New play barn opens at Staffordshire farm
A huge indoor play barn is the latest attraction to open its doors at Lower Drayton Farm in Staffordshire now that Covid restrictions have been relaxed.
The move follows a busy few months for the team at the farm, near Penkridge, as they have adapted to offer families the chance to enjoy activities that lay within restrictions during lockdown.
They started with a drive through burger bar and mini-farm safari last February to mid-April, followed by a Spring Unlocked event, that saw the farm’s extensive outdoor play space opened to families.
Now opening the indoor play area has marked a real milestone for the family behind the fun.
Farmer Richard Bower, who farms the 750-acre arable and beef farm alongside his father, Ray, and Ray’s partner, Val James, said: "This has been a project ten years in the planning and we were unfortunate that the first lockdown hit just before we were aiming to launch last summer.
"Like so many businesses, we were left in a very difficult situation, having to adapt all of our plans to try and survive the crisis.
"As soon as restrictions allowed we welcome our first guests to our outdoor-only Summer Unlocked event, which proved such a hit we mirrored it again this spring.
"We were fortunate that we managed to open the full indoor and outdoor attraction for several weeks from September, which provided valuable customer feedback, and we also hosted a very successful pumpkin patch and carving event in October.
"We has ambitious plans in place for Christmas but, due to lockdown, we had to stall these and the next opportunity to welcome visitors came in February with the drive-through burger bar.
"We would like to thank each and every family who has visited us and supported us during these difficult times and the feedback, overall, has been fantastic, and it has really helped bolster the whole team during touch times.
"We are now hugely excited to be welcoming visitors to enjoy the full PLAY@ experience and have already made some additions, including our new grass toboggan raceway and a revamp of the small animal zone, and have lots of exciting plans for the future."
The indoor play barn features a six metre high Astro slide, gravity drop slides, vertigo-inducing skywalk and much more, while a baby area for under two-year-olds caters for the really young, and the under-fives also have a space packed with imaginative role play opportunities.
