Butterfly World & Farm Park — Attraction in Lydiard Tregoze

I have so many issues with this place from unhelpful staff to terrible signage. We visited as a family group with young children, elderly & disabled. I was disappointed by the whole experience and upset that we chose to visit here after thorough research. I wish we’d gone somewhere else.

There's a good range of animals for a fairly small farm. The sections are nicely divided, and the animals seem quite well cared for but the positives end there...

There's no site map so missed sections. This is despite so many signs everywhere!! Yet there is no consistent signage across the site - it's all old, faded, repeats with conflicting info, a lot of "do not/danger/warning" signs. It's super confusing! This starts from the car park where faded/old signs haven't been removed. It was extremely chaotic.

Once in, it’s not always obvious what’s in each enclosure due to bad signs. We walked past the aviary 4 times before realising you could go in as there's several signs saying 'children can't enter alone' or 'keep door closed' but no "Walk Through" sign. The sign saying 'no prams inside aviary' is half way around so that's really useful... We couldn't find the owl or ferrets.

Several staff were rude/unhelpful. We were told no food even if packed away. Another told us to get out of the cafe if we had our own food (including a baby!). One told me the only toilets were outside of the farm park by the cafe (we later found out there's actually some in the farm too). One woman refused to let us in the barn for goat play time because it was "too full" despite making up numbers and changing her mind to let in others at random. Our group got split up but she continued to refuse entry after play time had ended and most people had gone.

The website is wrong. It says there's trailer rides around the farm in Summer. There aren't. I was told there never has been? We'd looked forward to this so it was very upsetting.

Some animal events aren't on the website (no mention of egg collecting, reptile talk, or goat play time). Others not running. 2 badly positioned event boards give no information about the location of events. No one announces an event is starting so a few times we were right next to one but didn't know.

Animal feed is a waste of money as not clear who to feed this to. The bags say 'poultry' or 'cows, donkeys, goats' but there are signs saying 'don't feed me'. The lack of a site map and poor signage doesn't help as if it was animals outside with a "Feed Me" sign that would be obvious. We ended the day with lots left.

"Picnic area" is a joke. Wish I'd taken photos of it. It’s a few benches by the car park. It’s very run down and dangerous!! There's no gates to the car park so small children can just run out. Lots of smokers here which is very unpleasant if eating. You can smell the nearby landfill which is gross!! It's full of brambles & litter with 1 small bin. Some benches are broken. Some are alongside a fence with a tiny faded "warning electrocution" sign & an electric wire low down and in reach!! We worked out it wasn't on (thankfully) but the wire was cut and the long metal wire left trailing on the ground - yet another hazard!! There's no shelter so no idea where you're expected to go in bad weather. 2 more groups also had their birthday cake/song in this awful area & it would have been much nicer to have a sheltered, safe space to go. It's also difficult to have to leave the entire farm park and your group in order to give a toddler a cracker. It's miserable to end a day out singing happy birthday in a smelly car park.

Butterfly World was disappointing. There were hardly any butterflies. I've been to 3 others where you can hardly move for them. We often couldn't see any or only 1-2, even when looking hard. We could have overlooked this if there hadn't been big issues with everything else. I'm glad I didn't pay extra for a party package. This place is best avoided until they make significant...

Very disappointed with our experience visiting here.We were going to see the butterfly farm and buy some plants but decided against it after our very unfriendly experience walking through the toy and book area. Our son wanted to look at a book and as his Nanna likes to buy him a little present on outings we wanted to see whether he liked the book or not. No sooner had we looked at the book a staff member came up to us and asked us whether we intended on buying a book and said that CCTV had seen a littleun picking up a book(!) I told her that we had bought items previously and were looking to see whether we would be or not! She apologised and pointed to her phone and said it was just what she had been told to say to us from whoever was watching CCTV. We were so surprised and taken aback that we left. If you go to a book shop you can look at the books to see whether you want to buy it or not. We pick up plants to see how healthy they are before buying, if you go to buy an item of clothing, normally you try it on to see if it suits before purchasing...so why can't a very well behaved and quiet 2 year old not look at a book to see if he likes it or not?!! We saw a couple of kids in the Aquatic centre pull off toys all onto the floor and the staff around them didn't say anything as their parents let them. Yet we just quietly look at a book and get told we are being creepily watched on CCTV by some job worthy manager I presume. We won't be going back. It is a very run down building and a higgledy-piggledy layout. Water drips through the ceiling and there are buckets of water and ladders covering the damp patches in the Aquatic centre. Prices of items do not reflect the environment they are sold in (expensive in a cheap and not very cheerful environment)! The same goes for the restaurant that charges prices you would see going to a much nicer setting and to top it off you're not allowed to look...

A lovely day spoilt by an aggressive, argumentative member of staff. We chose to visit for my grandsons birthday because it was half way between our homes. My sons family live in Gloucestershire, we are from Berkshire. We ate at the cafe, took 3 children into soft play and 9 of us went into the farm and butterfly house. Then had ice cream, visited the shop and treated the grandchildren to a present. It is a little run down and you definitely need to keep a very close eye on the children. A plank fell off the meerkat enclosure, a lot of the fences were wobbly and the health and safety elf hasn't visited in a while I quite like the way it was a bit rough and ready. Especially with the lovely informative staff at the farm. They really cared and it showed! One lady answered questions from all of us and explained about the pet raccoon and how he was saved. The children got to hold a chicken, pet a rabbit. The carpark was almost empty so we were chatting and letting the little ones play with their toys. A boomerang went over one fence with an opening onto waste ground and I retrieved it. Later it went over the fence at the side and my son jumped over and threw it back. He saw a member of staff and explained why he was there and this person was so RUDE. Could hear him from the other side of the carpark! He then kept coming out and shouting at my son. We were just getting the kids rounded up and into the cars. He kept coming out and shouting, going on about cameras and we were going to be in trouble. Even said 'do you want to come here and say that' to my son. I stepped in and asked from a distance for him to leave us alone and he still wouldn't stop. We would be in trouble, we were out of order, police would be called ( for retrieving a boomerang, brought fron your shop!!) he also called me a FAT KAREN!! despicable man. I look forward to a response...