Wheelock Hall Farm near Sandbach, Cheshire, boasts what may be the largest outdoor play areas in the region, featuring slides, obstacle courses, go-karts, a zip wire, wooden forts, mazes, and jumping pillows spread across sprawling fields. As a mum to two active boys and a journalist who has visited nearly every play area in the north west over the past decade, I can confidently say this is one of the most impressive family attractions available.
Field After Field of Fun
The farm shop offers field after field of fun, especially on sunny days, providing a full day of outdoor activities for children. Even if the weather turns rainy or if you need a break from the sun, there is an enormous indoor playbarn on site. The farm shop itself is massive, featuring a gift shop, fresh fruit and vegetables, cakes, meat, and dairy products. Entry to the shop and adjacent cafe, set in former farm barn buildings, is free.
To access the play areas, visitors must purchase wristbands: £12.99 per child and £2.99 per adult. Once purchased, wristbands allow re-entry all day from 9am to 6.30pm. The farm can get busy on sunny days, with cars filling the adjacent field car park. However, visiting later in the afternoon often means the crowds thin out, and if you stay until closing at 6.30pm, you may have the fields mostly to yourself.
Play Areas and Attractions
Adults will get their steps in across the play fields while enjoying the rural scenery. The top field now hosts a huge wooden play fort with multiple slides, offering views across the fields to Sandbach and surrounding corn and cow fields. Two large jumping pillows, surrounded by soft white sand, are also popular with children.
As a working farm, visitors can wander to see lambs, goats, sheep, chickens, and horses. A barn allows meeting newborn lambs, goats, and pigs seasonally. There is a dedicated wooden play area for younger children next to the indoor playbarn, which sits beside sheep fields. The indoor playbarn is farm-themed with large animal decorations, a vintage tractor for photos, a large playframe, and a small indoor football and basketball cage.
Food and Refreshments
To persuade children to leave, ice cream from the shop is a reliable incentive. Cheshire Farm Ice Cream is available at £3.50 for a single scoop or £4.50 for a double. For more substantial meals, the tearoom in a converted barn offers cooked breakfast and lunch items, with indoor seating and outdoor seating in a walled garden with swings. Visitors can also bring their own food and drink, with large seating areas inside the playbarn.
Best Times to Visit
According to the article, the best times to visit are later in the afternoon to avoid crowds. On my last visit, we didn't have time for go-karting or the tube maze, but the children enjoyed the zip wire and obstacle course. The farm is open daily including bank holidays from 9am to 6.30pm.
Location and Directions
Wheelock Hall Farm Shop is located on Crewe Road, Wheelock, Sandbach, Cheshire, CW11 4RE, about a 40-minute drive from Manchester. From the M6, it's two miles off Junction 17: head onto Old Mill Road, follow the A534, and the farm shop is just off a roundabout before the Haslington bypass. The nearest train station is Sandbach, two miles away.
