Racing piggies

What is it about watching piggies race? Whatever the weather the prospect of witnessing them hurtle round competing against each other always generates a smile. Coupled with hearing POD shout “piiiiiigs” at the top of her two-year-old lungs.

Welcome to Bocketts Farm, the home of pig racing.

We discovered it initially when I was on maternity leave in 2011. Located near Leatherhead in Surrey it’s a working farm that enables you to get up close and personal with the animals. Having taken the obligatory antihistamines to ensure I didn’t feel like 84 cats had rampaged my nose, POD and I arrived at Bocketts Farm. Unusually there were just a few cars in the car park. POD looked at me as if she’d been sent to Iceland (the country not the supermarket). She quickly became accustomed to the freezing conditions by refusing to wear her monkey gloves or hat.

I’d brought POD here because some piglets had been born a couple of days earlier. POD hadn’t seen piglets before so I was looking forward to her face brimming with excitement when she saw them. She’d be thrilled.

POD shouted “I see ducks” (they were geese) near the entrance so she spent a few minutes saying “hello” and waving at them. Her knowledge of how to forge relationships with geese is somewhat limited. As is mine.

At the entrance we loaded ourselves up with some animal fodder. POD had previously been too afraid to feed the animals but she came close when we visited last time. Worse case scenario she could just watch them slobber all over mummy.

First we hit ‘Little Hoppington’ which is a small animal village and home to goat milking. It’s also where various rabbits and guinea pigs are located. Each has its own house so it’s reminiscent of an animal Monopoly board. This is where I re-live my childhood dream of wanting a lop eared rabbit.

The rabbit request came after the Wombles scaring. The lady that lived in the house my parents bought told me the Wombles lived in an oak tree in the garden. There was a huge hole at the bottom of the tree and I spent much time poking a stick in it calling for Orinoco. I was only five. I didn’t know Wombles weren’t real.

POD thought the “babbits” were amazing until they hopped at which point she kept her distance. Little Hoppington was also home to a number of other small animals like chickens and mice amongst others. We also saw some budgies. Utterly amazed, POD spent a few minutes shouting “chicken” and “bird” before staring at another unidentified animal racing around its cage.

It was a promising start. POD was out of her buggy and raring to go. Until she saw a horse which scared the living daylights out of her. We quickly scurried to The Big Animal Barn spotting more geese (ducks) on the way in. Here we were totally spoilt. There were sheep, lambs, donkeys, goats, kids (as in baby goats), cows, calves and alpacas. Not forgetting a huge mummy pig and all her gorgeous little piglets.

The conditions were close to arctic at this point. We had made progress, POD did have her hat on even if the monkey gloves weren’t getting a look in. Having not warmed to the animals initially, POD loved watching the alpacas, goats and sheep eat from mummy’s hand. She came close to giving the goats some food herself, just getting a bit spooked when she held out her hand. Having shown POD the cows and the donkeys as well we headed over to see the piggies.

Just as we were about to see the mummy pig and her piglets, the sheep starting bleeting. POD’s not heard sheep bleet before so the noise took her by surprise. Once over the shock, we spent some time looking at the mummy pig and the piglets that were all huddled together. After patiently waiting, one of the piglets finally left the group in the hunt for milk. It took a few minutes to find a teat he could get a grip on but when he did there was no stopping him. There was then this amazing scene like a piggy free for all whereby all the piglets were clambering over each other trying to get to a teat. Lots of peeing followed accompanied by POD’s commentary “pig boob” and “pig go wee wee”.

Aside from the wobble, POD had a great time in The Big Animal Barn despite it being incredibly chilly. It wasn’t the day for revisiting the play areas and adventure trails. We did get so see the pigs race albeit from a distance and POD greeted the all the ponies with “hello horse”.

Before  we left we paid a visit to the Old Barn Tearooms where we had some lunch and checked we still had all our toes. We had to make a move when POD started rocking back and forth in her highchair. The area is great in the summer as there’s a large outdoor space and wooden play area. Anywhere that allows POD to be free and show off her climbing skills gets our vote. Bocketts Farm is a truly wonderful place though whatever the weather. More information about what’s on there can be found here.