Days Out: Blackberry Farm

A few weeks ago a friend of mine, Di, suggested a day out. Having heard a few mentions about Blackberry Farm we decided to give this a go before the school holidays meant a lot of places would be really busy.

Even better on a non term time Tuesday or Thursday Blackberry Farm offers free entry on a buy one get one free basis. The cost for each adult was affordable at £7 each and it;s not too far out of the city - just outside of Lewes. We were lucky that it was a very sunshiny day and Di managed to get us all some sunscreen from the Farm shop.

When you arrive at the farm you pay and collect any feed you would like for the animals. Grab a map and walk around to see Chickens, pig, goats, southdown sheep, alpacas, llamas, Highland Cattle, a Jersey Cow, Shetland ponies, New Forest ponies, donkeys, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, ferrets, chinchillas, degus, Chipmunks, mice, rats, wildfowl, ducks, geese and cockerels. The farm seems quite small to walk around but we managed going around twice. There is a free tractor ride at set times which unfortunately we missed whist having lunch and you can also book a pony ride.

What amazed me was Blackberry Farm was not just a farm but around hidden to one side was a massive play area with designated areas for ages too. When they say ‘There is an area exclusively designed for our younger toddling visitors and a picnic play area with traditional activities including swing ball, football and “Happy Hopper” area.’ they really aren’t kidding. A toddler park, a jumping pillow (which I couldn’t jump on, pregnancy sometimes sucks but I will make up for that next time), swinging ships, huge slides, an under 8′s area too. Lots of lunch benches with mini benches for the kids. There is even a zip line too. The children loved this space and at most points you could see where the children were running. It is a really thought out space and means that your £7.50 really is the cost of a full day out rather than a quick couple of hours.

Leaving the play area there was also an indoor soft play with ball cannons, slides, giant connect 4 and fun mirrors. This area also had a little area for non walkers too.

We also ate in the cafe which came to under £20 for 2 adults and 2 children with Ice Cream (1 adult shared a Ploughmans). There were a selection of hot and cold lunchtime style options that were enough to fill us all up.

All in all Blackberry Farm is a really lovely day out. From feeding the animals, meeting the newborn lambs, picnic and play space and tractor bumper cars there is enough to fill a day.