Review: Reaseheath College Lambing Weekend & Zoo 2023*

Spring has sprung which means it’s time for the annual baby boom at Reaseheath College! Ewe herd me, it’s March which can only mean – Lambing Live! Libby and family review for Yeah Lifestyle.

Ah, Spring. It’s here at last. Snowdrops, daffodils and buds-a-plenty. And over at Reaseheath College in Nantwich, hundreds of baby lambs are expected to be born over the course of their Lambing Live events.

Taking place over two weekends in March, the college, which specialises in agricultural and land-based courses, expects to welcome more than 700 lambs from their flocks of Highlander, Suffolk or Primera ewes with 387 expected to give birth over the lambing period.

We chose to attend the event on Saturday, 11 March and arrived a little after 1pm to try to avoid queuing to get in. Opening time is from 10am to 4pm, with last entry at 3pm. This is a really popular event so we wanted to time it to avoid some of the crowd as queuing to get onto the campus is a possibility.

Upon arriving, the volunteer student car park attendants were extremely helpful and entry to the event was seamless. The campus is well sign posted and we were able to easily make our way to the entrance. It is worth noting that this is a pre-booked event which means you are unable to purchase tickets on the day. You will need to show your pre-booked tickets on the gate to receive your wristband and this also gives you entry to the College’s mini zoo.

In the courtyard there is a Farmers Market and food court area that has been extended to include a much wider variety of eateries and stalls. Here you can purchase a range of hot and cold food including artisan pastries, churros and brownies and there’s plenty of picnic spots and benches if you want to bring your own food and drink.

We decided to start our afternoon by heading straight to the lambing area. You are required to walk through a shallow cleaning trough in order to prevent contamination and you will also need to do this on leaving this area so make sure you pack our wellies or walking boots so that you don’t end up with wet feet!

In the lambing sheds, you will find nurseries of freshly born lambs and pens of expectant ewes. The ewes are separated into different areas depending on the number of lambs they are likely to give birth to, for example, single, twins and triplets. We spent a long time cooing and watching the tiny lambs play with their pen mates and suckling as the Reaseheath workers gave informative chats on what to look for from expectant ewes. There was the opportunity to handle and have your photo taken with a lamb but the queues were quite long and my own tiny animals were getting peckish so we decided to wash our hands and stop for lunch. We brought a little picnic and then treated ourselves to homemade brownies from the Gourmet Brownie Company which were delicious!

Next we chose to make our way to the mini zoo which is just a five minute walk from the working farm, through a lovely little wooded path with scatters of the first blooms of spring and wetland birds on the lake beside the path. The surroundings really are something and I did think how lucky the students here are for being able to study in such beautiful countryside.

The zoo itself has a great selection of animals including, birds, reptiles, and fish and is run by students and staff who are quite happy to stop and chat about the animals and the work they do. They also run a number of informative activities and talks throughout the day, details of which can be found in the leaflet you are handed upon entry. Unfortunately, the weather started to take a turn as we were walking amongst the lemur enclosure so we darted inside and spent some time in the reptile house, trying to spot frogs and pythons in their tanks.

With a slight break in the weather we chose to dash back to the lambing sheds to see if we could witness any new lives entering the world and were lucky enough to see some very apparent signs of imminent birth before things slowed down again. Sadly we didn’t see any live births but there were lots of lovely lambs to watch and enjoy. It made me wonder whether we would’ve had greater chance on one of the earlier weekends though there is no guarantee, its luck of the draw.

Don’t let that put you off attending though, there is something really lovely in watching the ewes prepare to give birth and learning about the signs and rituals they go though and it encourages lots of good conversation about life. And when a ewe pops out a poo instead of a lamb, there are plenty of giggles!

What we loved about the event

Lambing live is a popular, sell-out event with thousands of visitors expected over the course of the weekends. Even so, it is incredibly well-run with plenty to see and do. The staff and students are friendly, welcoming and happy to talk to little visitors about the work they do.

Things to note:

• This event is not suitable for expectant ladies
• Do wash or sanitise your hands after touching any animal
• There will be several food outlets on campus serving hot and cold meals, snacks and drinks and they will also be hosting a Farmers Market once again.
• Reaseheath College is a cashless campus, card payment is available.  They also accept debit card payments and apple pay.
• Dogs are not permitted
• Please wear suitable footwear
• Free car parking

When are Reaseheath College’s Lambing Weekends?

The Reaseheath Lambing Live weekends take place over two weekends – the 4th & 5th as well as the 11th & 12th March from 10am-4pm (last entry at 3pm).

How much is the entrance fee to Reaseheath College’s Lambing & Zoo Weekends?

• Ticket Prices
• Adults – £8
• Children (3 and over) – £5
• Concessions (if you’re a student, over 60 or have a disability, you’re eligible with proof of ID) – £5
• Family – 2 adults & up to 3 children – £25
• Under 3 – free
• We only accept pre-paid tickets – you cannot buy a ticket on the gate.

 Reaseheath College is a cashless campus so only card and contactless payments are available. Some of the Artisan Market stallholders will be accepting cash.

About Reaseheath College 

Reaseheath Hall was built in 1750, then after several years, it was bought by Cheshire County Council in 1919 and had its first Principle. In 1921 it finally became a School of Agriculture (for men only). In 1939 Reaseheath trained the Women’s Land Army, and in 1943 they received a Royal Commendation after training over 1000 Land Army Women.

As the years went on refurbishments and Principle changes took place, and in 1967 the school finally became Reaseheath College as we know it today. Again, in the years that follow, more areas are opened up to expand the teaching facilities that are now readily available. And each year it seems more and more variations in courses become apparent.

The College is located on a huge area of land in the small and beautiful market town of Nantwich and is surrounded by farms and industries that Reaseheath specialises in. If you would like to attend Reaseheath or find out more about it, then head here to their website.

Review by: Libby Dallimore

You may also want to read this:

Family Day Out Review: Reaseheath Family Festival 100

Family Day Out Review: Lambing – Mini Zoo at Reaseheath College

Event Review: Reaseheath College Lambing Weekend & Zoo 2020

*We were provided with free entry passes to the event in return for a review. All opinions are my own.