Willows Farm Village
Hertfordshire
Reviewed by Susan Haigh
Willows Farm Village is a large farm and activity centre in Colney Heath near St Albans in Hertfordshire. It’s close to J3 of the A1(M) and J22 of the M25. It’s really easy to find and once you arrive there’s lots of free parking.
We visited on a sunny Sunday (1 June 2014) and as we waited for our friends to join us we got chatting to one of Willows’ staff outside the gates. It was a nice touch to have a friendly face giving advice before we went in. She gave us a programme for the day and got our 2 year old excited about the animals he was going to see. To be honest he was pretty excited already but this turned up the excitement levels to the max!
We joined a few other eager children and their parents in the queue. When the doors opened there were 3 ticket booths so no one had to wait to get in. The girl at the ticket desk was really helpful in explaining which animals really liked the cups of food you could buy and which animals didn’t (hint: the horses and the lambs really loved it, the rabbits…. not so much!)
Walking through the gates you get a really lovely view into the valley and can see the whole of the farm and beyond to the fishing lakes. The lakes aren’t part of Willows but you can take a walk around them if you like. If you’ve never been to Willows before I think it’s a good idea to pause here and take a look at the map to orientate yourself – you don’t want to miss anything after all!
Once we had got our bearings, we let the toddlers lead the way. They chose the goats, lambs and alpacas first. The alpacas in particular are very friendly. They’re happy to be stroked as long as you avoid the tops of their heads (they don’t like anyone messing with their fringes!).
There are lots of handwashing stations dotted around the farm so it’s never a problem letting your little one feed or touch the animals as you know there’s somewhere to clean their hands just nearby. The sinks are also useful to wash melted ice cream off a toddler!
Once inside Willows Farm all the activities for children are free. There are bouncy castles, small funfair rides, water games, sandpits, ride on tractors and an adventure playground. There’s also lots of fun to be had in the Woolly Jumpers indoor play barn and Toddler Town – more on that later.
We took a tractor ride around the edge of the farm. The trailer had loudspeakers playing songs. A bit too loud I thought, especially if you’re trying to explain what you can see to your kids. It’s also a VERY bumpy ride so brace yourselves!
After our ride we went straight over to watch the sheep shearing demonstration. Our boys and the rest of the children watching were enthralled and it was interesting to hear the shearer (I don’t know his name but let’s call him ‘Alan’!) explain what he was doing and what happens to the fleece afterwards.
A quick pit stop for a snack – there are loads of picnic tables to choose from – and we watched the ‘Little and Large’ horse show in the arena. A beautiful horse and a very cute Shetland pony and some lovely music.
A spot of sheep racing next then we went into one of the barns to take shelter from the midday sun and get up close and personal with some little furries. The handlers allow you to stroke and cuddle some of the smaller animals – we held guinea pigs and there are also lots of rabbits, sheep, goats and REALLY BIG shire horses to say hello to.
Also indoors is Toddler Town – a play street with lots of ‘shops’ and places where toddlers can get down to some imaginative play. We really loved this bit. After all the excitement of the outside activities, a nice sit down in an air conditioned space with a coffee and a cake from the play barn café was just what we needed! And the boys were thoroughly entertained pretending to be vets, running a shop, and cooking in the play kitchen.
There isn’t really space in this review to tell you about everything we got up to. Willows Farm Village has loads to keep kids of all ages entertained for a full day. Everything is within easy walking distance and even though it was a busy weekend, it didn’t feel crowded and we didn’t have to queue for anything. On this occasion we didn’t try the restaurant but we have already made plans to go back later in the summer so next time we’ll give that a go.
We had a fabulous day out. I would heartily recommend you check our Willows Farm Village.
Rating: 5/5 
Tickets cost from £8.50 to £13.75 if booked online. See www.willowsfarmvillage.com for details or call 0870 129 9718.
Willows Farm Village. Coursers Road, London Colney, St Albans Hertfordshire AL4 0PF
