JULY 2019
While doing research for our week in the South of England I discovered that you can visit Lavender farms in England. Of course that would be the perfect addition to our trip which focused on visiting gardens and I included it in our itinerary. Visiting the Castle Farm Hop Shop fit perfectly in our diary as we were to spend a few days in Kent. However it is also possible to visit a Lavender farm in the Cotswolds (Cotswolds Lavender) or between Cambridge and London (Hitchin Lavender). I decided to visit the Hop Shop as they organize Lavender tours, in which they explain about the Lavender production and harvest. The tour cost £ 11 per person. If you take the tour you will be taken to fields that you could otherwise not visit and the light was perfectly during tour time in this part of the fields (in the afternoon).
The tour was super interesting and we loved the enthusiasm and passion of our host. We learnt of the sorts of use of Lavender and learnt the difference between Lavender and Lavendin. The Lavender season in England is the same as in France and is from Half June till Half July. At the end of July most of the fields will be harvested.
The Hop Shop is super commercial and they understand how Instagrammable the Lavender fields are. They even added a bench to the fields, where you could sit and take nice pictures. The lavender bench is for free and is featured often on Instagram. There was a small cue for the Lavender bench when we visited, but nothing extreme. During your tour you also get sufficient time to take some nice pictures, without other people obstructing the view. The Hop Shop also has a lavender shop where you can buy Lavender (surprise!) and Lavender oils and gifts. During most days they also have some food and drinks options.
The Hop Shop also organizes sunset picknicks next to the Lavender fields in the weekends. Unfortunately lavender season is over right now, but because of the success of this year they will probably organize those picknicks again next year.
Concluding I really loved the tour and our visit to the Hop Shop as I wasn’t able to visit France this year during Lavender season.
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