I have lived in London all 20 years of my life and like to think that I have done my fair share of tourism around the city. Although I had heard of Mudchute farm park before my visit, I knew barely anything about it nor how simple it is for me to get to. My morning started in somewhat disbelief that the entrance to the farm park backed onto the right hand corner of an Asda car park, but with this being a rare breeds farm park in the centre of London, my pre-conceived ideas of where a farm could be had to be ignored.

What struck me first was not the animals or the jaw dropping view of the London skyline, but the number of people (particularly school groups and young families) who were there enjoying the animals and open space that are such a rarity in our capital city. In the few hours I was there, I came across the school groups of at least 30 children, countless young families and a few business people enjoying their lunch break in the peaceful summer sun.

I had a chat with a lovely man who comes to Mudchute most days for his lunch break, he works for a bank in the City of London and relishes his 30 minutes of calm that Mudchute allows. He complained about the stresses of his work but quickly followed that being able to come and stroke animals (his particular favourite is the male Middle White Pig) makes his day considerably more bearable. The work that farm parks do for not only rare breeds but for the people who visit is immeasurable and invests the general public in our mission to protect these  beautiful animals.

My morning was ended in the Moomin Dexter paddock getting nudged and pushed as they tried to figure out if I had food. Like all of the animals in my life, they quickly realised I didn’t have their lunch with me and all interest they once had suddenly disappeared!

Mudchute farm park is truly bizarre, being surrounded by rare animals whilst staring out across the sky line of London is very novel and is something that all animal and city lovers alike should experience. The work that RBST approved farm parks and city farms do to make rare breeds accessible to the general public is invaluable.