Lackham Lambing – one of the highlights in the spring calendar!

This year’s lambing weekend at Lackham  takes place on the 30th and 31st March when visitors can enjoy a great day out looking at the lambs and maybe even see one being born!

“The annual event is now in its 25th year and we are excited that around 800 ewes will be lambing,” said Trudi Hodges from Wiltshire College which runs the Lackham centre.

“Between them they are expecting 491 sets of twins, 96 triplets, 200 single lambs and three sets of quads.

“Throughout the lambing period farm staff and our agricultural students and apprentices work on rotas day and night to ensure the safe arrival of the lambs.”

Ian Revill, Assistant Principal for Lackham added: “Lackham has had an important role in educating people about farming and food production for more than 70 years.

“We are very much looking forward to welcoming people to our lambing weekends this March, which are a fun way for people to get a really engaging insight into many different aspects of farming and of course hopefully seeing a new lamb being born.”

 As well as seeing lambs, visitors to Lackham can also see the Hereford cows and calves and see the dairy cows being milked – the milk from which goes to Cadbury!

There are also pigs, goats, donkeys, deer and smaller animals including rabbits and guinea pigs to see. And those coming along to our lambing weekends can enjoy free tractor and trailer rides between the farms, and children’s fairground rides.

“Our mini farmers market offers the chance to buy Lackham produce including meat and eggs and there are plenty of food stalls and refreshments,” added Trudi.

“Discounted tickets can be bought in advance now from our online shop and cost £6 per adult, £4 per child aged four-16 and £20 per car (this includes the driver and up to 6 passengers). Children under the age of three can go for free.

“Tickets can also be bought on the day at £8 per adult, £6 per child or £25 per car.”

Head over to the shop to get your tickets today – https://shop.wiltshire.ac.uk/product-catalogue/ events/ 2019-lambing-weekends 

Lackham is the College’s specialist land-based campus offering courses in agriculture, horse management, animal care and management, land-based engineering, land and wildlife management, gamekeeping and horticulture.

In addition to those it also offers Uniformed Public Services, Sport and Foundation Studies.

The campus was under the spotlight for a different reason just a few weeks ago, when HRH The Duchess of Cornwall attended Lackham, where she was shown exciting plans to transform it into a regional training centre for land-based excellence. 

Plans include a new Agricultural Technology Centre, the expansion of higher education facilities, a new high-tech robotic milking parlour and dairy training buildings.

The College was awarded £22million of government Local Growth Fun money via the Swindon and Wiltshire Local enterprise Partnership in 2017 to invest in both its Salisbury and Lackham campuses. Work to redevelop parts of the Salisbury campus began in November.