I don’t spend much time in South London. When you live north of the river in East London, it’s not that easy to get to the other side of the Thames. God, how I wish they’d build an extra bridge.
So I am embarrassingly unfamiliar with any place whose postcode has an ‘S’ at the start. In an aim to change that, I set my sights on Surrey Docks Farm in the heart of Rotherhithe.
As I hopped on the C10 and sped along through the picture-perfect streets towards my destination, I was full of hope. Anything cute enough to be in a YouTube compilation gets my vote and I was sure the farm animals wouldn’t disappoint.
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The pile of pigs was almost too cute to bear
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
The entrance to the farm is along the Thames path and is easy to spot. Aside from the welcoming signs and vague sounds of goats bleating, the veritable oasis of a garden stretched before screamed ‘pretty family farm’. As I entered, I was blown away. The entrance garden was no more than a sliver of what Surrey Docks Farm housed. A ramp led down past the cafe and I had a bird’s eye view of the farm while behind me, literal birds – in this case, ducks – quacked away.
From my vantage spot, I could see cows, goats, sheep and skyscrapers. Any thought of my love for North London banished, I skipped down the stairs towards the farm’s inhabitants. As I got down to their level I made direct eye contact with a cow and I felt my heart grow three sizes.
I got up close and personal with a cockerel
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
I was lucky enough that someone else purchased a bag of feed for the cow to happily lap up and I managed to sneak my hand in and give it a good few scratches. I’m no cow whisperer, but I think she liked it. I was distracted by a clucking to my left and as soon as I sat down to have a closer look a cock came rushing towards me, clearly mistaking me for some really tasty corn. Luckily, there was a fence in the way.
The cock’s next-door-neighbour was a drove of young pigs. I didn’t see what they were at first because they were piled up in the summer sunshine in a veritable mound of snoring. I let out a squeal of excitement so high-pitched when I realised what they were that I woke one piglet up. It didn’t look happy.
The goats were so friendly
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
And around the corner from the pigs I spotted the farm’s prize attraction: the goats. There were goats walking around, goats napping, goats climbing rocks and most important of all, there were kids chasing after their mothers and bouncing around like toddlers with too much energy – which in essence is what they are. I’m not ashamed to say I stood there for a long time. After a while, some goats even wandered up to me and demanded a head scratch. Did I oblige? Is the sky blue? Obviously.
After a while, the kids came up to me too and in a moment I’ve stored in my mental album under ‘most adorable thing ever to happen to me’, one of them started suckling on my finger. The little nibbles made me melt and also made me feel very sorry for the mama goats’ udders. So caught up was I in my goat wonderland that I nearly forgot to visit the farm shop. And though it was small, it was mighty.
The shop sold home-grown produce
(Image: Lea Dzifa Seeberg)
Surrey Docks Farm operates an online shop where customers can click and collect produce but their physical shop is stocked and open too. There were freshly laid duck and hen eggs, potted plants and lots of edible young plants like chard, mixed salad and parsley. The farm even had its own merch with plushies of cows, guinea pigs and rabbits alongside toys and kids’ books. I even spied a fridge with minted lamb burgers that looked extremely tempting.
As I made my way out of the farm back towards the Thames, I was in a mood I can only describe as ecstatic. I had a lovely morning in the sunshine, a goat had nibbled on my finger and the serene, quiet atmosphere at the farm had briefly made me forget I was heading back to the office. Despite the Thames being notoriously hard to cross in East London, it’s an effort I’m more than willing to make for my new furry best friends.
Do you have a hidden gem you think we should know about? If so, email [email protected] or [email protected]
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https://www.mylondon.news/whats-on/surrey-docks-farm-rotherhithe-animals-23993880
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