Visit one of the best petting farms in Hampshire

Our visit to Finkley Down Farm was 100% an accidental visit. Dan, V, and I were travelling from Essex to Exeter, and we needed make a pit stop to give V a break. Initially, we had planned to stop off at Jane Austen’s House, but what fun would that be for a nine month old and her dad? We were already on the terrible A303, struggling with traffic, so we made the impulsive decision to book tickets online when we were just 20 minutes away. And what a decision! Finkley Down Farm is one of the best petting farms in Hampshire.

The farm itself was quite tricky to find from the car park. Signs directed us to turn into a car park just before an underpass, but realised there weren’t any signs to direct us to the entrance. We took a punt at walking through the underpass, saw signs for a nursery and preschool, and followed the path to the right, hoping we were going in the right direction. It turns out, we were and we soon spotted the entrance.

Once we made it in to farm with animal pellets in hand, the first thing we did was have a spot of lunch. We had been on the road for hours. I ordered a couple of burgers from Finkley Mole’s Tearoom, and found V a high chair in the Playbarn. Inside the Playbarn were three different soft play areas – one for babies under 2, one for 2-5 year olds, and one for children 5 and older, which I thought was a fantastic idea. V was just about crawling during our visit, and I felt a little nervous throwing her in the same area as screaming toddlers.

After we had eaten, and had a few minutes in the soft play area, we wandered to the area behind the Playbarn which housed all sorts of smaller animals. First we passed a couple of pigs, and found our way into a barn full of small goats and lambs. The goats were particularly resourceful, sticking their heads through the bars to get closer to the food. It was the first time V really paid attention to us feeding animals too. She stared as they gobbled out of our hands.

We then nosed at the reptile house and spotted a couple of turkeys. I had horrible flashbacks of my second date with Dan, where I had gobbled at a turkey for fun, and one replied, scaring me out of my skin. V enjoyed staring at them waddling back and forth, much as she enjoyed watching the bunnies. As we were short for time, we rushed back through the Playbarn to loop round the paddocks, where there were a collection of larger animals, including llamas, a cow, alpacas, and ponies.

Past the paddocks were a huge collection of play apparatus for children. There were wooden structures, sand pits, trampolines, a zipwire, absolute heaven for someone between the ages of say 5 and 13. It’s a shame we were in a rush and that V was a baby, as it’s an ideal locations for parents to spend a whole day.

Before we left, we couldn’t resist saying goodbye to the large collection of goats penned near the entrance. We still had at least half a pack of animal feed pellets, and though I’d usually just give leftover pellets to another family, V seemed to really like watching us feed the animals. How could we not give her one last go at feeding them herself before we hit the road again?

Related: Barleylands Farm and Craft Village: family friendly fun

Related: Jimmy’s Farm, Ipswich – the best family farm yet?

Having been to quite a few farms in the East of England, I thought Finkley Down Farm must be one of the best petting farms at least in Hampshire, perhaps in the whole of the south of England. I would definitely make a pit stop here again.

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