Churchfields Farm
/Website: www.churchfields-farm.co.uk
Weather: Glorious sunshine that makes your heart sing and your stomach crave ice cream.
Logistics: Just off the A38 and well signposted. The site itself is compact and easy to navigate.
Activities: The main focus here is the really well made ice cream. You could see the milking sheds which was nice, though we couldn't actually see the cows that made the milk that made the ice cream but we were assured they are around. We could however see a horse, which confused the issue somewhat for the littlest ones.
Playground: As you walk in there is a very impressive wooden climbing frame and slide which housed tens of children without difficulty. There was also a real tractor in a shed that the kids could pretend to drive and lots of them seemed to be getting a real kick out of this, though I'm not entirely sure real tractors were designed with child safety in mind. Out the back there were a range of different sized ride along tractors, with ones big enough for even a seven year old to have fun riding. I would like at this point to give a shout out to the lovely children of Droitwich who showed excellent turn-taking and sharing skills on all the equipment. They totally outshone their Hertfordshire brethren who can be, quite frankly, a shower of bastards.
Coffee: No time for coffee due to the massive queue but it smelt and looked lovely. I would also like to give a special mention to the fun sized bottles of prosecco that were also on offer. I think I'd care less about the quality of the coffee if I knew I could switch up to prosecco.
Food: It's all about the ice cream, which is superb. They have it really well organised, with a stall outside for instant gratification as well as the cafe itself if you want more than just ice cream. We went with the stall as the queue for the cafe was huge. The stall offered mainly classic flavours and I would have liked it if the staff on the stall had let me know there was a range of more unusual flavours of ice cream available in the cafe. Mind you, as I had 2 small children clamouring for icy treats nipping at my heels, I can understand why they didn't bother. The ice creams we had were delicious and sensibly they have child-sized teddy cones which went down very well and reduced issues with melting and mess... at least a little. I do regret not being able to try some of the flavours in the cafe but the queue was just to big for me to wait patiently when I could get yummy treats right now (and I wonder why my children have difficulties with impulse control.) They had a great range of adventurous flavours, from lavender to stilton - which I am certain no one has ever eaten more than a taster of without then saying "Ooh, that's interesting, I think I'll have the pistachio thanks."
Grounds: The cafe is beautifully presented, light and airy with a lovely courtyard space outside. It is a small venue but very well designed. It's the kind of place you'd be happy to bring both elderly relatives or small children.
Accessibility: Everyone can access the ice cream and they did have some sorbets inside for the lactose intolerant. Hell, let it melt and you could probably put it through a naso-gastric tube (I don't recommend this without consulting your dietician first.) The play equipment out front is not particularly accessible to children with physical impairments but there was a young lad with mobility difficulties having a good go on the ride along tractors and the outdoorsy-ness gives children with anxiety/attention difficulties opportunites for retreat should they need to.
Overall: We had a genuinely lovely couple of hours here with friends. There was plenty to keep the kids entertained and we all enjoyed the ice creams.