Old Down Country Park & Café

“My parents and I visited Old Down Country Park in February, taking advantage of a limited-time discounted rate of £5 per ticket. Although the winter landscape meant bare trees and muted colours paired with rainy, windy, and overcast weather, the chance to see and interact with the animals more than made up for trudging through mud and slippery paths. For just £1 per bag of feed (small, fingertip-sized pellets), visitors can feed a wide variety of animals. Some roam in the open field near the bus, while others are found further along the path in the farm area. I won’t spoil the surprise by listing them all, but I would recommend exercising caution around the ostrich (or a very similar-looking bird), which nearly swallowed my hand, perhaps because we visited around lunchtime. Fortunately, the rest of the animals were gentle and calm. You simply place the feed on your palm and they softly lick it away. Standing just behind a gate, interacting with animals we had never even seen up close before was both thrilling and heartwarming. Being followed and nudged for more feed, hands slightly sticky with saliva, we couldn’t quite believe what we had just experienced. It was memorable in the best possible way. There is also a café and a large green space with playground equipment. My parents, both in their 50s, kindly left the playground to the many delighted young children who were making full use of it. The farm itself is modest and charming, though it could benefit from clearer signposting and perhaps a few more staff members available to guide visitors. That said, there is something enjoyable about wandering around and spotting animals that blend into the grassy, brownish winter landscape. It felt like a small adventure. Improved signage would make it easier to locate the animals from afar, and updated information boards sharing each animal’s name and story would greatly enhance the educational aspect of the visit. Learning more about them helps visitors form an emotional connection, seeing them as sentient beings rather than simply part of the scenery. This became especially apparent when I overheard a conversation between a regular visitor and a staff member discussing a cow and her seven-day-old calf. Moments like that add depth to the experience. It would be wonderful if staff could occasionally share such stories more widely, though credit must be given to the few team members who were constantly on the move managing the grounds. A few additional feeding instructions would also be helpful, for example, clarifying which animals should not be given the standard feed pellets and outlining any hygiene precautions. Such guidance would make the experience feel even safer and more complete. However, the free-range, self-guided format does allow visitors to explore at their own pace, which is part of its appeal. Overall, visit for the feeding experience. It truly feels like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. That said, springtime on a sunny day would likely showcase the scenery at its very best.”

“Lovely place to take the kids, small but can fill half a day or so. Animal encounters was nice, and play area is quite good. There’s a cafe for grabbing a coffee etc. car park is reasonable sized”

“As a wedding venue which we were using it for could not fault Zoe was great but also all the team front back food etc Lovely Gardens out back of the Barn and chill out areas occasionally seeing Kevin the peacock and wife We stayed in a Bell Tent which personally enjoyed lovely pillows, could perhaps use some hooks off the central pole One problem would be the toilets not particularly good even the new ones being built a bit portacabin like raised up with the disabled access being what appears to be a very steep ramp. The Bell Tent toilets same sort of build but pretty dangerous steps and a heavy door. Luckily we could use the Manor house toilets as not in use which were perfect Cannot comment on rest as we did not have time but looked very nice in large well kept grounds”

“It's a really nice place! Animals were well kept and cared for, the play areas for children are beautiful, lovely petting area! The downside to it all was it felt as I was walking around in a farm and felt a little lost, left to it which is good to a certain extent but I didn't know what I was able/unable to feed and where I was allowed to go into as a lot of the places looked a bit empty to me and didn't have signs indicating I was able to go in or walk around and if they did it wasn't clear. It is also quite overpriced I'd say. Me and my son will be coming back though!”