Last weekend, we went back to Cannon Hall Farm, which is in the so-called ‘Tuscan hills‘ surrounding the town of Barnsley. We’ve been many times before, the most recent of which was in 2024, and I last wrote about it in 2017.
Since that visit, Cannon Hall Farm has seen a number of developments. All of the outdoor play areas have been renovated, with new equipment installed, and there are a couple of new indoor attractions. These include a reptile and minibeasts room, and a mammal house, where the lights are kept low as most of the mammals are normally nocturnal. In other words, it’s now a farm with a small animal zoo tacked on. I suppose they had to get a zoo license to have meerkats, which have been there for many years now, and have leaned into it. On the plus side, it means that there are more indoor areas, and so it’s still a good place to visit even if the weather isn’t great.
Still a farm
Despite the new additions, Cannon Hall Farm is still fundamentally a farm. There are still plenty of opportunities to see farm animals, and this time of year is a good time to visit. Many of the sheep have newborn lambs, some of which are wearing woolly jumpers donated by the public. We saw quite a few little bouncy bundles of joy on our visit.
There are also regular sheep and ferret races (pictured above) throughout the day. Get there a few minutes before the races start, and you can get a free coloured ticket; if that ticket is drawn after the race, then you win a free day pass for a return visit. That’s assuming that your chosen colour of ferret doesn’t decide to fall asleep for the duration of the race.
The huge soft play gym is still there, which again is good for rainy days. There are also more food options available; as well as the Hungry Llama inside the soft play gym and the White Bull at the entrance, there’s now a dog-friendly café called the Lucky Pup, also at the entrance.
Expanding into other media
Nowadays, Cannon Hall Farm is well-known nationally, thanks to various TV programmes on Channel 5. They’re also very active on Facebook, offering ticketed live streams for events such as lambing season.
The Nicholson family, who have owned the farm since the late 1950s, have now written three books and a cookbook, all of which can be bought at the farm or online. There’s also a wide range of branded merchandise, including an official set of Top Trumps.
Accessibility
As mentioned, Cannon Hall Farm is on a hillside, so the site is on a slope. However, almost everything has step-free access. Wheelchairs and mobility scooters are available to hire. Assistance dogs are welcome, but ideally with some form of identification – it is, after all, a farm, and so untrained pet dogs shouldn’t be brought along as they may upset the animals.
There is a Changing Places toilet next door at the Cannon Hall Museum (which I also wrote about in 2017), however, the museum is shut until next month. Having one on site, as well as a dedicated quiet space, would be really good additions to improve accessibility for people with more profound disability needs.
There is a £3 charge to park on site; it’s pay and display (cash and cards accepted), although you can also pay in advance online when purchasing tickets. If you want to visit by public transport, there’s the number 94 bus from Barnsley bus and rail interchange which runs every two hours to the nearby village of Cawthorne. From there, it’s about half a mile off-street walk through the Cannon Hall Country Park.
Entry prices vary; midweek is usually cheaper than weekends. Carers get in free with a paid ticket, and Max card holders can (at the time of writing) get up to two free tickets – one each per paid ticket.