Hitchin Lavender is located in Ickleford, the village I grew up in. It’s between the towns of Hitchin and Letchworth Garden City – about 30 miles north of London, west of Cambridge (and 10 miles north of Knebworth). To many locals, it should have been called Ickleford Lavender, but hey …!
When the farm, Cadwell Farm, started growing lavender in 2000 it was as a commercial crop as lavender was historically grown in the area. The lavender fields can be seen from the nearby railway line – the busy east coast mainline between London and Scotland … and it soon became a popular location for early morning TV weather reporters to report from. As interest grew, so did the attraction, with a café, shop, and summer events taking place there (outdoor cinemas etc) now. It seems that everyone wants to take selfies in a lavender field, and people travel from all over (the world) to visit. Residents of Ickleford are always being stopped by (mainly Chinese) tourists asking for directions!
My most memorable visit was in 2015, when I took my parents and children to cut some lavender and sunflowers (you paid a small sum for a brown paper bag and the loan of scissors so you could cut some to take home). Mum died in 2017, so it’s one of the nice memories we hold on to.
2020 and COVID-secure
This year, their 20th anniversary, Hitchin Lavender have adapted their offering – and it seems to be working well. This year, access to the site is by pre-booked tickets only. Your ticket is for a strict 2-hour session, and it helps with social distancing. You cannot cut lavender this year (but you can buy ready cut and dried bunches on site).
Of course, 2020 is the year of social distancing and frequent hand-washing, and this was well catered for at Hitchin Lavender. Obviously being outside is a great start! Limiting the number of tickets sold ensured you could keep a safe distance from others.
As you enter and leave the field there’s a hand sanitising station. There’s also a mobile loo that is frequently cleaned. Not being able to cut your own lavender prevents the risk of transferring viruses (etc) from scissors. It’s a shame, but that’s life in 2020 isn’t it.
Concessions
The main café is closed, replaced by a kiosk selling cake, coffee, cold drinks and ice cream. We sampled the locally-made lavender ice cream and the not-so-local (Scottish) lavender lemonade. The lavender taste was subtle – they were both very nice, and recommended.
There is also a kiosk shop, selling lots of Hitchin Lavender-branded goods (soaps, toiletries, gin 😊). You can also buy lavender plants, both potted and dried bunches.
The Lavender Field
I guess I’ve left the best to the end … the whole reason for our visit, to walk among the lavender and take lots and lots of photos! And here’s a few that we took …
Final Thoughts
My only issue was the cost. I thought that £25 for a family of four was quite steep for the privilege of standing in a row of lavender for some photos. Yet, most sessions are booked out, so maybe I’m just being stingy!
When I booked our tickets, I didn’t believe our visit would take the whole 2 hours. How long does it take to pose for a few photos? As it turned out, time whizzed by, and we stayed to the end of our session. It wasn’t overly busy, for a lunchtime – previous visits have been a lot busier. When we fancied a sit down, there was generally an unoccupied bench available (a few more would have been good though).
I thought the lavender scent would have been stronger – I’m sure it was on our last visit. This year you had to stand between the rows of the plants to pick up their scent. Obviously, there’s a lot of buzzy insects that love lavender … however they weren’t as prevalent as on previous visits either. Maybe it was the weather – it wasn’t bright sun and clear skies, but slightly cloudy.
It was a nice, pleasant visit. Everyone enjoyed themselves – and with four teenagers in tow that was quite a feat in itself!
I remember doing this. I grew up in Hitchin but now in Stevenage. Done the lavender fields once, great place for photos.