Cannon Hall Farm and Museum

As you might remember from my long time no see post, on my birthday weekend I went to Cawthorne to visit Cannon Hall Farm and Cannon Hall Museum.  We got up early and headed towards the Farm first of all.

I hadn’t been to this farm since I was a child so I was presently surprised by how much had changed!  It was around 4 times the size, had lots of new and different animals, playgrounds and entertainment.  After we passed through the shops and entered the farm I was handed a leaflet detailing the day’s activities, the first thing I noticed?  The next activity was ferret racing, yes ferret racing, officially the most Barnsley thing I’ve ever heard of!  We went to see some of the birds, sheep and other livestock before heading towards the ‘arena’.

Ferrets are a lot slower then I thought!  However this was really funny to watch, we both lost our ‘bets’.  We wandered around the rest of the farm and there was a lot to see, a great variety of animals from the usual sheep, goats and pigs to lamas and bunnies.  Also, as it was spring, there were lots of baby’s, so much cuteness!  I did a lot of petting!  Soon it was time for the next organised activity, sheep racing!

This was much more fast-paced then ferret racing!  For each of the activities, you go to a fake betting office and place your bet ( no money is exchanged, you just get a ticket) and if your sheep/ ferret wins they pick a number and you get a free return ticket, a great idea!  I have to say the course and how it was ran really impressed me.  I obviously picked the red sheep as it had a Minnie mouse teddy ‘jockey’ but we lost again!  We had a few more hours looking at the animals before we left for lunch.  Honestly, I thought we would have been about an hour here but we were actually here about 4, if you have kids you can expect to be here even longer, there are around 4 playgrounds so lots for children to do!

After this we headed away from the farm towards the museum and grounds, it is worth noting that these are run separately, even though they are in the same area.  We didn’t go into the museum at first, instead of heading around the front for a picnic on the grass.  The grounds themselves are huge and is a popular place locally to come play ball games, have picnics and hang out with family and friends.  From where we were at the top of the hill we had a stunning view and it was a beautiful sunny day, great for a picnic.  We hung out here for a while before heading towards the museum.

The museum is inside what used to be a stately home and the building itself is beautiful.  I wasn’t expecting the museum to be very big but it was a pretty good size, you can easily spend an hour or two in here and it’s completely free.  The museum is split into different areas, partily is about the history of the house, containing original artwork and furniture, and the rest is a regimental museum.  Both were really interesting and the staff are very knowledgeable.

From here we headed back to Cannon Hall Farm for ice cream before walking around the grounds, there are two specific gardens, the fairy garden and the cottage garden that we looked around quickly before heading back for tea then home.  Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to be here for more than a few hours but we filled the whole day easily and the only thing we had to pay for was the farm which at £6.95 each was very good value.  Opening in June they also have a maize maze so I would defiantly recommend it if you are looking for a day out in the area.

Have you ever been to Cannon Hall Farm and Museum?