I had never heard of Open Farm Sunday before. I stumbled across a mention of it by chance on Twitter last week, and it’s turned out to be a real hidden gem.

It takes place on one Sunday each year, when hundreds of farms across the UK are opened up to the public for free. It is a fantastic opportunity for everyone, young and old, to discover first-hand what it means to be a farmer.

Being father’s day, we organised an extended family outing to Beckley Farm in Christchurch which was just a short drive from our home. For once the sun was shining, but I took my wellies just in case!

Lovely old tractor

I’ll leave the photos to do the talking, but as you can hopefully see there was a wide range of activities on offer. This ranged from a display of tractors and farm machinery (which most boys would love, but Little I was a bit scared of!), heavy horses, goats, turkeys, a woodland walk, a tour of a grain store, game-keeping, coppicing, a free tractor trailer ride to the dairy farm where there was calf rearing, cow housing and feeding, a milking parlour, cheese and butter making, and a tractor trailer ride back to grain store area. There was enough to keep us occupied for the whole afternoon and it was a great chance to learn more about the local farms in our area.

Farm machinery display

Milking a cow

Tractor trailer ride

Feeding the goats

Each event is unique with its own activities, based around the farm’s own individual story. So be sure to pop it in your diaries for next year, and discover what’s happening at the farms near you!

N.B. Little I insisted on wearing her new princess helmet for the entire afternoon. It’s not a requirement for Open Farm Sunday!