We LOVE Hesketh Farm Park!

Hesketh Lamb

As far as ringing endorsements go, we can’t chime loudly enough about Hesketh Farm Park, near Bolton Abbey. Both halves of MooBaaKids and our families headed there on separate days out recently and agreed that it definitely warranted a bit of a tribute without further ado.

We’ve both been before with our kids and were literally counting down the days till this delightful farm re-opened for the season and could enchant (and wear out!) our enthusiastic little ones again. Every aspect of this picturesque hands-on day out has been really well thought through with something to captivate short attention spans at every turn and keep little visitors happily bouncing from one thing to the next.

The piglets

From doe-eyed calves to feed, to the hairy pigs who love a scratch with the brushes provided, Hesketh has it all! Our little girl was smitten with a Limousin calf called Lottie and fascinated by the tiny piglets. Alongside the calves and pigs, there are sheep with lambs and smaller animals to pet and feed.

Grooming the gorgeous Guineas!

The cheeping chicks had even the dads there cooing and the children couldn’t contain their delight at the guinea pigs to stroke and the bunnies to watch skitting about. The giant African tortoises Samson and Delilah were also a big hit and we were transfixed by them happily munching on a banana!

Samson or Delilah?

Once you leave the animals behind inside, there’s still indoor fun to come with slides, a straw bale maze, sand pit and toy tractors to ride. A welcome pit stop for the grown-ups too. We won’t lie – among our collective highlights of the day were the cappuccino, lemon cake, ginger biscuits and caramel short-bread!

Petting the chicks

We were both lucky with the weather on our visits so headed outside to see more of the animals – including chickens, goats, sheep – our daughter’s favourite was feeding carrots to the woolly donkeys who couldn’t wait to snaffle them up! She also loved the swings, slides and tyres in the play area.

Only minutes old!

Other highlights included seeing a newborn lamb stand up for the first time on wobbly legs, and the ride on the tractor/trailer with farmer Chris (it’’s an extra £1 per person in addition to the entrance fee but is well worth every penny in our toddlers’ opinions!) Our little one’s also loved the pedal tractors outside as well as looking for eggs in the hen houses.

Checking out the chickens

We hope we’ve described a bit of the magic for you – it really is a day of smiles and wonderment from start to finish. We can’t recommend it or the friendly helpful staff there highly enough. Whether it’s your first visit or a return trip, Hesketh is a friendly captivating whirl of farm family fun! x


For more information including opening times and admission prices visit www.heskethfarmpark.co.uk