To Hitchin and bee-yond!
Once much sought after as a cure-all for anything from the plague to migraines, a visit to Hitchin lavender is a quintessential English experience.
The earliest recorded use of lavender could have been the Greek military physician Dioscorides in 77 AD using it to ease headaches and indigestion. The Romans too, used it to dress wounds, as insect repellent and to cook with. From an even earlier age, when Tutankhamen's tomb was opened, traces of lavender were found and its scent could still be detected as it was used to perfume the corpse.
This distinct scent hits you from the carpark. Slightly sweet, woody and reminds me of old ladies. But it’s the sound of the bees that is really magical. You won’t see the various shapes and sizes buzzing from flower to flower, until you stop and look. They ignore us as we brush past or follow them with phones and camera lenses through the swaying flowers. There were plenty of butterflies too, sheltering from the wind.
A quintessential English experience
When I last visited Hitchin Lavender in 2018, the site was heaving: there was a wedding party, couples, pensioners, so many families with small children whooping their way up the slope, ladies in white dresses insta-posing, a coach-load of tourists with trusty selfie sticks and poses - I think many had done this before! Today, the site is much quieter, but there’s plenty of cups of lavender tea and cake being enjoyed.
Hitchin in Hertfordshire is probably the least well known of our Chilterns market towns. In existence since at least the eighth century, Hitchin was once a national centre for the production of lavender. Successfully exploiting the crop from the 15th century, but following a national decline in the 1960’s only one business remains, Cadwell farm who is still growing, producing and selling lavender-related products.
A little video I made from a recent visit on a windy day to Hitchin Lavender. All the images used in this newsletter remind the copyright of Mary Tebje.
Links you will need
Hitchin lavender is open from June to October, with peak flowering now in July when the 30 acres are in full bloom.
This summer, celebrate the colours and style of the Chiltern Hills with our range of unique British-designed Chilterns Gifts that reflect the special qualities of our favourite region.
Low-tech, quirky museums, often in intriguing buildings with dusty and dated interiors, are to be treasured. We have our fair share in the Chilterns; most under the radar (unless you live on the same street), that is where they will probably remain. ‘One Master, Three Books & 300 Boys’ tells the story of English education in the British Schools museum also in Hitchin.
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