Weeks of golden glory on moors

Tourist destinations around the country are dusting themselves off for the Easter Bank Holiday and a new season. But one remote dale in the North York Moors is ahead of the game. Farndale’s season started this week.

The daffodils at Farndale have become legend. Somewhere between 60,000-70,000 visitors wend their way into this valley every year in March and April just to walk alongside the golden carpet of Lenten Lilies.

These are the wild daffodils that hug the banks of the River Dove for a one-and-a-half mile stretch from the community of Low Mill to Church Houses. It is thought that the monks of Rievaulx Abbey may have been the first to plant them.

This year, the dale’s residents, largely a scattered agricultural community, have spent considerable time and effort ensuring that the tree cover has been cleared somewhat so that the right amount of sunlight will bring out the daffodils in all their glory.

The area where they grow was designated as a nature reserve in 1953 and there are strict byelaws prohibiting the picking of flowers and uprooting of bulbs – although a fine of £5, on an old notice, may not be the greatest deterrent today.

Farndale is a regular destination for walkers throughout the year but it is in this six-week window that its only pub, a café, a couple of camp sites and bed and breakfast businesses see their biggest trade.

George Loggie has run the quirkily titled Daffy Caffy for the past 13 years. It is situated near Church Houses. He is full of praise for the locals who make sure the daffodils continue to attract big numbers.

“Sally Potter, who is a farmer’s wife, does such a great deal of work for Farndale and organises the clearance of cover with English Heritage and the National Park. Nobody really knows how so many daffodils happen to be here but we’re very glad they are.”

“Our tourist industry is different to anywhere else. People who come in to the Daffy Caffy say that I must be looking forward to summer, but I tell them this is my summer in terms of the amount of business. We’re already busy this week and the daffodils haven’t come out yet.

“From March 1 every year, I open every day from nine to five until the end of April. That’s how busy it is. People start coming once they see the daffodils out in their gardens or villages, but the wild daffodils up here don’t come out until around the last two weeks in March.

“We get walkers throughout the tourist season, but the business we get during this six-week period has to last me for 52 weeks. When I first came here, we lost the April weeks because of flooding and the following year we were in total limbo because of foot and mouth disease restrictions. I had to get another job in Kirkbymoorside for a year in order to get by.”

Rachel Armstrong runs the Feversham Arms in Church Houses. She has been in the dale for five years with her partner Major Richard Murray.

Earlier this week, the pub was already busying up. Without the daffodil trade, Rachel knows life would be a great deal harder.

“March and April make a massive difference to this business. The number of people who come to see the daffodils is phenomenal. In the summer, we tick over nicely as Farndale is very popular with walkers and cyclists.

“We also have three letting rooms and a self catering cottage, which are busy all year round but we always see our share of the visitors come into the pub for a meal and a drink during the next few weeks. This year we’re also really pleased because there is now a car park in Church Houses for those wanting to see the daffodils, and it is only 100 yards from us.”

Although the daffodils probably won’t be at their best until next weekend, there were already hundreds parked at either Low Mill or Church Houses this week.

I caught up with one party, the Beverley Minster Amblers, who had just taken their stroll on the banks of the River Dove and had partaken drinks at the Daffy Caffy. Jan Bradley wasn’t in any way disappointed with their walk.

“We come every year to see the daffodils. We have been when they are green and pointy and at other times when they’ve just been going over. We thought we would come today and see what they are like. We can always come back in a couple of weeks and see them when they are in full bloom. It’s always wonderful here.”