Exploring Mayfield Lavender

Lavender fields are wonderful, even before you get there you can visualise those bright hues. Perhaps it’s because you dream about capturing your three year old jumping in the air above a sea of purple. Or running with balloons gently blowing in the breeze behind her. Okay so I made the last bit up but you get the picture!

Mayfield Lavender is a 25 acre family run farm located in Banstead, Surrey. There’s a lovely story around how it came about. Owner Brendan Maye believed consumers needed to witness the beauty of lavender to accept it as a relevant fragrance. He was MD at the fine fragrance division of Wella UK at that point. 

He came up with a proposal to buy a farm and revive the lavender growing under the Yardley brand. Although this was rejected by his parent company, two years later he got the go-ahead although was stopped from actually buying a farm. The plan fell apart later when the Yardley brand was sold. But unperturbed Brendan decided to acquire the project himself.

While he continued his day job, his wife Lorna came to the rescue learning how to harvest lavender among other things. Brendan and Lorna now work together at Mayfield Lavender. They are proud the field sits on the same spot where lavender was grown in the 18th and 19th century.

Mayfield Lavender has an annual lavender festival in July which includes everything from bug hunts, tractor rides and massages to photography classes, Morris Dancing and the clincher – a hog roast! We couldn’t make it this year but we decided to visit Mayfield for the first time the following day.

It was a glorious day, the sun shone, the sky was blue and littered with cotton wool like clouds. We hoped POD would sleep en route but it wasn’t to be. What a sight greeted us when we arrived though – there was purple as far as the eye could see. A field of total awesomeness.

We took a short walk but food was in order before we ventured further. There’s an array of options available at Mayfield including drinks and treats infused with lavender. We opted for freshly made sarnies and POD had a lolly afterwards. There’s also a great gift shop at Mayfield where you can purchase lavender.

Refueled we set off to explore ever hopeful of capturing POD having fun in the lavender. It wasn’t going to be easy as you can see from this don’t take a photograph of me face.

But she perk up and before long was pointing at the bees and “butt-flies”.

The pathways were nice and wide so there was plenty of room for everyone. The lavender rows were perfectly pruned, they even included areas where you could ‘swap lanes’ if you needed to. POD wasn’t her usual perky self but she had her moments.

Like the moment she took herself off on her own adventure amid the sweet smelling lavender. She may not be facing camera but she didn’t know I was behind her either. Nor that I’d been running like a buffoon to capture her in that sea of purple!

Linking up with #whatsthestory here on PODcast and #CountryKids at Coombe Mill.