After seeing this urban farm from the train so many times on my way into Waterloo, I was delighted when my daughter said that she’d quite like to visit.
Within five minutes of leaving Vauxhall train and tube station (via a quick cookie stop at Starbucks) we arrived at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens – the entrance of which is marked by two huge tall black columns. It was interesting to read about the history of the park which is now just an expanse of grass with undulating hills and some sports courts.
Walking across the grass we soon spotted an Alpaca pen – with, as we were advised on the web site, an inquisitive Jerry the Alpaca peering over the fence along with his two friends. They were friendly enough – but, like llamas (yes, we’ve been llama trekking in darkest Surrey) they don’t like being touched. But they sure eat grass.
We crossed a small road, watching some horses being led around – there are facilities for riding here. Passing through a small entrance (with clucky chickens behind glass screens) we arrived into an open area with a roof containing lots of basins to ensure that you wash your hands after petting the animals. There were signs here about gardening classes in the classroom.
Following a group of children we turned right to find lots more cages containing noisy chickens who were scratching around in the dirt – looking more carefully we spotted some other creatures sharing their space including a large rabbit. There was a small aviary of budgies and parakeets and a life size model of a cow with explanatory material about how their stomachs work. There were some seats and flowers here for those who wanted to sketch. Throughout the farm there are pretty mosaics embedded in the floor and on the walls.
In the ecology garden we admired a fabulous tree-house on the ground – a six sided structure that could be used for play or instructional briefings. There was a small pond here too – covered in duck weed so rather green. We couldn’t see any inhabitants of the bug hotel but that didn’t stop us having a good look.
We returned to the central area and walked out to the other side where there were lots more stables. Here we met pigs, goats and rather friendly sheep. The kids were delighted to see ducks and geese splashing about in a plastic paddling pool and a puffed-up turkey strutting around. His funny nose made the kids laugh.
The small animal barn contained chicks and ducklings. And the kind volunteers even took a duckling out so that we could stroke his downy coat. Other inhabitants of the barn included some perky ferrets, some sleeping Chinchillas, some hiding fancy rats and lots of guinea pigs.
It’s a small farm but entry is free. And the vast grassy areas outside the farm are perfect for picnics. There are several other City farms in London – at Hackney, Spitalfields, Kentish Town, Stepney, Wimbledon (Deen) and Mudchute so there’s bound to be one near you.
vauxhallcityfarm.org
Twitter @VauxhallFarm
http://hackneycityfarm.co.uk
http://www.spitalfieldscityfarm.org/
http://ktcityfarm.org.uk/
http://stepneycityfarm.org/
http://www.deencityfarm.co.uk/
http://www.mudchute.org/
