I visited Nottinghamshire's top family attraction and discovered how the nation's love for animals is helping it thrive

Whether it’s a dog, cat, rabbit, or maybe something a little more exotic, we’ve all had a four legged friend at some point to bring us joy and help make our lives that little bit better.

So I guess it’s little wonder that one of Nottinghamshire’s most loved tourist attractions is centred around our instinctive desire to be around animals.

White Post Farm, over in Farnsfield, first came on the scene nearly 40 years ago and has been successfully sharing their love of animals with thousands upon thousands of families ever since.

In fact this delightful 25 acre farm has proved to be so popular with the locals they were recently crowned the 2026 Winners for Family Friendly Attraction of the Year at the Nottinghamshire Tourism Awards.

And Morgan Wood, who promotes the benefits of visiting White Post through her work in the marketing department, believes our desire to get up close with the inhabitants is key to the attraction’s ongoing appeal.

“Every child and family just loves animals and getting close to the keepers,” she said.

“We notice that a lot of the people who come want to speak to the keepers and find out what they are doing.

“We have done mini vets events before and they all enjoyed coming and getting hands on.

“It is nice because we get a lot of school groups coming. They have a guided tour around and then get some time in the play areas and to meet the animals in the Silver Barn.”

Since its humble beginning back in 1988, White Post has of course seen many changes and evolved over the years.

One of the most interesting plot twists in recent years saw White Post Farm become a zoo in 2019.

It now means a wider range of exotic animals are able to call the popular Mansfield Road attraction home and help spread the site’s key educational and conservation messages.

“It changes what you can do with the animals, that’s how we have got more exotic animals and hopefully we can get more in the future,” said Morgan, who has been involved at White Post for seven years.

“It has gone down really well and I think it is nice because we focus a lot more on conservation and educating children. All our events have that conservation educational message behind them.

“We work really closely with the schools as well as with the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. We have been going into the local schools to do a bit of an assembly to educate them on bumblebees.

“We run a number of education groups as well so there are always a lot of different things going on to make sure we are pushing that conservation message, which is really important.”

White Post wouldn’t be what it is of course without the loving care given to the star attractions by the hard-working team of animal keepers.

Animal manager Tom Costello signed up to life at the farm eight years ago after starting his animal career working in reptile shops.

He now heads up White Post’s dedicated group of animal carers and admits it is a brilliant job to have

“It is absolutely amazing, I am very fortunate to wake up and go to work happy each day,” he said.

“Every day is challenging, but it is fun. Every day is different depending on what department you are in.

“It can be anything from meerkats and crocodiles to the wonderful pigs, cows, sheep and goats. First things first, you make sure everything is ok. Then you feed the farm animals who eat in the morning, whereas the exotics feed later in the day.

“It’s very different depending what species you are working with.”

In that time Tom, who is a self-confessed snake lover, has built up a wealth of knowledge and experience to guide his team through the sometimes difficult path ahead.

“A lot of it is experience and there are a lot of great teachers here who have passed down their experience,” he added.

“It follows on from there. We all have our qualifications as well, but a lot of it is learning as you do the job, recognising certain signs that you can’t learn from pen and paper but that you can do from working. You learn a lot through experience.

“We have a very good team, they are lovely and are all fantastic.”

To find out what is happening down at White Post farm, or to purchase tickets, visit www.whitepostfarm.co.uk