Editor's Review - Wimpole Home Farm

Tel: 01223 206000

Just off A603, about 20 minutes drive from Cambridge

On a cold winter’s day in February we visited Wimpole Home Farm and took along a two-year old friend and his mum - so that I still get the ‘pushchair perspective’! Children of whatever age are always delighted to see animals, particularly if there are babies around, and a farm like Wimpole gives them the chance to get up close and touch them too. Armed with our bags of animal feed we set out to see who we could find and, as children can say in one breath, we saw horses, goats, a donkey, sheep, cows, pigs, hens, turkeys, cats, rab- bits, guinea pigs but we didn’t see Bart the sheep dog! There were loads of babies to see - Hope, the two-week old calf was the children’s favourite, partly due to cuteness but also, I fear, because she braved a huge torrent of wee from her mum to try and get some milk. (My children are at the ‘wee’, ‘poo’ and ‘giggle’ stage!) The children had the chance to touch a day-old chick and I was very taken with some very cuddly bunnies. Over the next few weeks the lambing will begin in earnest and there is every chance that you may witness the birth of a lamb if you visit during March or April. A variety of activities take place during the day and may include egg collecting, milking the goat, horse grooming, animal bath time or rabbit cuddling! Look out for the chalkboard as you arrive which has times and places of that day’s activities. Our two- year old friend really loved seeing the animals, but the other ‘hit’ with him were the tractors and diggers in the play area outside the cafe. Having walked around the animals you can wash hands and sit down for a coffee and watch the children playing happily. Everywhere is very pushchair-friendly, al- though it would be nice to see more child-friendly food available. For older children there is a Wood- land Adventure Playground a short walk away where they can get rid of any remaining energy.

Spring 2003