One of our trips out this week took us to Umberslade Farm Park. For obvious reasons the Farm is closed at the moment but the local estate has very kindly opened up the surrounding fields for the Umberslade Estate Walk.

Booking was easy online and numbers are limited for each time slot which ensures there is good social distancing in place. You have to pick a time and a day to go.

You start and finish the walk at Umberslade Farm Park. On arrival, park in the normal car park as if you are visiting the farm and follow the signs up to the area in front of the new play barn where you will be checked in and talked through the walk.

So, with map in hand, we ventured out and went on an adventure over the fields. You don’t really need a map as you just need to follow the yellow markers and white arrows that were dotted around the route. It is very well signposted.

The weather was very kind to us and the children thoroughly enjoyed running freely on the paths, finding many a pine cone as we went.

The route is 5km and we were advised that it should take 1.5/2 hours. Once you reach halfway at Umberslade Hall there is a shortcut back to the farm. We did the shorter route as the little legs we had with us weren’t quite up for the longer route.

There were no gates to open on the walk so in theory you could take a buggy (we did see someone with a buggy) however the ground was quite uneven and paths quite narrow amongst the farmer’s crops so navigating a buggy would be tricky. We wouldn’t have attempted it with a buggy. I wore my youngest in her baby carrier.

The walk is suggested for 5 years plus but we took our under 5’s and they managed it perfectly. It obviously depends on your little one. Ours are pretty good walkers so we had no worries that they wouldn’t be able to finish the walk.

Dogs are permitted on the walk but must be kept on a lead at all times.

Unfortunately, due to a power cut in the area, the Café closed early but ordinarily they are open, for takeaway, from 10-3...there are picnic tables outside for you to sit on and enjoy a well earned drink and cake when you’ve finished. Toilets and baby changing are open at the farm park but there are no facilities in the walk.

You even get the chance to see a couple of the animals at the end of the walk.

Tickets are at £5 (plus 50p booking fee) per adult, and £3 (plus 50p booking fee) for children over 5. 10% of the ticket price goes to the charity MIND. Advanced booking is essential to help control numbers.

Tickets are available from this link: Book Tickets