Lambing weekends at Wroxham Barns

Last year, when lockdown was lifted, one of our first days out was to Wroxham Barns and we all had an absolute blast. It was one of the places that Erin was the most looking forward to going again so as soon as they released their tickets for the lambing weekends I decided to plan a day out.

Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, you do have to book and pay for a ticket online and choose a time slot for your arrival. You cannot just turn up on the day and most of the days end up sold out or close to it anyway. Booking our tickets was really easy and we had plenty of choice for when we wanted to arrive as I booked quite a few weeks in advance.

As we don’t drive, we have to get a train first to Wroxham and then a taxi to Wroxham Barns. Normally, this is really easy to do but unfortunately on our visit day there was rail replacements with buses and it completely messed up our timings. It made our morning a bit more stressful than normal but we did get a McDonald’s breakfast out of it so it wasn’t all bad.

We arrived 15 minutes before our allotted time slot which was just enough to use the toilets and then head over to the Junior Farm to start our day.

Junior Farm

Our time slot for entry was 10am so this meant that we had to start at the Junior Farm. Entrance is staggered between the Junior Farm and the Fun Park to help spread people out and maintain social distancing. We were the first people in as well and it meant that we were able to walk around without there being too many other people.

Usually, there is lots of food available buy for the sheep, goats and chickens but we were only able to buy chicken food this time. As the animals had some time off with everywhere being closed they weren’t used to being fed so much and needed a bit of a break. Feeding the animals is one of Erin’s favourite things to do so she was a little bit disappointed but understood when we explained the reasons why she couldn’t.

We visited at a time when there was lots of lambs and a couple of kids that were only a few weeks old. Erin had been learning about baby animals at school so this was perfect for her. Watching the lambs was a great way to spend some time in the morning and we got to talk to Erin about them.

Junior Farm has other animals too such as pigs, Shetland ponies and alpacas called Ant and Dec! Now that Erin’s a bit older she doesn’t want to spend quite as much time in the Junior Farm but during your visit you’re able to go back as many times as you like so we did that later on in the day.

Fun Park

The place Erin looks forward to the most is the Fun Park and I think she would spend all day there if she could. The Fun Park is included in the entrance price and again, can be used all day for no extra cost.

Inside the Fun Park you’ll find mini golf, giant jumping pillows, ride on go carts, a train ride and a few other rides. Now that we have been a couple of times Erin definitely has her favourites and was desperate to go on the jumping pillows as soon as we got there. Just opposite you’ll find the ride on go karts too and this is another one of Erin’s favourites. She gets very competitive with the other children and loves to zoom around the track.

Rides at the Fun Park include the Jumping Frogs, Train, Toy Set and Pirate Ships. Even though we went on a sold out day there was never too much of a queue for any of the rides. The only exception was the train and there was a bit more of a wait for this one. The rides are also cleaned down in between uses so that does slow things down a little bit.

An 18 hole mini golf course is also included with the Fun Park. Some of the holes are quite tricky for young children and do involve water! We got round quite a bit better this time compared to our first attempt last year but it still resulted in tears and a couple of walls in some horrible looking water!

Packing a picnic

As our day out had additional expenses for taxi, buses and breakfast we chose to take a picnic with us for lunch. Wroxham Barns does offer hot and cold food options, which you can order by phone and have it brought out to the undercover seating area.

There is plenty of seating, whether at picnic tables or on the grass and we didn’t struggle to find somewhere. Obviously, if the weather is nice you’re going to have a better time with a picnic but it’s nice that there is somewhere undercover to sit outdoors. No one wants a soggy sandwich!

You can find out more and book tickets on the Wroxham Barns website.

PIN IT FOR LATER