Swithens Farm — Attraction in Leeds

This is our second visit to Swithens as we loved our first visit so much, we returned again! There’s lots to do on the farm and love that the lamb and calf feeding are included in the price. Our 1 year old did the lamb feeding and enjoyed it. It’s safe and there’s so much to see, the animals are well cared for and the play areas for the kids are great. Last time, our visit was 5/5 stars, couldn’t fault it! However this time, not so great. I don’t often leave reviews but thought this was worth it as just some feedback.

We ordered some food at lunch and were one of the first customers in the cafe. We ordered one of the kids meals which is okay for cost, a build your own meal with a cup of juice. Last time, there were no issues with it so we got it again.

On this occasion, not fantastic. The chips and fish fingers were like crisps. Not exactly burnt but just looked and felt like they’d been cooked in oil that was far too hot, or like the chips especially were reheated leftovers. They were hard and hollow. Completely inedible for a child. Now I don’t think a child with all their teeth would’ve been able to chew through them, never mind a very young child who doesn’t have a full set of nashers yet. The bred on our chip butty and sausage sandwich was so dry it was crumbling too - but this is secondary to an inedible child’s meal.

Again, I can excuse this, but what happened next was disgusting really and has put me off purchasing food there again. We asked if we could at least have some fresh chips for the kids meal, the staff member looked puzzled and asked why, to which we pointed out they were like crisps and not suitable for a child as they’re hard and sharp. She took them back to the kitchen and where our table was placed allowed me a clear view into the kitchen. The ‘chef’ prodded and poked at the plate and scoffed at it, showing all of the kitchen staff and laughing, in a very careless way. We then got a new plate with only around 5 chips on it. Granted they were now fresh and not burnt but it was what I witnessed through the kitchen door that isn’t acceptable.

I’ve worked in hospitality for years, in closed and open kitchens and I would never dream of having this response when it’s so evident that the food was inedible - ‘closed’ kitchen or not.

Now I really don’t want this to put me off returning as I really do like the farm and think it’s a decent price compared to others around. But the food standard for children’s meals especially, and how the staff react to issues, needs to be...

Ok so here's my honest review. We went it was £4 per adult which is totally fine as it goes on the upkeep of the farm/animals. Man behind the till in the foyer was very friendly and lovely. We went to see all the cows and calves which were happy and appeared healthy which is always nice to see. We even got to bottle feed them too which my son loved. We said hey to the cows and then went to see the lovely piglets and pigs in another bit, fed them carrots and give them a stroke as you do. Then we went into another pig area. These pigs were huge and clearly full grown. My mum noticed a pig covered in blood and a lot of pigs screaming. It was evident that two male pigs have been having a scrap in an enclosure. The pig that had blood on its body had a cut to his ear. The lads removed the injured pig to another area. This was obviously distressing to witness as they were still trying to fight in the process of trying to separate them. When the injured pig was removed the other male then tried to mate with a sow. One of the men told a lady that the sow was in season. Now if the female was in season then obviously putting two males in the pen will cause aggro? Now this female was screaming and trying to get away from this male and I mean the sound was awful. There were various other children there too. I had to remove my 3 year old away so he couldn't see what was happening. I'm an adult and I know this is what happens in the real world but for a family day out you don't want to traumatise your child. We went into the garden centre after this. Some nice garden ornaments which were good priced. It was dated. There was stock there that was sun damaged and dusty as if it's been there since 1984. We didn't go to the cafe but it was busy. Parking structure was also good. Butchers inside looked good too. Kiddies play area was fun for the kids. They had trampolines haystacks sandpit large play area and other things so he wasn't bored. We went to see the donkeys/alpacas outside too which were lovely.

Anyway if it wasn't for the pig conflict it was a nice day out. Animals were cared for, play area was good and good...

What an amazing day we had here!

First off, the negative reviews you might see, it's a farm, it's going to smell, if it didn't I'd be concerned. If you want to visit somewhere that doesn't smell, please don't pick a farm.

Now that's out of the way, I want to tell you how awesome this place is! We arrived, and as an anxiety sufferer, I was nervous about visiting a new place, but the lady on the desk just told us about it, and it made it so much easier. We bought a tub of carrots to feed the animals with (it was only 50p) and I wish we'd bought a few more tubs because it was so enjoyable giving them carrots instead of grain like most places do. I think this place is perfect for 7/8yr and under. They have standard farm animals, cows, pigs, etc, then they have goats, donkeys and alpacas, and a small animal petting zoo with rabbits and guinea pigs. There's plenty for your kids to do, there's trampolines, a bouncy castle, a playground, 2 sand pits, tractors to ride on, a free mini outdoor play area and a low price indoor one too. We visited in the middle of winter and it was such an enjoyable day, I can only imagine how wonderful it would be in the summer.

We spent around 4hrs here, but I do think in the summer, it would be able to spread for even longer. It's also perfect to come is you're a lone parent with a child/children, because you're stopping and starting constantly going to see new things, it doesn't feel tedious just sat there alone like it might in a soft play. Wellies are nice if you have them, but a lot of it is nice concrete so not too sloppy. We didn't try the cafe, but the staff all seemed really friendly and...