Isn’t it wonderful when you’ve lived somewhere for a few years and still make new discoveries? The Sculpture Park near Farnham in Surrey is one with another the brilliant British Wildlife Centre. Based in Newchapel near Lingfield, the centre is designed to educate the public about different species living in the wild. The British Wildlife Centre has been open since 2000 with the founder’s inspiration for the centre coming from pioneering conservationists like Gerald Durrell, Sir Peter Scott and John Aspinal.
One of the things we loved about the British Wildlife Centre was how close we could get to the animals. There were also 15-minute talks that took place every half an hour which varied from red squirrels, foxes and wildcats to otters, red deer and polecats. We missed out on the red squirrel and owl displays which sounded like they’d be super impressive although six-year-old POD was thrilled with the hedgehog talk as she got to see one up close.
You could easily lose a couple of hours at the British Wildlife Centre as there’s plenty to see both indoors and out what with The Barn, The Hedgerow, the Nocturnal House and the observation Badger Sett. We missed seeing the red squirrels but we know for next time to arrive early so we don’t miss the talk and catch a glimpse of them. There are around 40 other species to see from voles, rats, moles, otters and polecats to stoats, foxes, mice, rats, rabbits and mice. We liked the wetlands area too as there was lots of space to have a runaround and watch the deer close up when we needed a rest. We’ll certainly be back that’s for sure.
