05 Jun A stunning walk in the sunshine to Sky Park Farm
Sky Park Farm is one of those places where there really is something for everyone. Animal lovers will be delighted to see the beautiful deer, shoppers can fill their boots at the farm shop, there’s a lovely play area for little ones and foodies will love the on-site restaurant.
There is an entrance fee for this family-owned farm at West Harting, but it’s reasonable, and there are small discounts for blue light, NHS and military personnel. At the the friendly entrance kiosk make sure you buy a bag of deer food!
Then you are free to wander the paths as much or as little as you like, making this idea for walkers who fancy a longer trek, or for little ones or senior visitors who don’t want to go as far.
At every turn you’ll see the star attractions – red, sika and white deer roaming in paddocks. They are very docile and will come right up to the fences to eat out of your hand (official deer food only!).
The history of the farm is interesting – the Manor of Harting was known for private parks of deer for centuries (a Hart is a male deer, hence the name). Sky Park Farm, across the road from one of these parks, was bought in 2016 by its current owners who converted from its run-down state to its current immaculate form.
Sky Park Farm is a working farm with a butchery, so the deer are bred for venison, and the farm shop and restaurant offers plenty of this lean, healthy meat alongside fresh fruit and veg and delicious treats from Hampshire food producers.
We didn’t eat at the restaurant, called The Grazing Rooms, but the smaller café at the park has an outside seating area, so we grabbed a drink and a flapjack and watched the deer wandering. Afterwards, we ventured further into the park to walk alongside the River Rother before heading home.
Getting to Sky Park Farm is easy – you can drive straight up and park there. However, it is part of the Serpent Trail – a 64-mile route through the countryside of Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey. Following this guide, we did just a tiny part of it – starting at the Taro Centre in Petersfield and walking through expansive fields until we saw the deer in the distance.
This took us about 40 minutes each way at a slow pace, and we definitely want to return to cover a longer stretch!