Wythenshawe Community Farm

Wythenshawe Community Farm is a registered Charity. It was established in 1984 so it’s now 30 years old. It is located in the heart of Greater Manchester and is the only working farm in South Manchester. The farm was set up by local people on the site of Sharston School rural studies area and moved to Wythenshawe Park in 1998. And let’s not forget it was the citizens of the North of England around Rochdale who gave us the Co — Op movement. The idea was and is that the farm could help the local area by providing an enjoyable and interesting place for people to come and visit; giving everyone a chance to see and learn about a traditional working farm. The farm offers exciting opportunities for children to learn how vegetables are grown and harvested, see an array of farm animals and livestock which includes at the present a prize winning Hereford herd of cattle which proved very successful during the last 5 — 6 years, pigs and piglets, sheep and lambs, goats, a pony and various ducks, geese and hens. The farm also has an extensive breeding programme which provides opportunities to see young animals at varying times of the year. The farm is of great environmental value for the local population. Volunteers of all ages, abilities and gender contribute much to the successful running of the farm. There’s a wide range of volunteers that contribute from 14 years to retired people. There’s a café which opens thru the summer and all are welcome to come visit the farm free of charge. Also there’s a nearby kids play park.

Being a city girl, I don’t often get the chance to oooh and awww over cute little baby farm animals. Then, myself and a friend stumbled upon this Wythenshaw Community Farm during a day out, and — as soon as I held my first baby chicken, and coo’ed over a teacup sized rabbit, it was love.
Wythenshaw Community Farm is a fully working city farm as well as a registered charity, which means they will ask you to make a small donation when you go there. But it’s worth it to spend a few hours in the company of sheep, goats, ducks, incredibly friendly pigs, and even a few incredibly cheeky Llamas! (One of which attempted to eat my handbag, the cheeky bugger).
Whilst it is full of cute and furry little critters, this is not just another pets corner, so you will see helpers milking, mucking out, feeding and all those other rather unsavoury bits of farmyard life. The farm also provides horse riding lessons if you’re looking to don your jodphurs and prepare for your next gymkhana.
Wythenshaw Community Farm is a lovely little place, and the ideal place to go if you’re wanting to waste a few hours and tickle some pigs under their chin.

I stumbled on this city farm accidentally during a day out to Wythenshawe Park, but it’s pretty amazing! With a few different pens to explore, you can see cows, sheep, goats, pigs, ducks, horses, bulls and birds. In the spring and summer, you can usually see some babies too. Last year, they had some adorable piglets!
I think it’s a lovely opportunity for city dwellers like me to get close to animals you’d usually only see in the country. Entry is free, but there is an option to make a donation to the Farm, which is a registered charity.