Hogshaw Farm & Wildlife Park — Attraction in Hogshaw

I’ve given 3 stars because the farm itself is fine, and we have visited on numerous occasions in the past as a family of 4, though this will likely be our last visit.

My family are currently visiting from Australia and we decided to bring them here, so my husband booked for a group of 9. On arrival, my husband checked in, was given the animal food we had pre-paid for and we made our way through. At that point, some of our party were stopped and asked if they had checked in. Later on, my mum realised that one of the children had left a glove at the shop. She went back to retrieve it and was again asked if she had checked in. About 15 minutes later, whilst we were exiting the farm animal section, my family were approached by two members of staff. Their reason for stopping them was that they wanted to check we had paid for entry. I then had to call my husband over to prove that we had paid and checked in.

I want to give the staff the benefit of the doubt and say that some unconscious bias was at play here. My husband was the only white member of the party, the rest were dark skinned and it felt as if the assumption was made that we couldn’t possibly have been with him (if this isn’t the case, then who did they assume to be the other people on his booking? It wasn’t a busy time after all). What made it particularly strange was that I’d earlier spoken to them about one of our party falling ill and not being able to make it, and asked about their refund policy (FYI tickets are non-refundable, which was what we expected) so we had very obviously paid for tickets. Regardless, it made us feel a bit uncomfortable that we were sought out and treated with such suspicion. We also noted that no apology was made once it was established that we had paid for entry.

So my feedback would be that perhaps the staff could benefit from the appropriate training to prevent situations like this from happening...

I visited Hogshaw Farm for the first time today with my grandson. He absolutely loved it there. The play area and sandpit were great (as far as he was concerned) and he loved visiting the Animal Barn and the opportunity to hand feed the goats and Ewes. I enjoyed my visit, but having run a children orientated business for 30 plus years before retiring, I just wanted to to say that Hogshaw Farm is a great place to visit but I think they need to “up their game” in a couple of areas. 1. The cafe was busy but grimy with debris under the tables, dirty windows (and window frames) and rather sad. Staff were hardly engaging too. Maybe customers are complacent because they are visiting a farm, but the café could really do with a facelift and a good clean. The menu is fast food orientated and it would be good to see some healthier options. The salad, soup or sandwich choice for adults doesn’t exist! It also doesn’t take much to wipe down tables, clean the floors and empty the bins (which were overflowing). As mentioned above, the staff were not engaged. The soft play area was a hit with my grandson, but I could see dust on the framework and the tube slides. The playground was great but more bark chippings and raking around the equipment was needed and better signage for the wash stations. It’s an extremely popular place for families, but it could be really really fantastic with some tlc in some areas. There was a fantastic cinema barn too. However so much wastage with pick and mix sweets all over the floor and free popcorn (which must cost a fortune...

Been to visit several times when it was Green Dragon however today was my first trip since the rebrand and I was a bit disappointed if I’m honest. The main attraction is the animals and that section, as usual, was really good. Animals are well cared for and love a bit of human interaction (especially if you’ve got some food for them!).

The let down on this visit was in three areas: the indoor section with the bouncy castles, toys and play pits was disgusting. Crusty sandwiches from the day before (we arrived at 10.30 so definitely not from today), crisp packets, spilt drinks that had dried due to not being cleaned, safety mats for the bouncy castles scattered across the floor. Really let the overall experience down and looked like it hadn’t been checked over at close of play the day before. cafe staff in the area with the soft play were quiet and disengaged. Lad who served me used about two words in the whole exchange. ride on tractors at tyre circuit were in various stages of disrepair with a couple showing visible cracks to the exterior and some appearing to have broken pedals as they wouldn’t move unless shoved.

All in a all a disappointing visit however I can see that money is being spent as some areas have been updated such as the introduction of the new play area outside and the splash park (although I believe this bit is temporary).

Will be back as my kids love it but hope to see the areas mentioned above given a bit of consideration as part of the ongoing...