farm fun for all the family

Cannon Hall Farm is a large, family run, farm attraction sitting in the Pennine foothills. It is home to hundreds of animals and features one of the biggest playgrounds in the north of England and the largest tube maze in Europe.

Each year there are Highland cattle calves, llamas, donkeys, ponies and sometimes even baby wallabies too. There are usually baby rabbits and guinea pigs on show and Easter would not be complete without hatching chicks.

While the younger ones explore in the tube maze, mums and dads can take a tour of the farm shop, offering a range of Yorkshire produce, or relax in the spacious tearoom seating 240 guests.

Hesketh Farm Park is part of a modern working farm situated on the Bolton Abbey Estate. Visitors can interact with all the animals: calf and lamb feeding, brushing the pigs, cuddling and handling guinea pigs and rabbits and naming new arrivals.

As well as tractor rides, there are indoor and outdoor play areas which include a huge straw maze, outdoor pedal go-karts, a large indoor sandpit and a tractor and trailer tour which offers further insight into farming.

Another children’s farm park paradise is Monk Park in the heart of Herriot Country near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. The visitor centre on the edge of the North York Moors National Park offers a varied collection of outdoor and indoor feeding areas where visitors can see farm animals such as lambs, pigs and ponies along with deer, ducks and peacocks. There’s even more exotic animals to get close to including llamas, alpacas and wallabies.

For refreshments, there is a traditional tea room offering hot and cold meals.

Moving into the Dales, one of the most spectacular locations for a family day out is Kilnsey Park. Offering everything from restaurants, farm activities and fly fishing, the rural centre has something for everyone. The lakes are well stocked with rainbow, blue, brown and golden trout from 2lb to 20lb-plus, all from the park’s own trout farm.

And the Kilnsey Trail offers a unique Yorkshire Dales experience, with wildlife wandering freely around the park, red squirrels in two enclosures and the opportunity of feeding the giant rainbow trout.

Venturing up the site, the trail also includes a fascinating insight into how the park’s green electricity is made from the abundant water supply.

Moving away from the traditional farms is a family day out visitors could quite literally lose themselves in – York Maze. One of York’s most popular summer attractions, it will be open again in July.

Carved out of 1.5 million growing maize plants, York Maze is thought to be the largest maze in the world.