Tractor Ted Farm Show
at Bowood House, Wiltshire
Reviewed by Felicity Lees
Myself and my family went to the Tractor Ted Farm Show at Bowood House and we all had a fantastic time!
We used the postcode provided on the Bowood House website to navigate our way there as we had never been before, (and my map reading skills aren't very good according to the man of the house!) which thankfully took us straight to the gate. Unfortunately the event wasn't very well signposted from the main road so as we ventured up the (very) long driveway we began to think we may have been going the wrong way! As we got to the top of the drive however it opened out onto a field and there it was. We did notice cars coming from several different directions so we wondered if there was more than one entrance and perhaps it was just the entrance our Sat Nav chose that wasn't signposted to say 'this way'?!
We were navigated to our parking spot by some very lovely, well-mannered army cadets which made parking very easy and stress-free! As we entered the venue, we were greeted by happy smiley staff who offered us a programme and presented us with our wristbands and away we went! The only trouble we had was to pick where to begin!
We firstly went in to the Look and Learn tent where there were a variety of things going on. There were some bees, and the beekeepers were explaining how honey and beeswax were made and they had a stall where you could 'roll your own candle'. Our 2 year old loved doing that and felt very proud of her finished product! In another part of the tent were some small incubators with different staged eggs/chicks and we were told about the process of incubating the eggs. We were even lucky enough to see one of the eggs hatch! My daughter squealed with delight when she realised what was going on! All the stalls were at a low enough height for little ones to enjoy the full experience of everything and it took all my strength to pull her away!
In the 'Main Ring' outside there was displays of different machines and someone explaining what they each did as the entered whilst the 'Tractor Ted' songs were playing over the tannoy which I must admit were rather catchy!. There were bales of straw to sit on all around the ring so you really felt like you were on the farm! The digger display was our favourite as the lifted themselves up high off the ground and balanced on their buckets! The timetable in our programme informed us of a 'sheep grand national' which sounded like fun so we gathered around and got ready to watch. They introduced each one as they let them out of the pen and they all had great names and were wearing different coloured t-shirts! They even had a 'jockey' on their backs in the form of a teddy bear! Hubby’s favourite was called ' Mint Sauce!' We had great fun choosing a sheep to win and cheered them on as they ran round the circuit jumping over hurdles! My daughter was standing right by one of the jumps and she laughed and squealed every time a sheep jumped over! It was great fun!
I then decided I needed the loo so we ventured over to the 'Portaloos' which come on let’s be honest are never very appealing when the word is mentioned, but we were all pleasantly surprised as to how clean they were and they smelt good too! They even had toilet roll! So there was no need for using my own 'pocket tissues'! And the men didn't go unloved either as they had a Portaurinal for them! Hubby said they were the cleanest urinals he had used in a long time!
There was so much going on around us that it was hard to choose what to do. We enjoyed the fact that the 'animal encounters' were dotted around the show rather than being all in one place as it stopped the overcrowding of children and we were able to look forward to what we would find next! There were ducklings, chickens, rabbits a parrot show and even some Shetland ponies! We tried to coax my daughter onto a donkey for a ride but she wasn't keen. The donkey keeper was very patient and friendly towards her and it wasn't a problem that she wasn't very happy.
As we ventured into the fairground area it was like reliving my youth! All the rides were very 'vintage'! My favourite was the 'helter skelter' as I was able to take my daughter on it. I don't know who laughed the most on the way down… me or my 2 year old and we both said 'again again!' at the bottom. The hall of mirrors was my daughter’s favourite as she liked how they made her look funny!
We had decided before we went that we were going to take a picnic with us due to dietary requirements and we thought there wouldn't be much to offer food wise other than burger and chips. How wrong we were! There was so much on offer and such a variety of different foods. From paella to kebabs you name it, there was a stall selling it! There was even a strawberries and cream van! There was a beer tent and the hubby did sulk for a while as he couldn't have one due to the fact he was designated driver!
The last thing we chose to do was a tractor and trailer ride which was such good fun! It took us round some of the grounds of Bowood House and we were able to point out different things to our little girl and laugh when the tractor got stuck! It was nice that there were several tractor and trailers other go so we didn't have to queue for very long which is essential with younger customers in tow!
All in all we had a fantastic day and it was unfortunate that we ran out of time to do everything they had on offer! It would be nice if they offered a 'family ticket' with a slight discount as the cost for the day does work out quite expensive when you're a family of 4 (or more in some cases).
We will definitely consider going again to try and fit in what we couldn't this time round.
Rating: 5/5 
For more information on Tractor Ted visit www.tractorted.co.uk
For more information on Bowood House visit www.bowood-house.co.uk
