This past weekend Family ALBOS were invited to go along to Lower Drayton Farm to experience their PYO Pumpkin and new Play Barn.
First off let’s talk about location, Lower Drayton Farm is approximately 20 minutes south of Stone, a quick hop onto the M6 at J14 and off again at J13.
Upon turning into the farm we were met on the lane by a team member with a clipboard who checked us off her list, tickets are sold online and the team member had a list of all those due that day. It was nice getting a couple of emails on the run-up to the day confirming our booking and advising us to take wellies and gloves!
As the sun was shining we decided to head to the pumpkin patch first to pick our own pumpkins – tickets for the PYO are £6 per person and you each get a pumpkin for that to take home.
Parking for the PYO pumpkins is in a field, a field that was very muddy on the day we visited, we were greeted at the field entrance, advised where to park and told that if we got stuck they’d be over to give us a push! Thankfully despite the heavy mud, we navigated the field with zero problems and actually didn’t see anyone get stuck.
Once parked up we headed to the entrance, this was hay bale walled affair with a line of pumpkins to guide you in. Once inside we were advised to grab a wheelbarrow – of which they have lots of different sizes and types – and then head round towards the pumpkin field for further instructions. We selected two of the child-size wheelbarrows as our children wanted to pick and push their own pumpkins. All staff wore branded clothing, complete with name tags and they all wore masks. It was good to see the returned wheelbarrows being wiped back down and advise was given regarding social distancing.
Please note, this is a farm, this is a field, this is going to be a muddy experience. It’s not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs, especially not with the mud so baby carriers are a must if you have little ones and less able members can still access the carving facilities.
The field is a sea of pumpkins, of all shapes, sizes and some different colours too! There are no paths so you just head on in and find the pumpkin that’s right for you! It was at this point that we realised that the small child wheelbarrows look great but they aren’t terribly easy to navigate with, it all added to the fun of the experience but we soon upgraded to a daddy size wheelbarrow and found our four pumpkins! With our pumpkins secured we could choose to go to the carving area and carve them out, there were lots of tables and staff on hand to help with this. We chose not to do that, instead deciding to load them into our car and make a separate occasion at home of carving our pumpkins! More details on the pumpkin PYO, plus how to book tickets, can be found at – https://playatthefarm.co.uk/pumpkin-picking-patch/
Family ALBOS verdict was that this was a great experience for the whole family and we will certainly be back in future years to do it again!
With the pumpkins loaded into the car we decided to head in to explore the play barn, which is way more than just a play barn!
The facilities here are very new and I must say very impressive! There’s an enormous soft play area within the barn which is closed every couple of hours for 30 minutes whilst they clean it, there’s also a cafe in the main barn area with reasonably priced food – we had two adults and two children’s meals for £26 including drinks.
At the far end of the barn you can enter “The Animal Zone”, an area where children can see and sometimes handle chicks, rabbits, guinea pigs, meerkats and a terrapin – this lead to an outdoor animal area which is undercover and had pigs, goats and cows.
Due to COVID restrictions, there are lots of hand sanitizing stations, one way systems and an abundance of toilets and handwashing facilities. This may be a farm but it’s the first place I’ve visited which had fancy Dyson taps that had hand driers built into them – way cool!
There’s a second barn area that’s a bit more “rustic” with big slides in it, including two drop slides, there’s also an indoor picnic area and peddle tractors too!
Once we’d done the inside and had our food it was time to explore the outside, due to COVID again, there are rules for how many people or bubbles can access each area and our children had fun on the zip wire (I went on too), inflatable bouncing pillows (one for 3 and under and one for 4+), water and sand park, treetop adventure, swings and peddle go-carts. There’s also a couple out inflatable outdoor slides, under a barn, and there are a few pigs and an owl to see too!
The play barn had party rooms and outside terrace too so can definitely see it being used and accessible all year round!
Cost wise the barn is free for under two’s with anybody aged 2 and over having to pay £8.50 to £12.50 depending on the session. There are discounted family tickets available too and it’s certainly got enough there that you can spend a whole day and get your money’s worth!
The verdict from Family ALBOS is that it’s somewhere we will definitely head back to, the upstairs and rooftop seating areas are somewhere us parents and grandparents can retreat whilst the children have an absolute blast! Check out the website for more details on the play barn – https://playatthefarm.co.uk/play/
Disclaimer: We received free tickets to this experience however when we do this it’s always on the proviso that we will write an honest review as if we had paid for the tickets. We can’t recommend this place enough, it’s got something for every child to love – we had an absolutely fabulous day!
