REVIEW: KENT LIFE'S 'SPRING INTO EASTER'
While searching for the Easter Bunny, we discover a World War II village
It’s Easter, so we turned the cute dial up to eleven with a visit to Cuddle Corner to find lambs and goat kids gulping bottles of milk and fluffles of bunnies at Kent Life Heritage Farm Park.
If you’re looking for the Easter Bunny, you can find him (and join him on a special hunt) within the Maidstone farm this week, where you will also discover Easter, in every shape and form, poured into its 28 acres.
We fired our children up with chocolate eggs and unleashed them on the farm, where they jumped aboard its gloriously bumpy, land train; got involved in the aforementioned baby animal cuteness and watched Alice, Mad Hatter and friends performing magic tricks at the Big Top Arena’s shows as well as a kiddie disco. Visitors can also make Easter bonnets for a parade and create Easter pots in the Paint-a-Pot Studio.
While searching for the Easter Bunny, we found something far more extraordinary - an entire, Vintage Village from World War II, complete with 1930s and 1950s decor and an Anderson shelter.
It’s a wonderfully immersive snapshot of history, with a Village Hall relocated from Ulcombe, a gloriously Wes Anderson-esque pink, tin wedding chapel, the Granary, the Oast House, traditional Hoppers’ Huts and working blacksmith’s forge.
The weather's brief reprieve from soggy skies meant that although we packed wellies to avoid children resembling Easter eggs, it was relatively mud-free - although it is a working farm, so it's worth packing them for future visits, as most kids would enjoy the mud almost as much as the goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys, meerkats, ducks, alpacas and live owl demonstrations. The hands-on aspect was excellent, with opportunities to feed, stroke and cuddle the animals.
Luckily, our children didn’t discover the three-floor softplay barn, or we’d never have done any of the above. But the outdoor play area was a big hit, with paddle boats, a mud kitchen area and play equipment with a decent age-range.
The Easter Weekend Special runs until 16 April from 10am - 5pm and is excellent value at £12 per adult or child and free for under 2s and Kent Life Members .
It’s open every day, but if you’re after other special events, they have traditional May Bank Holiday celebrations from 29 April to 1 May (complete with Morris Dancers and parades) and a Kings Coronation Day Event on 6 May.
Easter? Completed it, mate.
Kent Life, Lock Lane, Sandling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3AU. Spring into Easter runs until 16 April. £12pp or £44 for family ticket. Under 2s go free.
