Following the announcement of the national lock-down, we are, again, closed.
Facilities and Restrictions:
Tier 4 restrictions: We have now closed all indoor attractions on the farm; the hatchery, pig walk through and creepy critter barn. We are also reducing interactions with our staff so have temporarily stopped the pony sit-on. If you have visited before, please expect this to be a much simpler visit with a chance to get some fresh air, feed the animals and, if dry, use the play areas. We are reducing the price by £2 per person (adults and children) to reflect this.
The Big Play Barn, which is normally an additional upgrade to the farm ticket, is closed until further notice.
The Tractor Trailer Ride has not run since the first lockdown. To compensate, we give every paying child a £2 gift voucher so they can takeaway a toy.
Toilets and Play Areas: Open
Animal feeding: Included in child entry. We give each paying child a bucket of food (cleaned between uses) to offer the animals.
Cafe and Shop: We are now only able to offer take away food. We have a small selection of gifts/toys which can be seen through a viewing window and collected from our takeaway hatch, as our shop is also closed due to the restrictions.
Before booking, please read this additional information ...
Rule of 6: We recognise that gathering rules are confusing. Please stay safe and book for just your household or bubble. Please do not coordinate group bookings with other friends or family if you intend to form a larger gathering that breaks the current rules for your area. Please support us on this matter by not trying to circumvent our booking system. Note: a bubble is an official support bubble, not a group of family or friends, nor children that go to school or nursery together.
Travel: We are in Tier 4 at the moment. We can not advise on specific travel rules relating to individual bookings but we ask that you follow general guidance to stay local. Should you choose not to come because of a travel restriction we will honour a free reschedule if given notice, according to our cancellation policy. (see the note below the booking link for full details about cancelling)
Masks and Safety: We recommend all visitors wear a mask while on the farm, even in outdoor/covered barn situations, especially when in the same vicinity as our staff or other visitors.
CLICK HERE to book your ENTRY TIME
Cancellations: Bookings are generally non-refundable but we'll move your slot if you let us know 3 hours or more before your entry time and your request is due to illness or isolating. We are 90% undercover so we do not accept reschedule requests because of wet weather.
Message us on Facebook or use our contact form and we will get back to you. We do not accept telephone cancellations, it must be in writing by one of the above methods. Our preference is a free reschedule but should we need to cancel your booking, we charge a fee of 10% of the original booking cost, up to a maximum of £3, to cover bank fees. We will refund part of your ticket if for reasons of illness (or isolating) one or more of your party can't attend, however this will also incur a 10% charge to cover the transaction fee.
FAQs
I am a carer, how does it work for me?
We allow one free carer for a paying disabled child or adult in your care. Please book online as normal, leaving the carer off the booking completely. We cannot refund carers after booking.
Please be prepared to show proof of status either of the carer or the person who is dependent on you. We accept the following. If you can't provide one of these then please book and pay for your adult:
Valid Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance award letter
Valid Personal Independence payment award letter
A current valid Blue Badge
A valid letter from your GP stating the need for a carer dated within the last 6 months.
Do I pay for a baby?
We charge normal child entry from 12 months. Under 1s come in free, but if your child is near 12 months and may appear to be older to our staff, then please bring photo proof of DOB on your phone in case we ask. We are sorry to ask for that but unfortunately we do have instances where much older toddlers are declared as free-entry "babies" … a photo of DOB on a birth certificate, passport or red medical book clears that up straight away. Some parents opt to pay for their under 12 months child as they wish them to have the bucket of animal feed, pony-sit-on, hunt-for-an-egg, etc. If you wish to do this then please add them as a child to the booking.
Can I add more people to my booking after I've made it?
Once you have your entry slot, if you wish to bring more family or bubble friends on the day, then they can tag along and pay on the door. Just tell us on arrival and pay the balance. You can't add people online after making the booking, so just bring them on the day.
I have a voucher. Can I use it?
If you have at least one paying person (with no voucher), book as normal but leave off those with vouchers. Bring the voucher on the day to hand over for the non-paid-for entries. Only contact us if you have vouchers for all of your group so therefore have nothing to pay; WE STILL NEED TO BOOK YOU THOUGH. Please check your vouchers are valid at any time. Some have restrictions printed on them.
Opening Times
We are open every day apart from a few days after Christmas when closure dates will be posted here.
The farm and play barn are separate attractions and have different opening times and admission fees, although a combined ticket can be bought reducing the total cost should you wish to visit both.
Children's Farm
9.00am - 5.00pm at the weekend, 3pm during the week. Last entry 2 hours before closing.
There are organised activities that happen through the day for your child - egg collecting, chick chat, sit on a pony. These activities are all included in your admission and are available weather and season permitting. See the Things To Do page for more information and activity times. Tractor ride currently unavailable. No bottle feeding until next Spring.
Big Play Barn - Now Open Again
If you are choosing a combi-ticket, it is usual to visit the play barn approximately 1.5 hours to 2 hours after your farm visit. Combi tickets are available from the farm calendar ... they are scattered through the timetable and are priced differently.
Admission Prices
Children's Farm
Children: £9.95
Adults: £9.45
PLEASE NOTE: in the short term, as lockdown is eased, we are still unable to run tractor rides. In recognition of this, children will receive a 2 pound souvenir voucher to spend in our gift shop. Please check our home page for details of what's on. After 4th July, most is on and our customers have been raving on Facebook about how great their visit has been.
Children's admission includes ALL extra activities (chicken chat, bucket of animal feed, find an egg, bottle feed when available, etc.) For this reason, admission is required for all children who will get a card to access the activities. If you have a young baby (under 12 months) then they can enter the farm free of charge but do not participate in the organised activities unless you choose to pay their admission.
See the Things to Do page for full information about activities included in your admission.
I am a carer, how does it work for me?
We allow one free carer for a paying disabled child or adult in your care. Please book online as normal, leaving the carer off the booking completely. We cannot refund carers after booking.
Please be prepared to show proof of status either of the carer or the person who is dependent on you. We accept the following. If you can't provide one of these then please book and pay for your adult:
Valid Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance award letter
Valid Personal Independence payment award letter
A current valid Blue Badge
A valid letter from your GP stating the need for a carer dated within the last 6 months.
Big Play Barn ... closed at the moment
Midweek: Simply upgrade on the day £5 per child.
Weekends: RARELY AVAILABLE ON THE DAY
Options, listed:
A) Grab a value ONLINE combi-ticket: choose a ticket time from the farm booking calendar that is labelled COMBI farm + play barn. This adds £5 to the child price (or £3 for the last few bookings of the day).
B) If there are no online combi-tickets left and you wish to guarantee play barn entry: book a JUST FARM ticket and then book a separate ticket on the play barn website, subject to availability, at a suitable time (we recommend 1.5 hours to 2 hours after your farm start time).
C) Take a chance on an on-the-day upgrade: this is cheaper than option B but tickets are extremely limited. Please ask when you enter the farm (£5 per child).
Special Events
Despite the news about the region's restrictions we are still able to go ahead with our Christmas Event with a few alterations to ensure we offer this safely within the rules.
On our farm booking calendar you will find tickets that include Farm entry AND the Christmas event. While on your farm walk-around, you'll encounter Santa and be able to visit our Nativity with real animals. There's a tree treat for all children and an an optional present (present ticket purchasable on the day, £3).
All our current farm activities are included. The Farm + Christmas ticket is £12.95 per child (not including the present ticket). It is not possible to attend the Christmas event separately.
TIMES:
Look out for tickets that say Farm+Xmas on our booking calendar.
How to BOOK: these tickets are available on our standard farm booking calendar
OR
The Play Barn Christmas Breakfast: CANCELLED! We hope to still run this from Friday 18th but this is dependent on how long the tier restrictions stay in place for this region. We have left booking open but please await further announcements on the play barn website.
This year the play barn's Santa Experience is being run as a Christmas Breakfast. All tickets for the first session of the day are exclusively for the Christmas Breakfast. The cost is inclusive of the time to play; a big breakfast and the Santa event. Total time is 2 hours. Tickets are limited to ensure the atmosphere in the play barn is relaxed with plenty of space to play and eat safely. Visits through the Santa area will be organised family by family ensuring social distancing and one-on-one time with Santa, himself.
The cost is £22 per child and £12 per adult
TIMES:
From 8.45am there are three staggered early entries. This is available on weekend days and in the final weekday run up to and including Christmas Eve. The event finishes each day at approximately 11am when the play barn will be closed for cleaning before general entry for play barn visitors through the rest of the day. During that time there is time to eat, time to play and time to visit the Christmas area.
How to BOOK: these tickets are available on a special booking calendar
Find Us
Ash End House Children's Farm, Middleton Lane, Middleton, Nr. Tamworth, Staffs.
Postcode B78 2BL for your satnav.
We are just south of the village of Middleton although we don't recommend you travel through the village itself. The easiest access is from the A4091 which is the main road that runs from The Belfry, past Drayton Manor Park, to Tamworth. Please don't approach us from the A446.
From the A4091, look out for signs directing you along Park Lane which runs into Middleton Lane. The farm is about one mile from the main road.
Coaches must approach via the A4091 and are by appointment only. All coaches must stay on the property for the duration of the visit.
Latest News
We recommend you follow us on Facebook for the latest news 'from the horse's mouth'. Our staff post pictures regularly and there are win-a-ticket competitions too.
About Us
Opening Times
Admission Prices
Christmas
Find Us
Latest News
