Spitalfields City Farm and Market

When I set out to write this blog, I promised to recall faithfully both the highlights and the tribulations of our weekly outing.  Unfortunately, dear readers, I'm afraid that this week's jaunt was rather less than scintillating.  Although we aim to make each Sunday as entertaining and child-friendly as we can, sometimes the demands of grown up life intrude upon on our Sunday tradition and we have to actually do things that the children aren't too keen on; shopping, decorating etc.  Today was one such day, our bedroom required some furnishing and we were off to Spitalfields to sample its alternative, funky, Student-smelling wares to see if we could find some objects to fit the bill.  However, being the nice parents that we are, we thought we would try to incorporate something child-friendly to compensate the small people for the hours of stall hunting they would be subjected to.  Quick internet search and hurrah, Spitalfield's City Farm.  'Perfecto' as our Spanish cousins would say.

Warmly dressed, we drove through a maze of dejected looking estates to reach the farm, which was snugly nestled between a small housing estate and a park.  Entry was free so we wandered in, feeling rather like tresspassers on someone's small holding.  We rambled on through an allotment style garden and some eclectic looking picnic/seating areas in search of some animals to which we could make the necessary oinks, quacks and baas for our children's amusement and our one year old's elucidation (we're currently working on our farm animals noises with her).  Rounding a corner, we were confronted by some feisty chickens in mid-brawl.  Much screeching and delight from the children!  Animals - at last!  After some further investigation we managed to find some more farmyard friends; sheep, pigs, goats, rabbits, donkeys, ferrets and erm...cats (I'm going to include the cats as they were in a cat box).  The farm is free and is obviously a community venture with volunteers helping out, so I don't want to be too harsh.  The farm has animals, so that's one important criterion checked off.  The farm has some of the friendliest animals I've ever encountered, in fact; you can't feed the animals so they come to you to be stroked, not to perform the usual farmyard ruse of 'you stroke me, while I steal your bag of animal feed' that always makes me feel slightly used.  

                               

I liked the sprawling, almost spontaneous, layout of the farm,with tree houses and seating areas rising up in strange places depending upon on what the landscape leant itself to, but it was all rather too haphazard to make the farm work effectively; sheds and pens popping up in the middle of paths or hidden behind greenhouses.  Also although there are lots of colourful displays, there are limited, almost non-existant signage so there's a kind of lost feeling as you traipse around.  The farm, in its present state, is essentially still very much a work in progress.  There is the promise of it being a wonderful place to take children in future years but much development, and I imagine funds, is needed to make this happen.  It was fine to take the children for half an hour on the way to somewhere else, but there is not enough there to warrant a visit of any extended length.


Please note, there are toilets and baby change facilities on site, but that's it.  It's definitely a snacks or picnic affair.

                                                     
The children enjoyed the time they spent at the farm and the park next door, but didn't object when it was time to leave (always a sign that they have had enough).  And so it was that we left the small farm in the city and were off to the heaving crowds of Spitalfield's Market.  I'll make a small note about the market, as although it's not particularly for children, the area has in recent years been redeveloped and the market and the surrounding area have lots of things that can assuage tired or dispirited children; cool shops, interesting sculptures, fountains and street entertainers.  So a trip to the market need not be an entirely adult affair.  In fact, our children have always enjoyed traipsing around the market admiring the alternative fashions and odd wares on display, as well as a bit of people watching (there really are some characters to be found here) and there are numerous restaurants and food stalls to quell any hunger pangs.  


So all in all, it was a bit of a mixed bag today.  The farm was an interesting stop-gap but would not be a place I would consider revisiting for a few years, when further development has taken place. But the children enjoyed their time there and Claudia is now pretty fluent in pig and sheep, so it wasn't a wasted journey by any means.


Spitalfields City Farm,
Buxton Street,
London,
E1 5AR


020 72478762
http://www.spitalfieldscityfarm.org/