A visit to Amelia Trust Farm
A visit to a farm is always a great family day out, but finding one that will also allow dogs is a bit of a rarity. Amelia Trust Farm in the Vale of Glamorgan is one such gem. We visited during our #GlamAdventure weekend in February.
About Amelia Trust Farm
Amelia Trust Farm is a charity working with vulnerable and disadvantaged young people that is also open to the public. Entry is free with all donations going towards the running of the farm, which has an army of volunteers.
You can see pigs, sheep, goats, donkeys, chickens and some very amorous frogs if you go at the right time of year. There’s also an outdoor play area complete with a sit-on tractor, a bird hide, woodland walks and – Tin Box Tot’s favourite – a gnome and fairy trail.
The cafe serves cakes and hot and cold sandwiches. You can also hire it out for children’s parties – there was one happening during out visit and it looked great fun.
Our visit
It was a bright, sunny day, so absolutely perfect for wandering around and meeting some animals. We arrived as the farm opened and had no problems parking up in the grass car park along the entrance road.
There’s a suggested donation for parking, which is a bit of a bargain considering entrance to the farm is free.
Our first stop was the cafe so we could give Tin Box Baby her mid-morning milk. While there we couldn’t resist a hot chocolate to warm us up ahead of our walk around.
Next up was the gnome and fairy trail where you search for these little people in the trees. Tin Box Tot soon got the hang of this, running ahead of us to find the next tell tale sign of a gnome or fairy. It was great for keeping her interested while we enjoyed the woodland walk.
At the bottom of the gnome and fairy trail there’s a pond and bird hide. We were told there were quite a few frogs to be spotted and after a bit of squinting we could see dozens of them getting in the ‘spirit’ of spring. Amelia Trust Farm will soon have quite a few more residents – that’s all I’m saying on that matter.
Further round the pond you come to a bird hide from where you can view the wild fowl that visit this little oasis at different times of year. We were entertained by the ducks on this occasion.
Back up at the main farm buildings we met sheep, rabbits and ferrets.
Dogs are allowed on the farm because the sheep kept here are not bred, so there’s no chance of worrying a pregnant ewe. Even so four-legged visitors must be kept on leads at all times.
We completed our visit with a sandwich in the cafe, which was by now heaving with families enjoying everything the farm had to offer.
We were at Amelia Trust Farm for a morning but could have stayed all day having not taken full advantage of the play area, meeting all the animals, or taking a look at the amphitheatre and herb garden.
What we loved
- It was dog-friendly, meaning Tin Box Dog could accompany us on our day out.
- The ethos of the farm is great and you can tell that the volunteers love being there.
- There’s a lot of family fun to be had for a free day out, so it’s well worth feeding the donation pig.
Amelia Trust Farm can be found not far from Junction 33 of the M4. It is open from 10am until 4pm 1 October to 31 March and 10am until 6pm 1 April to 30 September.
Disclosure: we were invited to visit Amelia Trust Farm during our #GlamAdventure in there Vale of Glamorgan and Bridgend, South Wales, as guests of the Vale of Glamorgan Heritage Coastline and Countryside team. All views are my own.
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Looks like a fantastic place to visit. My little boy loves farms and so do I! Tin Box Tot looks like she had a great day out. That hot chocolate looks good, yum! Thanks for linking up to #MyFavouriteTrip Polly x
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Oh we so love visiting farms – they have the best homely feeling to them – with lots to see and do! Love the sound of Amelia Farm 🙂
What a lovely place, and even better when it’s free! I love the idea of the gnomes and fairies on the walk, definitely a good way to keep my daughter walking too. #countrykids
Sounds like a lovely place! We have a lambing opening day tomorrow to visit! Love trips to the farm 🙂 the puddle suit looks very comfy and warm! #CountryKids x
Enjoy the lambing! That’s going to be super cute! x
Looks like a lovely place to visit. Gorgeous photos too x
I am actually wishing that this is near us! Sounds like a nice place and the best part for me is that its free! #countrykids
What a great day out for you all, it’s fab that Tin Box Dog could accompany you on your farm day too. The Fairy and Gnome trail sounds great, there’s nothing like the promise of a fairy sighting to keep a little one entertained on their woodland adventures. Amelia Trust really do seem to have thought of everything, it’s great that there’s so much to see and do there and you could go back and find something you hadn’t spotted last time. Thanks for linking up with me on #CountryKids.
£2 is a real bargain! That looks like such a fab farm and I would be going for that hot chocolate alone 🙂 #countrykids
What a lovely farm! My kids adore days out like these and I am so happy spring is finally coming so we can start leaving the city more regularly. Love that chocolate too, it makes even cold days out worth it 😉
Absolutely! I think we need to make it a farm day out tradition 🙂
This looks and sounds like a great day out!! Our girls love a farm visit and how amazing that it’s free. Also, that hot chocolate looks pretty amazing. Now I really fancy one. Thank you so much for linking up to #mycapturedmoment xx
Have one! You deserve it Heledd. Hope all’s well x
It sounds so lovely, I ma so sad our two are growing out of farms, we could get Joe to one at a push but Jack no chance. I just adore sheep so I would be in my element. I would love a couple of sheep although I am not sure I would trust Toby with them he has already eaten 2 chickens, he is such a sweet dog until he gets near chickens ! Claire your new theme looks fab too x
Thanks Sarah. Oh no, maybe farms aren’t for Toby! 🙂 x
This sounds like such a brilliant place! There is so much I love about it, from suggested donations to working with vulnerable young people, it sounds amazing. I love the pictures, the animals all look well cared for and the walk looks fab with a lovely hot chocolate if anyone needs an incentive. Hooray for more baby animals soon too ha! A lovely captured moment Claire xx
Thanks Lisa. It is one of those places with so much going for it! x
This farm sounds lovely! Our little girl would love the gnome and fairy trail as well. We really like visiting farms. There is always so much to do and see. Our little girl is having her birthday party at a farm in a couple of weeks 🙂 #MyCapturedMoment
Aww, what a fab idea. I hadn’t thought about a birthday at a farm until we saw it happening at Amelia Trust Farm. It’s ideal! x