Wimpole Hall is a National Trust property just off the A505 near to Royston and is well signed off of the main road.
As you drive up towards it there are fields of sheep which when we visited were full of ewes and their lambs (apparently 330 lambs in total). There is parking near to the entrance which if you are not a National Trust member is £2 for the whole day. Once you have parked up you head towards the stable block where you can get your tickets. Also here is a gift shop, plant shop, book shop, toy shop and cafe. At weekends and holidays there is a tractor ride which takes you to the farm part of the site and is free with your entrance fee. If you are visiting at any other time their is a pleasant 10 min walk through the woods to the farm instead and I'd recommend that as there are lots of things to look at on the way. You smell and hear the farm before you get to it and the first area you get to is the piggery. We arrived just as they were about to be fed and the sound of squealing was amazingly loud. The staff were very good with the children and encouraged them to get involved in feeding the pigs and told us what breed they were etc. There are various different activities that take part during the day and there are boards with the times of these displayed throughout the farm. We stayed to watch one of the dairy cows being milked and the man doing the talk was very engaging. You then head into the main courtyard of the farm area where there are barns with horses, donkeys, bulls, rabbits and chicks to see, a tractor to sit on , buckets to milk and in one of the barns upstairs there is a model of a combine harvester explaining how it works and you can make the parts move. Heading out of here you come to the orchards where there is a restaurant/cafe and a play area for younger children with see saws, ride on tractors etc then there are hay bales arranged like a mini maze type things which the boys loved jumping between. If you head out of the farm and back to the main path, follow signs for the adventure playground which is a lovely little play area in the woods with various different things to climb, balance on and swing from. As you head back to the main entrance you can visit the walled gardens to see various vegetables and fruits being grown and there was a lot of lovely blossom when we visited. This path will also take you towards the hall itself and the Dutch parterre. You can go round the house on a self guided visit. It was once owned by the author Rudyard Kiplings daughter and they have a first addition of his novel The Jungle Book signed to his daughter on display. They have a family trail worksheet for children to complete as they walk round too. |
About Me.I'm Ruth. A mum to two boys and a believer of learning through experiencing. Archives
October 2016
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