East Grange Farm in Durham is the place to visit this summer if you want to see sunflowers. Located in High Shincliffe, not far from the A1, East Grange Farm opened the gates to their sunflower field on 19 August and you can see those yellow blooms in all their glory until 4 September. It’s well worth a visit!
I’d heard about sunflowers at East Grange Farm last year, but the tickets sold out really quickly. So when bookings opened this time around, I made sure I didn’t miss out. Last year they had 3 acres of sunflowers, this year they’ve increased that to 12 acres and the website suggests 2.5 million sunflowers. I was doubtful until I got there and wow, there are so many sunflowers. More than I’d ever seen in one space before!
Tickets
You must prebook your tickets via East Grange Farm’s website. It’s £6 for adults and children over 3 years old. Children under 2 get free entry. No dogs are allowed as it’s a working farm with animals. Tickets are available in 30 minute intervals and will be emailed to you upon booking – have that to hand when you arrive to get the QR code scanned. This is your arrival slot and once you’re there you can stay as long as you want (until they close at 9pm). The twilight trail (from 5pm) is only for over 16s and that’s what I’d booked.
The twilight trail is only available Friday and Saturday. Daytime slots are available 10am – 4 pm daily dependent upon availability. From an accessibility perspective, it’s wheelchair and pushchair friendly, just be aware the ground is a bit uneven (as you’d expect from a field).
Getting there
East Grange Farm is in High Shincliffe, Durham, DH1 2TB. The farm is just off the A177, 2 miles from Durham city centre. There’s a free car park in the field which is clearly signposted from the main gravel track to the farm. Due to the location you’re best getting public transport or driving, I wouldn’t recommend walking along a busy road.
If you’re visiting from outside the North East and need somewhere to stay I recommend Radisson Blu in Durham city centre, or for a special spa trip by the Durham coastline, Seaham Hall.
What is there to do?
You mean, aside from walking around the sunflowers – which is of course the main attraction! There’s a quiz (and of course adults are able to take part in this too, we did) a maize maze, special guests – there were owls there when we went along. Then on the twilight trail you can also expect live music and food and drink vans. Also don’t forget that there’s lots of photo opportunities in the sunflower field by some interesting props!
You can pick your own sunflowers at £1 per stem. Either take along your own secateurs, or hire a pair for a £10 refundable deposit. I didn’t want to take any from the field but you might choose to pick a couple to take away. I believe they suggest certain areas to pick from, so do try to stick to this. That way everyone can enjoy seeing the sunflowers.
East Grange Farm aren’t just known for their sunflowers, when spooky season rolls around you can go and pick your own Halloween pumpkin, then when it’s time to get in the festive spirit, pick your own Christmas tree.
Would you go along to see the sunflowers?
No Comments