Chef Lucy May cooks up delicious food for plant-based retreats and is also a baker working in Driffield, known as ‘Capital of the Yorkshire Wolds’. Every week she creates a daily menu for lunches and a Friday healthy takeaway. She loves supporting local growers and shares her Driffield favourites. lucymayveganchef.co.uk
Stella’s Larder, Driffield, Image: Lucy May MORNING
If my 24 hours was on a Thursday, I would start my day with an early walk and look around the weekly traditional market which has a varied selection of local produce. Driffield’s attractive high street includes a mix of independent and national shops mixed with cafes, restaurants and public houses. Kinship Coffee, Driffield’s specialist coffee shop, would be the perfect place to sit with a great cup of coffee and maybe a breakfast pastry. Then on to a browse in The Book Emporium, an independent bookshop selling new, second-hand and antiquarian books. Or maybe a look around the antique shop which sits at the back of The Cheeky Squirrel, another great cafe which serves breakfast, lunch and locally produced Three Ridings coffee.
If I have an event coming up I like to buy from as many local producers as I can, so I’d go to award winning greengrocer Rafters who have a massive selection of quality fresh produce and organic boxes with the best from local growers followed by a visit to the recently opened specialist food shop Stella’s Larder who also support local and small-scale producers. They host occasional social evenings, which I have contributed to, bringing together food, wine and local craft beer.
Because I work in catering, I often have lunch at home then straight out with our rescue dog, Meg for a long walk. The town is surrounded by rolling countryside and is popular with walkers and cyclists. We might head to The Millennium Green which sits on Kings Mill – this is significant to our local history as the area cited in the Domesday Book. This green space offers open countryside and peace and quiet just minutes from the town centre with plenty of wildlife to spot. Driffield is known for having the most northerly chalk stream in Britain – as featured on Mortimer & Whitehouse’s Gone Fishing. Or we may walk along the canal in Driffield, starting at Riverhead where you can see the Old Riverhead Mill which dates back to mid 19th Century. We still have an operational mill, Bradshaws, and you can buy its flour from Bell Mills garden centre which also has a lovely cafe – then I’d take a look around the garden centre too, before picking up some flour for bread making.
If I want something more relaxing after the outdoors. I would go to the Olive Tree for a spa treatment and I also regularly visit The Magnolia Tree Acupuncture which offers holistic therapy.
Enjoy a drink in The Butchers Dog – a local, family-owned real ale pub which is dog-friendly and every Thursday you can experience live music in the afternoon, along with many other community events throughout the month.
There are plenty of restaurants to choose from in the town or on Friday and Saturday evenings, I would head to The Pumphouse Brewery – a unique bar where they brew their own (quite strong!) craft beers and you can usually pick up some delicious street food from one of the guest vendors.
Sweet treats
Roberto’s for authentic gelato or sorbet in the Market Place in Driffield.
Elsie’s Parlour, Nafferton (just outside Driffield), is a quirky vintage themed cafe that’s perfect for afternoon tea.
A nature fix
Tophill Low Nature Reserve is based near Watton, alongside the River Hull and is owned and managed by Yorkshire Water. The reserve comprises two reservoirs which supply the city of Hull with drinking water, both are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest, the surrounding woodland, grassland and wetlands are maintained to increase biodiversity across the site.
There are 13 accessible hides, a viewing gallery and over 3km of surfaced paths which give full access to all areas of the reserve. There are bird feeders outside the reception hide and a pond dipping platform that is used by visiting school groups.
Worth a walk
You can take on the challenging 43-mile circular trail of The Wold Rangers Way or one of the shorter ‘Trods’ with Croom Mabel (2.5 miles), Horse Hair Jack (9 miles), Ginger Joe (13 miles), Dog Geordie (17 miles) or Mad Halifax (22 miles). All ‘Trods’ start and finish in Driffield.
Something stately
Burton Agnes Hall & Gardens is just 15 minutes from Driffield. Pay a visit to the Norman manor house with its Woodland Arboretum and Walled Garden.
discoverdriffield.co.uk
Farm view
Sledmere House is a Grade 1 listed country house just 15 minutes drive from Driffield. Get a behind-the-scenes idea of the work that happens on the Farm on the Sledmere Estate.
August 28
From 6pm.
