There are a lot of Farm-Parks in England, but the ones that we visited were not quite as spectacular as Cornwall's DairyLand. DairyLand is huge and it even has a carousel for cows. You heard me right, a carousel for cows! Interest piqued? Keep reading.
We arrived at DairyLand with zero expectations. For that all we knew, it would be a little farm that we would cover in an hour. Dairyland is enormous! Luckily, our admission of 10.50 (pounds), was good for not just one day, but for an entire week. We went twice and didn't even manage to see it all. There is just so much to do at DairyLand. Here are a few shots of the entrance, including the cafe which had great kid's meals and the gift shop.
The family favorite animals at DairyLand were two Micro-Pigs, named Doris and Gladis. They were cute, noisy and super friendly.
We took the cutest video of the pigs. My favorite part in the voice-over of my step-son, especially when he says "Hello Pigs!". Adorable.
We bottle fed calves, saw a llama, found a really enormous pig, and so much more...
We got lost in the Maize Maze.
DairyLand has multiple play areas for kids, including huge indoor slides, ziplines, trampolines...but the favorite attraction for the kids was probably the mechanical bulls with squirt guns.
Here are a few other pictures from the play areas and grounds.
The most memorable part of DairyLand were the cows.
The highlight of a day at DairyLand is watching the cow milking presentation. Here are the cows, waiting to be milked.
The way the cows are milked is very unusual, it was created by these guys in 1975.
The following picture is a diagram to explain how the cows are milked. I call it a "Cow-ousel." The "Cow-ousel" is not the official name. It should be though!
There was one woman running the whole show. We watched from an observation deck, where we could see the cows waiting outside and also could observe the milking process. As soon as she opened the door, the cows calmly filed in one-by-one. They stepped on the slow moving platform and locked themselves in place, which they were motivated to do, as they were fed treats as they were being milked. Fully bellies and empty udders = Happy Cows!
When the cows are finished with one or two rotations on the machine, they decide to leave and they exit when they get to the door leading outside. Here is a short video of the cows on the " Cow-ousel".
We were all spellbound during the half hour milking presentation. Even the kids watched in rapt attention. It was just so unusual.
Speaking of unusual, DairyLand has a museum component that is filled with old-timey farm equipment and creepy mannequins, many of whom look a bit like Keira Knightly! The best part was that the mannequins each have their own names and the info placards say stuff like, "Anna churns the butter." I loved this part of DairyLand and I spent about an hour exploring it, while Dan took the kids to the playground.
There were also a bunch of old signs.
Here's a pair of funny ones about an old bathroom display.
It's a bit blurry, but Iove this one so much that I had to include it. I think the wording is hilarious.
We are looking forward to many more days spent at DairyLand during our visit to Cornwall this coming August. It's a must-do if you're in the area.
