Blown Away by Cannon Hall Farm

So yesterday we went to Cannon Hall Farm on a nice sunny Saturday. Being Saturday the crowds were there of course, but not having been before, and hearing good things, we thought we should go. Having a child means you cant avoid crowds if you want to show them good things.

The Basics

Map of Cannon Hall Farm
Map of Cannon Hall Farm

The clue is in the name really. It’s a working farm. It’s one of those farms, as seems to be the trend now, that opens up for the public to be able to visit. I expect that for many this is to actually stay afloat, and I do wonder what Brexit will mean for British farmers. You do get different standards of visitor farms. Some do the minimum required to open to the public, and some go way above. You know the sort that do the minimum, they’re the ones that you leave covered in mud and old pieces of metal or wood have been strung up to stop you going somewhere. Doing it on the cheap basically. Cannon Hall Farm could not be further from that.

Arrival

It was very busy when we arrived so the car parks were very full, but in the end we got a good spot.

There is an area you can visit where you don’t have to pay for entry because they have a restaurant, farm shop and a restaurant for dogs (yes, dogs) that you can visit. They will want you to visit these places of course without paying an entry fee. The fee is to see the animals.

When you arrive the whole place looks to be of a very high standard. It’s really done well and you can tell they have spent a fair bit of money on it.

The Animals

Meerkats!
Meerkats!

To go see the animals you have to pay £8.95 for an adult and the same for children. N got in free being a baby but £17.90 did seem a little steep at first as I didn’t know the cost in advance, but I think, given the quality of what they have and what you see it’s actually about right.

The first thing you see are meerkats. Everywhere has them now thanks to those adverts (you know the ones!), yet everyone always goes and looks at them, including us! Following that we went to see some pigs, and I mean a lot of pigs. Some of them had given birth fairly recently, and some VERY recently! Tiny little piglets were trying to get some milk from mum all over the place. It was so cute!

Tiny N, tiny piglets
Tiny N, tiny piglets

Then you see a few other animals too, a horse, goats plus kids, sheep and lambs, cows. Lots of other animals. They are all inside several fancy looking barns, all of very high quality. You can also buy food to feed them which is a nice touch. These barns take you down a slope which for us, when going to get something to eat, meant we had to go back up it. We did try to go to a restaurant near the bottom of the slope but they wanted buggies to be left outside for health and safety reasons (in fact all the restaurants did) but as we were trying to get N to sleep in his pram that wasn’t happening (in fact, after going back up the slope N was nearly asleep, so we just walked into a restaurant and kept the pram with us so we could get him to sleep).

They also had some birds of prey on display, ferret racing and most impressive of all sheep racing! With a little course and hurdles! When in Yorkshire!!!

Food

There were a couple of restaurants there, and we chose to eat in the one you can access without paying the entry fee to see the animals (the walk there helped N start to drift off).

Price wise it’s not cheap. I was a little surprised at the prices at first as I thought it would be cheaper, but we reserved judgement until we got the food so we knew if you go what you pay for.

You do.

Sheep racing! Yes, sheep racing!
Sheep racing! Yes, sheep racing!

We paid £12.95 each for a kebab (we both fancied the same thing). Mine was a Peri Peri chicken kebab and Clare had a pork and pineapple one. They both came with pita bread, salad, a sauce and chips. Clare said they were possibly the best chips she has ever had. The standard of the food was exceptional. I didn’t mind paying that at all for what we got.

In this section I should also cover the farm shop since it contains food. I have to say it is one of the best farm food shops I’ve ever seen. Good selection of meat, fresh orange juice that you can squeeze yourself, loads of other extras too. They also have a massive selection of gin, and I mean huge! My wife bought a rhubarb flavoured gin. They have a good selection of beer too. I bought a toffee one and a rhubarb & custard one. Personally, having tried them, I think I’ll stick to normal flavoured beer!

The Practicalities

Parking was good and plentiful. You could be some distance away if it’s busy so get there early. Depending on how long you stay there is a small parking fee (see their website).

So many animals!
So many animals!

Changing facilities were very good. A separate area with room to change two babies at the same time (good idea!). No going into a disabled toilet and blocking that at Cannon Hall Farm which is great.

As I say, entry fee was £8.95 which seemed a bit steep to start but when you get in there it’s not. There is also a large area for kids to play on in the ‘paid for’ area with slides, climbing rope, zip wire and all sorts of other things. Really good for the kids.

Terrain wise it couldn’t be any better as it’s all tarmac so great for pushing a pram around. The concern I would have, just in one place after you’ve seen all the pigs etc in their barns, is if you were pushing a wheelchair with a larger person in it then it could be a challenge getting back up the slope.

One thing though…benches. They could do with a few more benches in the area where you see all the animals. There really aren’t many places to sit at all.

In Summary

This really is a great place to visit. The quality of the whole area is very good, a great finish to the development. It is a farm, and as such you will see farm animals. However, there are a few extra animals, ferret racing, sheep racing, great food/restaurant, and a fab farm shop.

This place is definitely worth a visit.

Have you been? What do you think?

To see my other days out reviews please click here.

Looking for other days out? This site has loads, all with reviews from bloggers. Check it out: Days Out Now.

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