow you access without damaging the flowers.

It does, however, take a little bit of bravery. As someone who does have a bit of a bee and wasp phobia it took a lot of courage for me to step into the lavender maze, and although I knew the bees wouldn't hurt me, I had a few "OMG, it's on my skirt" moments whilst standing in the maze. At the height of the lavender season all of the bushes are covered in bees and when you stand amongst the flowers all you can hear is a gentle buzzing.

I wasn't brave enough to go in too deep, instead making my way through to an opening pretty close to the main path. I saw plenty of people getting involved though and wading right into the middle of the maze, waist high in purple blooms until all you could really see was a head popping out above the lavender bushes.

If you are interested in photography the lavender maze with its beautiful flowers and drop dead gorgeous scenic views of the Yorkshire Hills is the part of Yorkshire Lavender to visit first, it's picture perfect and is definitely the first part of the site to get busy so try and beat the crowds and head there at the beginning of your visit.

After the slightly traumatic experience of standing that close to so many bees (yes I'm a wuss!) it seemed like the perfect time to visit EJs Tearoom to sample some of their incredible homemade lavender desserts. There were so many on offer it was a real struggle to come to a decision. The Lavender Cake sounded wonderful and the Blueberry & Lavender Cheesecake looked very tempting. In the end I just had to go for one of their famous Lavender Scones served with Lavender and Bluberry Conserve and a mammoth dollop of Fresh Cream (£3.75), all washed down with a Pot of Tea (Yorkshire of course!) (£2.00)

Those scones were amazing! The journey was worth it just for those scones alone let me tell you. I was worried they would be a little too perfumed for my tastes but they were absolutely beautiful - delicious scones with just the hint of lavender. The real star of the show though was the conserve, it was a delicious dark purple colour, runny, sticky and sweet and I tried desperately to put as much of it was possible on my scone although most of it ended up running down my hands. I loved it so much I had to buy a jar of it to take home!

Next we decided to take a stroll through the lavender gardens.  Grown on the hills with the most spectacular view of the valleys below there are a lot of different varieties of lavenders to admire that come in different shades of purple and pink. The air was full of the dreamy scent of lavender which I particularly loved as it transported me back to my childhood when my Grandma would let me pick flowers from the lavender bush at the front of her house, I would roll them in my hands and breath in their amazing smell.

As well as the most impressive amount of bees, Yorkshire Lavender is also home to a variety of beautifully coloured butterflies with the Painted Lady and Peacock particularly loving the flowers. I spent far too much time photographing all of the insects and would have happily spent an entire day there just doing that.

Although we spent most of our trip wandering amongst the lavender there are also plenty of other things  on offer including a Natural Wildflower Meadow, Mirror Pond, Sculpture Park and an impressive looking play area for the kids.

Of course, any great day trip ends by exiting through the gift shop and the one at Yorkshire Lavender offers a great range of gifts.  They have a great collection of lavender products including their own range made with oil extracted from the lavender grown on the farm. As well as gifts, beautify products and souvenirs they also have some great food and drink available to take home. As well as my jar of conserve I couldn't resist buying a bottle of special Lavender Edition Masons Yorkshire Dry Gin.

We loved our first visit to Yorkshire Lavender and I'm so happy that we have such a wonderful place in the North of England to explore the lavender fields. I cant wait to return again next Summer, something tells me that this will become an annual thing.

What you need to know:

• Yorkshire Lavender is open daily between the end of March and end of September from 10:00 am
• Admission to the shop, plant nursery and tea room are free 
• Admission to Gardens costs £3.50 for adults, £2.00 for children and £3.00 for concessions 
• The best time to see the lavender is June - August. The last lavender is cut at the end of August
• The Gardens are free to visit in March, April and September 
• There's a large free carpark on site

Find Yorkshire Lavender at:

Terrington
York
YO60 6PB

01653 648008

yorkshirelavender.com/