Ponderosa Rare Breeds Farm - Heckmondwike
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Ponderosa is open to children & adults of all ages who can come to the centre and engage in a variety of interesting and stimulating activities. Walks and guided tours are available - and a huge selection of pursuits all based around our rare breeds, greenhouses, Reptile Room and lakes. The farm started as a hobby for Maureen Cook in 1992 with several rare breeds, including llamas and emus. It soon became a favourite with the people from the local community and we soon realised that caring for the animals assisted their personal development. People who previously had very limited communication skills, very little farming knowledge and low self-esteem were now becoming very adept workers with increasing confidence and vastly improved social skills. Some moved on to gain skills elsewhere, some are now competent workers at Ponderosa, working in the joiners shop, taking care of the animals, even to the extent of lambing sheep without needing any help. These are people who could not communicate or use public transport when they first visited the farm. The number of different rare breeds on the farm has continued to increase and there are now pigs, peacocks, highland cows, goats, horses, donkeys, birds of prey, llamas, several different kinds of birds and many, many more. Admission: 2009 prices: General Admission:- £3.50 per child £4.00 per adult Opening Times: We are open from 10am - 4pm 7 days a week Monday through Sunday. We are open all year round only closing for Christmas and New Year. Please note last admission time is 3.00pm. | |||||||||||||||||||||||