Surrey

Created by Brendan Maye in 2002, Mayfield Lavender Field is a 25-acre organic lavender farm with a café and shop situated near Banstead in Surrey. The lavender is grown on one of the same fields it was originally grown in the 18th and 19th centuries, at that time supplying the likes of Yardley. Mayfield Lavender Farm has been open since 2006 so it can get busy at peak times, such as weekends in July/August, so it’s worth heading there during the week if at all possible. The lavender is typically in bloom from the middle to end of June until the end of August and it’s fantastic for photographs.

If you’re looking for somewhere peaceful to take a walk, Frensham Little Pond near Churt in Surrey is always well worth a visit. Originally created in the 11th century to supply the Bishop of Winchester with fish, the pond is a sanctuary for wildlife surrounded by a mosaic of purple heathers, fragrant yellow gorse and rich green bracken.

One of the great things about the period immediately after the lockdown was being able to explore again. Much as we were incredibly grateful for our garden, there came a point when it just became necessary to get out of the house and have a change of scene. At the time, National Trust places like Hatchlands Park, Winkworth Arboretum, Claremont Landscape Garden and Polesden Lacey were all closed. Instead, I took a solo trip to Thursley Nature Reserve which is around a10 minute drive away and remarkably somewhere we’d not visited before. Thursley Nature Reserve is a truly special place, JD and POD would have loved it too. Sadly, they didn’t get to experience it as three days after I’d captured it in all its beauty, a wildfire tore through the reserve devastating some 470 acres including an estimated 200-300 animal and plant species.