Longdown Activity Farm
Longdown Activity Farm is a popular tourist attraction based in Ashurst, at the edge of the New Forest. It is a real working farm with the emphasis on providing a hands-on farmyard experience for young families with a daily schedule of activities ranging from bottle-feeding kid goats to the Animal Encounter Barn. There are also plenty of larger, friendly farm animals like cows, donkeys and even a Shire horse to meet.
Playtime is fun at the farm with lots of exciting outdoor and indoor play areas including a soft play area, crazy golf, a trampoline and straw den, and swings and climbing frames. The popular Longdown Farm Shop, which is open year-round, stocks a large range of delicious locally-sourced produce including a range of gluten-free products.
The tourist attraction began its life in 1983 as an educational unit after Bryan and Dawn Pass diversified their dairy unit. Since that time Longdown Activity Farm has educated vast numbers of school children about milk production and farm animals, and continues to welcome back local schools year after year. It also has a mobile farm which provides an outreach facility for local schools, hospitals, care-homes, and social gatherings.
The Pass family are passionate about their work with local assisted needs groups, and with groups of young people who may have found academic success hard to come by. The Farm focuses on young peoples' potential to progress and provides the right environment for them to develop the practical and social skills they need, whilst a thriving volunteer scheme also provides similar opportunities.
Longdown Activity Farm have provided training and work placements to young adults with disabilities and learning difficulties for 16 years and are currently working with MENCAP and Brockenhurst College who send in a group of up to 10 students each week to undertake some of the day-to-day farm chores.
Long Down Dairy Farm's Changing Places Toilet has been nominated for a national Changing Room Award
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Lesser celandine blooms illuminate woodlands, and heathland edges.
Fallow deer remain in single sex herds, the bucks at this time always separate from the does.
Curlews return from the coast to breed in and around the New Forest's wetter areas.
Red admiral butterflies are increasingly seen on bright, sunny days.
April
Redstarts are amongst the first returning long-distance migrant birds that arrive in April.
Large red damselflies take to the wing, the first of many such species that will soon be seen in the New Forest.
Bluebells blossom, sometimes in good numbers in ungrazed woodlands.
Badger cubs usually first appear above ground towards the end of the month.
Sadly, 58 animals were killed - 35 ponies, 13 cows, 8 donkeys and 2 sheep, whilst a further 32 were injured - 3 pigs, 9 donkeys, 11 cows and 9 ponies.
(Forty-three accidents occurred in daylight, 15 at twilight and 101 in the dark. Twenty-seven accidents were not reported by the driver involved).
Here's just one horrific example - Three donkeys killed in collision with van at notorious New Forest blackspot (Advertiser and Times)