Nothing says spring like a visit to the farm does it?! We first visited Cannon Hall Farm in South Yorkshire a couple of years ago with the Butlers and I’ve been dying to go back ever since. I knew I wanted to go in the spring-time when we had the best chance of seeing lots of baby animals so it featured fairly highly on our list of adventures for this Easter holidays.
As luck would have it our Easter holidays are a little wonky this year so not a lot of people seem to have been off this first week – I know that schools in York and Sheffield haven’t finished yet which meant that a trip to Cannon Hall Farm in Barnsley was perfectly timed. I had expected we would benefit from it being a little bit quieter but in all honesty it was far quieter than I could have ever imagined – which meant no queues for the toilet, no struggling to find somewhere to sit at the indoor play and a super view wherever we went, it was an all round win to be honest. Well aside from being absolutely flipping freezing. The spring sunshine finally appeared mid-afternoon but it would have been a much nicer day had it been a bit brighter from the off!
Eleven Reasons to visit Cannon Hall Farm:
It’s lovely and clean
My friend Hannah doesn’t like Cannon Hall Farm as she think it’s “too clean and sanitised” and not like a real farm. I totally get where she’s coming from but honestly, when I’m visiting with three kids for the day – the cleanliness is a huge factor for me, it just makes it a much nicer place to be and an easier day out all round!
There’s plenty of space for picnics
There are a number of large picnic tables just outside the farm which we used on this visit and plenty of grassy space to sit on if the tables are full. But, if you don’t want to picnic . . . there are several options for buying food on site and if you spend £10 on food in the cafe areas then your £3 car parking charge is knocked off.
The ice creams are lovely
It was too flipping cold for ice cream when we visited this time (we plumped for cups of tea and hot chocolate) but I do remember them being delicious last time we visited.
Milking display
For Amy, who absolutely loves cows, being able to watch them getting milked is a bit special. The milking display at Cannon Hall Farm is purely for demonstration – just a couple of cows are milked whilst a member of staff talks about the process.
Actual real live lambing
We were lucky enough to see three lambs being born on Tuesday, two with intervention from staff and one without any help at all. This was a pretty special experience and something we’ve talked about quite a bit since. (I even managed to capture one birth on film – the video is at the end of the post if you want to see!)
Variety of outdoor play areas for different ages
Cannon Hall Farm has a range of outdoor play areas to suit different ages and abilities. The only downside to this is when you have three children and one is more suited to a different play area than the other two! Luckily because we had Aunty M and Granny with us we were able to split up a bit.
Indoor play area
This is a relatively new addition to Cannon Hall Farm, it certainly wasn’t there the last time we visited a few years ago. I loved that it meant we had somewhere to sit down and warm up whilst the kids burned off some energy. It’s one of those soft play set ups where it can be quite difficult to see your children. I lost mine for a good few minutes but I’m lucky that they are of an age now where I can trust them to come back to wherever I’m sat if they’ve got a problem. They’re really good at keeping an eye on each other for me too!
Raised viewing areas
For both watching lambing and milking, the raised platforms were an absolute god send. We were able to get a really clear view of what was going on without having to lift anyone up or get in anyone’s way.
Friendly helpful staff
All the staff we encountered on our trip this week were lovely. They were all happy to chat to the kids about what they were doing, answering questions and even explaining right in the middle of lambing what was going on with a particular ewe who needed some help with giving birth because her lambs were in an awkward position. This meant that the kids had a real understanding of what they were watching and were able to tell Daddy all about it later!
Baby animals
We loved being able to see so many baby animals of different ages, from fresh born that day through to months old. Being able to see the animals being born or feeding with their mummies was a real talking point for us and all three children learned such a lot from seeing things close up
A family ticket for four cost us £26 this week (but is £30 during peak season) and by the time you’ve added parking, fuel, a picnic and hot drinks onto that it’s not a cheap day out but it was absolutely worth every single penny. Next time we go back we’re taking Daddy too!
If you’re looking for other farms to visit in the North of England, read this next.
Check out our Ultimate Guide to Easter here!
Open Farm Sunday events near Manchester
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Looks like you had a fab time! My niece and nephew would love it there x
We haven’t been for ages but it’s a great day out, isn’t it? The ‘too clean’ comment made me laugh. I grew up on a farm and yes, Cannon Hall Farm is much cleaner than the one I grew up on but I also say, no way would anyone be having a picnic in the farm yard I grew up on either! Thanks for linking with #YorkshireFamily
It looks like a good day out, especially for the kids
This sounds like a lovely day out with the kids.
That last picture of the pig is like… life!! It looks so warm and lovely. We have been to a lot of city farms but not an actual countryside farm so this looks amazing.
Emmie xo
It’s great isn’t it – I felt so sorry for her snoozing whilst they all fought over her!
It looks like you had a blast with your family! Since I live in the city, I rarely see farms- I’d love to check this place out.
Sounds like such a lovely farm, not been to a farm for years! I am sure my family would enjoy visiting here.
This looks like a fab day out for the whole family to enjoy! What a great experience to see the babies being born!
This sounds like an amazing farm! I love a farm that really teaches children – love the lambing x
This looks like such a lovely outing, especially in the spring time when there are plenty of baby animals to be seen. It’s wonderful you were able to see the birth of three lambs while you were there, that alone would have been worth the trip.
Looks like a very enjoyable experience with the kids and the animals! Such a memorable one for the family.
This looks great for a day out, for parents, where the kids have a variety of cost effective things to do 🙂 x
I have never visited a farm before but I can see what a great day out with the family can be. The fact that Cannon Hall is very clean it’s definitely a plus, you don’t want to visit a farm and step in poop by mistake. It’s lovely that you can have picnics there too and see baby animals. Those piggies are so cute.
Lovely review. Taking the kids to our local farm this week for the first time.
This sounds like such a fun and educational experience for kids! Looks like you had a great time.
Oh we absolutely LOVED Cannon Hall Farm, it was awesome and full of fun things to do!
Like the sound of the raised viewing areas at Cannon Hall Farm. I always struggle to see because I’m so small still x great photos
I literally love pigs and adore that photo haha. I’d love to visit here some day!x
Oh this place looks fab, the boys love farm animals I have heard of this place but never visited think it’s one for the next school holidays x
This looks like lots of fun, you kids look like they had a blast. I don’t have kids but my nieces and nephews would love to visit.
Wow, what an awesome experience at Cannon Hall Farm. Sounds like you and your family had a lot of dun there. Thanks for the video, it was incredible!
We visited a similar farm this week. It’s such a great place to take kids and so much fun xx
i live in sheffield which is not far from cannon hallfarm so i have been a few times and i do think it is a good family attraction- it has everything; playgrounds, animals, soft play, and the museum and gardens are good too, not part of the farm but did you manage to make time to go in there? personlly i’m not a fan of the raised platforms,though.
#yorkshirefamily
No, we’ve not been to the museum and gardens before – to be honest we ran out of time just in the farm.
I love the raised platforms, I think they give little ones a far better chance of seeing things without being lifted up all the time x
Looks like a brilliant day out, and very reasonably priced, too.
I love a “proper farm”! Your piggy photo is so cute!! #triedtested
We went to a working farm in Yorkshire a couple of years ago, it was a fabulous experience and my daughter still talks about it now. Shame the weather wasn’t a bit warmer for your visit.
#TriedTested
This looks like a lot of fun and it seems that you picked the perfect time to visit! It can spoil it if the place is too busy.
Jodie x
#TriedTested
A wonderful family friendly place to visit, it sounds like they have given much thought to their visitors experience
This looks so much fun – love the milking display! #TriedTested
This place sounds fantastic. And not far from my neck of the woods when i’m in the UK. Thanks for sharing. The food tip with the parking reimbursed is a great idea, and I’m loving the fact it all sounds clean. I took my toddlers to a great Farm here in the Paris suburbs last week, and the highlight for my son was playing with the goat poo – don’t suppose there is much that can be done about that!!! Kate x
Haha what is it with kids and poo!
The idea of a ‘clean’ farm sounds fab to me and I’m not at all outdoorsy! Shame we didn’t know about this place before our holiday to Yorkshire last year 🙁
What a lovely place! Love the photos! Def. somewhere we would look into going with the whole family! 😀 #TriedTested
Looks like a brilliant day out, we love getting over to the farm. Luckily for us we live literally just across the road from one. Lambing season is a lovely time to go to farm as well.
A lovely clean and welcoming looking farm, perfect for a spring visit #Tried&Tested
This looks like a lovely place to visit. I’ve seen a few places like this that have recently added an indoor play barn and it’s perfect. It means that on the slightly chiller days you know you can go indoors to warm up and still have fun x
I love going to the farm in spring, all the babies are so cute. It can be chilly though. This sounds like such a lovely fan.
What a wonderful place for a day out. I love the photo of the piglets and how lovely to see three lambs being born 🙂
Sounds great Erin has been asking to go and see some lambs.
Looks great, esp if the weather is good 🙂
We love visiting the farm! Especially in Springtime! I love the idea of the raised viewing area’s and how cute are those piglets!
We’ve got some great farms near us too – you can’t beat a good farm in spring! #twinklytuesday
It looks like you all had a great day out – seeing the lambs being born must have been very exciting! And that picture with all the piglets is just adorable 🙂
It sounds like a great day out! I love places that have lots of picnic space but also a coffee too ? #triedtested