Friendly atmosphere, welcoming animals, down to earth fun
Disadvantages:
Information on animal breeds could be better
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Unless you live in, or as in our case, have some form of business taking you to, the western outskirts of London, you may well be inclined to rate this particular review as Not Helpful. However due to the appealing nature of this particular venue I am going to tell you all about it anyway. It may also be of use for the millions of residents within a ten mile radius of this very densely packed area of our small Isle.
Before you ask, or indeed maybe were wondering, how on earth RICHADA (a south coast resident) found the Hounslow Urban Farm, it was by complete accident. We had not planned this visit at all.
It was one of those odd days where one place leads to another, the kind of day out that we really enjoy - discovering places completely by default if you like. It was a Saturday morning in July and we had delivered the car to Honda Chiswick for a service, a two hour job. On a Saturday morning it takes about an hour and ten minutes to reach Chiswick from Brighton, an 80 mile run almost entirely on motorways. Having used this much precious fuel (it is a diesel Honda and averages well over 40mpg though) we need to 'make a day of it' in the area. We spent a very pleasant morning at Chiswick House (review to follow), which had an unusually well stocked local information stand in the hallway.
I picked up an excellent little book "London & Heathrow" covering many attractions, and listing accommodation too, in the area from Hammersmith to West Drayton and Acton in the north down to Feltham in the south. It was this publication that I was reading on the fairly long walk back to the car park at Chiswick House.
Accompanying my wife and I was her sister, Klaudia. She enjoys visiting English houses and gardens with us (for those of you who have not met Klaudia and my wife before - they are Polish!) and museums, but she is only 11 after all and also likes the usual children's attractions, zoos, fun fair rides and the like. I too enjoy visiting such attractions due to the fact that as a child I was sent away to boarding school and seldom had the opportunity to do "children's things" even in the hoilidays - in middle age I have a lot of catching up to do!
On the way back to the car at Chiswick House, Klaudia announced that she would really like to go to a place where there were some animals, maybe even feed some ducks. We learned a couple of years ago that it is useful to keep some stale bread in the car at all times 'just in case', I guess this was going to be one of those classic occasions!
Animals, water and ducks? Well, I really do not know this area of the mighty metropolis very well, but at 2.30 in the afternoon realised that it was too late for a trip across Town to London Zoo, my mind was not exactly awash with ideas - especially as I was very hungry at the time having already missed lunch!
As we drove west on the A4 from Chiswick, my wife spotted Hounslow Urban Farm, in fact a rare breeds centre, in the little guide book. It was less than ten minutes away! We found the farm easily enough on the A312, very close to the eastern end of the main runway at Heathrow Airport, there were planes taking off, quite literally over our heads as we parked in the grassy field next to the farm.
It was a warm, humid but overcast afternoon, with rain threatening to fall. From the large number of families here, far from matched by the number of cars parked, I can only assume that this is a very well liked and supported local attraction. Obviously there are plenty of busses (No's 90, 285, 490 & 726) passing the gate, Hatton Cross Underground Station is only 10 minutes walk around the corner too, Feltham a 15 minute walk.
The little wooden hut that forms the entrance and pay kiosk, like the rest of the place, is extremely (and refreshingly!) un-pretentious, in fact we would have been able to walk in without paying. As it was, we waited a couple of moments for an assistant to appear and take our admission fee - for the three of us, two adults (£3 each) and a child (£1.50), it was £7.50, we made it up to the £10 by purchasing bags of feed for the animals. Without stepping foot in the place it occurred to me that in this day and age we had not been "fleeced".
As you enter the farm various "events and attractions" are flagged up on a blackboard - Animal Handling, Feeding Times(!) and, on the day we were there Pig Racing! We were lucky enough to see the little pigs racing, it was a bit of a shambolic competition, but they obviously enjoyed themselves - and so did the visitors!
Judging by the large number of children, myself included, feeding the animals here, I can only guess that this is one farm that actually makes a PROFIT on livestock feed! None of the very well kept animals we saw here are going to go hungry, that's for sure.
I would not like to hazard a guess as to the exact size of this farm, small by traditional "farm" standards yes, but in terms of its' urban location it covers a large area, many paddocks, a large pond extensive stabling and a huge open ended barn, complete with picnic area (wooden tables and chairs) right in the thick of it so to speak.
The barn seems to be the natural starting point of the visit. Here are to be found a large number of goats in a bewildering range of sizes and colours. Some are even wandering at leisure, given half a chance will more than share your picnic. Most however are penned, in low fronted enclosures, all are extraordinarily friendly and genuinely like the attention from the children. Indeed they are queuing up for you to pet and feed them; even some quite boisterous small children do not appear to worry the animals at all. If you do have a bag of feed in your hand, hold onto it tightly because the goats will attempt to snatch it, they will eat it paper and all given half a chance.
Dragging Klaudia away from the big barn we discover a good variety of my favourite farm animals, the pig. Some, such as the Tamworth, are actually endangered species; they continue to breed them here. There are other breeds too and several colours (sorry I'm no livestock expert!) to admire. In this whole farm with hundreds of animals, waterfowl too, the only really strong smell was from the enclosure with the largest two pigs.
The comment of NOT being a livestock expert actually brings me on to my only criticism of the whole farm. The signage on enclosures could be doing with some improvement. This actually matters not a jot for the large numbers of children, for whom a pig's a pig, no matter how rare or colourful. However for adults with even a passing interest in "rare breeds" it would be useful to know just what breed of pig you are looking at.
For very little cost and effort, the educational side of Hounslow Urban Farm could be immeasurably improved.
The stables were occupied by horses, ponies and some rescued donkeys, a couple of which were obviously in poor shape but were being nursed back to health with plenty of T.L.C.. Behind the stables is a large open paddock, for the animals to exercise in, on the afternoon we were there it was occupied by the most friendly grey donkey that I have ever met. There maybe Jumbo Jets taking off 100ft over your head and a large industrial estate close by, but here in the centre of Hounslow Urban Farm you really do get an authentic taste of being in the countryside. Good signage or not, at the end of the day it is the atmosphere of the place that is all important and this place has it by, if you will excuse the awful pun, the bucket load!
As well as the traditional farm livestock, there are smaller animals here too, equally popular with the children. Guinea pigs, girbils and a very impressive collection of rats are housed indoors to one side of the site. Particularly impressive I thought was the rats 'enclosure', an elaborate affair on both sides of the path you walk down - connected by plastic pipes overhead. These particular creatures tend to receive a universally poor press, here they live in luxury, amusing one and all with their antics.
Like every one of the animals seen here, the rats appear to lead a comfortable and contented existence.
As you would expect in an urban farm there are a large collection of chickens, rabbits and ducks too. For those of us privileged enough to live in suburbia or the country these particular animals may seem fairly common. To the children brought up in the inner city, they are a real novelty.
Generally the facilities here are somewhat basic, this in not after all London Zoo, nor does it aspire to be so. However what you need is there. Good, clean toilets are located close to the entrance and plenty of hand washing stations are positioned around the farm. (Essential to wash hands after feeding animals) As already mentioned if you want to make a day of it and bring a picnic, there is an area here to sit and enjoy it - just do not be surprised to find a four hoofed friend competing for your sandwich! There is also a fast food van serving very basic hot dogs and drinks type fair.
Adjacent to the picnic area, there is a hard play compound, marked out as a pretend farm yard for 'under 5s' where they can have a 10 minute session on a small toy tractor.
All in all, this is a great place with a great atmosphere. A safe, and above all friendly place to take your children, that will not break the bank either.
The whole site is very friendly for the disabled, popular too as witnessed by the unusually large number of wheelchair users here on the Saturday afternoon that we visited.
I would unreservedly recommend Hounslow Urban Farm and, more importantly, the animals who are resident there think that it is pretty good too!
Go and ask them for yourselves!
Hounslow Urban Farm is open Tuesday to Friday 10.00 - 16.00, until 17.00 at weekends and during school holidays.
