Us off t’farm

Ey-up, today was Tricia’s day for us to visit Cannon Hall Farm, which she follows on Facebook. The Farm is a working farm that is open to the public and has many attractions for visitors. Those attractions really work—it was busy, and the car parks were full. They restrict entry numbers, and you have to buy tickets ahead of time.

It was an hour's drive, plus a recharge at a Tesla station on the outskirts of Harrogate (curiously named Crimple Hall). We successfully navigated our way, using a Leeds bypass with some scary roundabouts, the M1 (which runs slowly because of traffic volume), and a few narrow country lanes.

The farm was well-organised, although it took us a few minutes to figure out exactly where to go. We trotted off and had a look at some rare-breed sheep, Shire Horses with foals, then moved to an encloser with Prairie Dogs (I have no idea why), a Red Squirrel enclosure (they are rare in Britain now), and a small mammal house with various exotic small mammals (rats, mice, armadillos, sugar gliders, and more). Then we wandered of to the barns where there were Hairy Coos (aka Highland Cattle), Shorthorn cattle, donkeys, goats and sheep.. We had a break from all of this excitement and then went back for a talk by ‘Farmer’ Daryl on some of the origins of the farm, their pedigree Hairy Coos and Shorthorn cattle, the pedigree herd of Shire horses, and the Reindeer(!!!). Daryl was very entertaining.

After a good look around the farm shop (big enough for three checkout lines) and the gift shop, we wandered back to the car. Aunty Google took us back a different way (she knows best). This still involved narrow lanes and slow motorways, but it was a lovely day, and the countryside here is beautiful.

Another quick jog to the supermarket for more supplies, including a Hobgoblin Ruby beer purely for medicinal purposes.Read more