Finkley Down Farm

Last Friday we had an Inset day so decided to make the most of it with a day out. We went to visit Finkley Down Farm in Hampshire.

It is so much more than a farm and has lots to see and do both inside and outside. We started off visiting the birds of prey outside – at some parts of the day they have talks and you can hold the birds.

Then we went to explore some of the animals outside. We first headed towards the field areas where you can find sheep, goats, alpacas and at some times of the year there is even sheep racing! I was pleased we were getting some fresh air after weeks of rainy days.

Afterwards we headed inside to the play barns. There are 5 different areas in the barn, catering for different age groups. A favourite for my son was the giant Lego blocks where he made himself a castle! There other areas are made up of various soft play, slides and a ball cannon area.

We worked up an appetite so decided to head next to the Happy Cow Cafe for lunch. There was lots of hot and cold choices – my son went for the children’s lunch box where you could choose 5 items for £4.95. I decided I wanted something hot, but didn’t want an adult sized portion so ordered myself the kids chicken and chips which was plenty. Prices for the hot food ranged up to about £7 but it was all freshly cooked and looked good.

After lunch we headed out to the farmyard side to meet more animals. There was so much to see – rabbits, horses, pigs, goats, sheep, ponies, bird watch area and a reptile centre. Our favourite were the cute baby lambs. My son thought it was funny watching two lambs chewing at their heat light and told them to be good!

We treated ourselves to an ice cream back at the cafe before heading outside again for more play. There were tractors you could ride, trampolines, a large playground with different areas suitable for different ages, a sandpit area and a crazy golf course.

There is lots going on throughout the day, rabbit handling, lamb feeding, pony grooming etc or you can go at your own pace. I think the only activity that cost extra were the pony rides which were £3. Overall it was a great day out and there was so much to do at Finkley we’ll definitely go back again!

Staunton Country Park

This afternoon the sun showed up and so I took my camera out for a walk in Staunton Country Park.  There are two main areas to the park – for £5.50 you can visit the ornamental farm, gardens and glasshouses, and for free you can wander through the 1000 acres of park and woodland.

I started in the gardens and greenhouses.  At this time of year the gardens don’t have much to see, but you can see the area has been well cared for and I am sure will look delightful once the spring and summer flowers arrive.  I entered the large Victorian glasshouses where lots of cactus and other tropical plants were growing.  I believe that later in the year you can see the giant Amazon waterlily growing on the pond within the central glasshouse, but I’ll just have to go back to see that!

I then wandered through the grounds to the ornamental farm.  You can get up close to the animals and touch and feed them, which is great for the children.  The farm had pigs, sheep, cows, deer, alpacas, hens, ducks, turkey, horses, donkey, llama, goats and various birds.  It was a great time to visit, as the pygmy goats had just had babies.  One of the pens was full of tiny, bouncy, cute baby goats – some as young as 4 days old!  They were a real delight to watch and so soft to touch.

Just as I wandered towards the entrance the peacock decided to put on a bit of a show, and so I got some nice shots of his feathers.  He was definately showing off for someone, but I suspect it was the female peahen that was around rather than me!

After a couple of hours I wandered over to the park and woodland area.  I didn’t have time today to wander along the many woodland pathways, but I did have a look at the Beacon and wander under the terrace overlooking the lake.

I had a really pleasant afternoon, and will definately go back again at a different time of year when more is in bloom.  There was so much to see there and I could have easily stayed another hour or so.

More of my photographs from Staunton can be found on my Flickr set.