Jane and James Gowing and their 3 children moved to Bocketts Farm in 1990 after sheep farming in the Orkney islands for 5 years and Abergavenny for a further 8 years. When they arrived the farm house and surrounding barns were derelict…
Our Story
Once upon a time...
Bocketts Farm Park is a working family farm run by the Gowing family who opened it in 1992. Jane and James are first generation farmers who grew up in London and Kent. After picking brussel sprouts on the windswept Isle of Thanet for 6 weeks and spending a year on a farm in the northern Orkney Isles, James was inspired to farm and spent a year at Wye agricultural college after graduating from university. Jane and James then moved to the Orkney Islands where they bought their first sheep farm and they have been farming ever since.
Firstly, The Tearooms barn was renovated…
…and the kitchen extension built.
The main farm building needed lots of work…
…and a new agricultural barn was built.
Access was very limited and so a new driveway and car park were put in place.
Outside, paddocks were erected for our sheep and cows …
…and some logs, old tractors, a small fort and swings made up our first play area.
1992
After 18 months of work we opened the doors and welcomed our first visitors on the 22nd May 1992
Since then we have added acres of outdoor adventure play, indoor play areas including two soft play barns, a gift shop and many more animals. Our main play barn was once our lambing shed!
Education has always been very important to us. We have been welcoming school groups since we opened and now 20,000 school children visit us on educational trips each year
2010
In 2010 Jane and James’ twin daughters, Hannah and Becky, returned to the business after university and they are now responsible for the running of the farm park.
Over the past decade we have continued to add new facilities, animal areas and exciting play areas. We have also invested in renewable energy, installing a biomass boiler and 160 solar PV panels that are used to heat our water, play barn and offices.
We are still very much a family run, working sheep farm and visitors can still enjoy watching us at work every day, whether that be lambing in the spring or watching farm machinery go by. We are passionate about providing a fantastic family day out that is clean, safe, educational and most importantly, fun!
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Play Time
From a huge indoor soft play barn to jumping pillows, trampolines, and acres of outdoor adventure, there’s plenty to keep children of all ages active and entertained.