Best. Birthday. Ever. Partying at Smithills Farm
Meerkats, owls, alpacas and more plus a Halloween trail.
Hello readers, how was your week? Mine has flown by again - always the way once school starts back.
The girls have also had loads of party invitations too. They missed out on a lot of birthday parties during the pandemic, and I find parties are often a good way to discover new places to go and things to do.
Last weekend we held my youngest daughter’s birthday party at the fabulous Smithills Farm. It’s a great place for a day out that we only discovered when we moved back to Bolton, so I thought I’d share it with you today.
And remember, you can see all the Bolton and Beyond back catalogue - full of ideas of places to go and things to do in the North West - here.
This weeks’s adventure…. Smithills Farm
Smithills Farm is a working dairy farm in Bolton - in fact they bring us our milk and eggs twice a week as well as making moreish ice cream.
But it’s also an open farm with dozens of dozens and animals to meet and feed as well a playground and enough activities to make it a great day out.
We hadn’t been since before the pandemic, but everything is now back up and running. You do need to book tickets in advance though.
We had a birthday party at Smithills Farm, which means our birthday girl got a few extra privileges (more on this later). And if you’re planning a kids birthday party then I highly recommend them - we had a fantastic time.
But most of the activities we did are available for anyone on a day trip.
First up was pets corner, where an adorable parade of baby animals were brought out for us to stroke, touch and cuddle.
Chocolate brown baby alpacas with cloud-soft wool and mile-long eyelashes were my faves, along with two Eurasian owls, whose piercing orange gaze and impressive wingspan made the crowd ooohh and aaahh.
We also got to pet baby chicks and baby bunnies (my eldest was obsessed with her fluffy chick which seemed to take a doze in her palm!) as well as meet sheep, goats and an imperious emu.
Next up were donkey rides, and the kids loved being paraded up and down the paddock on a pack of very patient donkeys.
Then came the tractor ride, where one of the farm’s guides hopped into the tractor and fired up the engine. We all got into a trailer fixed to the back and kitted out with bench seats, and rumbled up into the top fields overlooking the main farm.
The view from there is stunning - you can see all the way to the skyscrapers of Manchester and beyond to the Peak District. The late evening sunshine lit up the vista and it felt glorious.
Afterwards the kids devoured their party food and unicorn birthday cake (thanks nanna!) and then got to play on the adventure playground.
All in all it was a super successful trip.
From a practical point of view there were plenty of clean toilets with lots of sinks for handwashing after touching animals. There’s a cafe on site or you can bring a picnic and most of all, the staff are all lovely.
My niece grazed her knee and a farm guide went dashing off for a plaster and antispetic wipe. The petting corner animals were all introduced with some interesting facts and stories about each creature, and my youngest got some fabulous birthday treats: feeding meerkats with (live!) mealworms, posing for pictures next to alpacas and having everyone sing happy birthday to her in the pets corner.
My five year old’s verdict? ‘Mummy this was the best. Birthday. Ever.’ And I loved it too. Job done!
Ticket prices are £8.50 for adults, £7.50 for kids (under twos are free) or £30 for a family (two adults and two kids).
Have you been to Smithills? Is it on your half-term list? Let me know - hit reply or comment on this post to let me know.
One to book
What are your plans for half term? Have you got any pumpkin picking booked? We’ve booked for the Windy Arbour farm Halloween wellie walk near Billinge in Wigan.
We went last year and it was loads of fun with plenty of decorations, characters wandering round and a pumpkin plus a goody bag at the end. Plus we can take the dog. I’ll report back and let you know how it goes.
That’s all for this week. If you got this far, I like you almost as much as a baby alpaca.
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See you next week,
Jenna