#PataPet at Surrey Docks Farm

You guys, there is a farm in the centre of London. Seriously. Just a half mile across the river from Canary Wharf (0.57 miles to be exact, I Googled it!) is Surrey Docks Farm where you can feed and pet sheep, goats, cows... and fluffy pigs. Fluffy. Pigs. Thanks to the RSPCA, I got to pop down for a visit on a gloriously sunny day and spend the afternoon surrounded by lovely, friendly animals!

Surrey Docks Farm is free to enter and is open 7 days a week 10am- 5pm (4pm in the winter). It's just behind a residential estate in Canada Water which is the greenest, loveliest, most peaceful part of London I have ever encountered. (I totally fell in love with the area and may have looked up places to rent when I got home) Oh, did I mention the view?

Seriously, look at that! 

Anyway, gushing over the location over, we headed into the farm itself which, while very compact in area, is surprisingly spacious and... animaly... Well, you'd expect a farm to be animaly but I was impressed with the range of animals they had for such a small farm.

Donkeys, goats, cows, pigs, sheep, guinea pigs, rabbits, ferrets... The list goes on! Since pigs are my favourite animal, I was very excited to see them but there was a special highlight I couldn't wait to visit- the aforementioned fluffy pigs.

These pigs are called Mangalista pigs and are a Hungarian breed created through cross-breeding pigs with boars. Aren't they just the cutest things ever? I wanted to sneak one home with me!

Erm, this is why I didn't! 

As well as all the cute animals to see, there were sheep shearing demonstrations by Tom from Longhorn Shearing. He was a great speaker and shared some really interesting facts. Did you know, for example, that there are 68 breeds of sheep in the UK and other sheep in the world, such as New Zealand sheep, originate from UK breeds. This one here is an Oxford Downs breed. 

By some wizardry, Tom managed to get all of the wool off in one piece and then he showed us how to roll it up the special way to keep it in pristine condition. I love this photo because the sheep is at the back like "Don't even look at me, Tom. I trusted you and look what you did to me. I feel like I don't even know you any more". 

After some time chilling on a straw bale, we headed back along Thames Path where we discovered a very handy bus that goes all the way to Waterloo from outside the estate and only takes 30 minutes. I'm still getting over the shock of a farm that is 4 tube stops away from Waterloo. 

If you're ever stuck in the city with an hour to spare, I highly recommend popping down to Surrey Quays and exploring the farm. Man, I love London with all its little secrets!