Middle Farm

I can’t speak for the farm experience as I drove down there from London on a recommendation of their cider. I went to the cider shop to order a few casks for my wedding reception, after trying a few and deciding on the most reasonable, I decided to put through and order. What abysmal service! I had to tell the person behind the counter what needed to be written down, I.e how many I wanted, when I wanted it, and where it needed to be delivered, he wrote it down on some scrap piece of paper which looked like it would be lost in 5 minutes. I wasn’t given a price, a quote for delivery, NOTHING. In fact I was so appalled and doubtful that my order had been taken, I went back in to take some photos of the cider we had chosen so I could call and confirm later.

A week and a half and several phone calls later, having spoken to 3 separate people (I must admit 1 lady was actually competent) I am still none the wiser on the full price nor, confirmation of delivery. I really do not need the stress of wondering whether I will receive the cider for my wedding 4 days before the wedding!

The last person I spoke to was a very rude man in the cider shop who acted like I was harassing him, he only served to tell me that the order was wrong (how is that my fault) and that the lady who helped me is off so he cant tell me any more, he actually tutted when I said I would like to make a payment over the phone for my order! Middle farm, do you want my £500 or not???!!!

I only give them 1 star as the guys who I asked about the bales of hay, seem to understand that we were customers not nosey neighbours. I Will not be going back no matter how good the cider is.

Basic, backward, boring and blatantly rude staff! Went here at the weekend and was so very disappointed as there is virtually nothing to do for the £4 per person entry fee (including for kids over 2yrs). Arrived at midday and there was no feeding, patting, touching or anything similar on offer for about another 3 hours! Walked around and had seen everything in about 20mins! Then went to the cider house and found the owner, who was quite simply rude, unhelpful and arrogant.
Would not recommend this place to anyone.

Everything was great until we went to the cider house. We noticed people were trying various ciders in order to buy the best one. So after trying few (only because we were trying to pick up the best to buy and despite spending £15 on the ciders) we were given nasty comments by the owners of the farm serving customers behind the counter today and even like: “make it your last drink” and " we’ve been watching you". We found them very discriminatory and upsetting. We go a few times a year there and it really made us go off the place! You spend your money and you get treated as if you were a thief and with no respect at all. We think if the owners will carry on like that they will loose they local customers.

A real shame! I’ve been going for years to Middle farm to buy cider, food and going to the apple festival but went today with my girlfriend and had an unpleasant time. The owners of the farm who were behind the counter at the cider house today were extremely rude and unpleasant towards us. I have heard this once from a friend of mine but didn’t experience it before, until today. Having spent a fair amount and traveled deliberately from Hove to go there, I have to say I am put off going back there! Especially spending quite a bit of money on cider and goods in the farm shop. The comment like: “Make it your last tester drink” and “we were watching you” we found very discriminatory, especially after spending a fair amount on the cider. Owner also said that" you can only try at owners discretion" , so the question is why offer to everyone a sample to try in order to pick the best cider to buy, where you will feel under pressure and keep receiving nasty looks from the owners. Very disappointed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mums & Dads! Imagine a fantastic petting zoo/farm that sells a huge range of ciders by volume straight from the cask. Well, imagine no more! Something for you to do with the kids for an hour or two. Something for you to do for the rest of the day when you get home. Brilliant.

I can't believe there aren't places like this everywhere. I can't believe how drunk we got once the kids were in bed.

Bored on a weekend and need somewhere to take the kids? Middle Farm is a great place to go. It is a working farm where children can see it all in action. Brings back memories of a farm in Dartford I used to visit as a child. There is also a fabulous shop where you can buy some really scrummy cakes, plus there is a butcher and obviously you can buy some wonderful fruit and veg too. Don’t forget the cider festival either, or your wellies!

This is a really great place to take children. They can get up close to the animals and often touch them.

My little boy loved it here - there is so much to look at, the chickens even cluck around your feet! Its a great value afternoon out for the family, and there’s a nice cafe to have a cup of tea or some lunch. We didn’t buy anything in the shop but the produce looked amazing, especially the cider! The play areas looked really fun too, a great day out for everyone.

The Cider collection at Middle Farm is unrivalled - pop down and try the widest selection of cider I’ve ever seen. Once you’ve found your favourite select a container and fill it up!

As well as the Cider, there is a great farm shop, with butchers, bakery and delicatessan selling local cheeses.

If you visit with your children a tour of the farm is fantastic - just to see the variety of chickens, play in the hay barn or the outdoor play area - be sure to take a camera.

You could also buy a picnic from the farm shop and eat it on site or at the nearby reservoir which has ample picnic benches and as very peaceful.

There is no charge for entry to Middle Farm, apart from the Open Farm where tickets are £3.00 per head. There is no charge for children under 3. Season tickets also available at a cost £25 per person or child.

Ample free parking, and the car park and farm shop buildings are all within easy walking distance of each other, with good access facilities for the elderly and disabled.

If Cider isn’t your thing - pop down the A27 to Alfriston and the English Wine Centre.

Absolutely fantastic place - We took mini-me to Middle Farm on a recent visit to the coast. It was glorious weather, and we spent nearly the whole day there. The entrance fee was very reasonable indeed for all of the stuff they have to do and see, and as mentioned by DrO2e, some of the animals you can see wandering around the place are funky. The chickens have some mental haircuts indeed.

One of the best and worst things we saw there was the milking of the cows. The worst because you have to see the cows with udders absolutely FULL of milk, and it looks incredibly painful for them to even walk - the best as it really is a unique experience. As you walk into the viewing gallery in the milking sheds you have to check out the rows and rows of milk bottles from the past - including all your favourite 80’s designs (see the picture in the gallery attached to this post).

The hay-filled play barn is cool too, and the kids love bombing around in there. Until you’ve walked on however many kilos of hay there is you have no idea just how soft and bouncy it is - much better than bark chips! The only trouble is it tends to get in your shoes and for hours upon returning home you’re like an extra in an episode of Worzel Gummidge.

In one of the fields at the back of the farm there is a small fairground which keeps the kids bugging you to let them go on rides, but for the Dads there is a real, live Coconut shy where you can win the coconuts you knock off like you did when you were a kid (not like the abysmal school fete I went to last year where you won moody Bounty bars instead.

When you’ve had enough, visit the restaurant for a cracking cream tea or locally produced shandy.

Couple all of the animals with the farm and associated shops and you have a winning way to spend a day. Just take a peg to put on your nose near the pig-pens.

I like to eat a variety of animals and dairy products. Which is not to say I find quite a lot of them pretty damn cute, just that they have the misfortune to taste great with gravy. Middle Farm is a brilliant showcase of animal husbandry with the townie family in mind (wellies are not essential, but certainly useful). It is a working/show farm combination, and if you so desire, you can buy some of the local produce at the nearby farm shop - albeit at some pretty racy prices.

So what have they got? Enough to give Noahs ark a run for his money I would say: Piggies, Llaamas, Goats, Cows, Wabbits, Peacocks, Ferrets and some (seriously) funky chickens to name a few. Quite a few of the chicken and bantam breeds have free roam during the day which really adds to the all-under-one barn roof kind of feel to the place.

There’s also play areas a restaurant and, as mentioned earlier a really fantastic farm shop. Your children/inner child will not be bored.