London Edit: Spitalfields City Farm Goat Race

Last Saturday there were a few significant sporting events taking place in the UK – the Grand National, The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race and of course the Premiership is rapidly coming to the end of another season.

In my humble opinion though, they all pale in significance to the London-town behemoth of sporting clashes, which featured goats. Yep, goats. For this year saw the 7th Oxford and Cambridge GOAT Race taking place at Spitalfields City Farm and OH and I had tickets to cheer them on!

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The farm is a short walk from the market and Brick Lane so we drove 10 minutes back to our old stomping ground of Forest Hill and hopped onto the Overground direct to Shoreditch High Street to look round Spitalfields Market and get some lunch.

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By the time we got to the farm it was already getting busy with well-wishers looking to support the race which raises vital funds to continue taking care of the animals every year. There were extra food and drink stalls but I was focused on one thing only – finding all the baby animals. Hazel the goat had given birth to twin kids just the day before and as I’m more than a little obsessed with goats, these were top of my “to-see” list.

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After a mooch around and a delicious salted caramel ice cream courtesy of Greedy Goat, we took position to wait for the events to being. There was quite a bit of buzz on social media, with some asking if the race harmed any animals and of course the answer is not at all. All they do is run from the exercise paddock to the place they get their dinner which is what happens every day so they’re not being asked to do anything unfamiliar.

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As the event was being filmed by London Live, the goat race was the last event to take place, and we first saw pigs Holmes and Watson run for their dinner followed by amazing Goat-i-oke – like Karaoke but members of the public had to “meh” or “bah” to the songs instead of singing them properly. Hilarious!

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Finally we were ready for the goats and the 1,000+ strong crowd was asked to give silent support – no shouting or loud noise but whispered cheers and arm waving was allowed. Those goats move pretty quickly and although I was routing for Cambridge, it was bib-less Oxford who wanted his dinner more and brought home the title.

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I really recommend Spitalfields City Farm, it’s a wonderful community venture which allows people to grown their own produce as well as offering city children the chance to see farm animals, plus in the hustle and bustle of one of the world’s largest cities it’s a beautifully tranquil oasis. You can find out more at their website.

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ANIMALTALES

Click here to visit our webshop, DaisychainBaby.co.uk

4 Comments

  1. May 14, 2015 / 8:51 am

    that baby goat is just too cute, as for the pigs racing, adorable

    • Lins
      May 14, 2015 / 1:32 pm

      Honestly I am in my element when surrounded by animals, I love then so much. I was once so excited at the thought of seeing goats that I slipped over on some ice in my rush to see them. I was in my late 20s at the time! Thank you for commenting X

  2. May 16, 2015 / 7:28 am

    I do like goats but pigs are my thing … Holmes and Watson are FABULOUS. We have 6 pigs and our boar is called Boris Johnson. Maybe he should have joined in the race!
    City Farms are wonderful places for bringing everyone closer to farm animals and I agree with you, a Goat Race makes so called big sporting events pale into insignificance!
    Many thanks for adding the wonderful sporting event to #AnimalTales

    • Lins
      May 18, 2015 / 4:04 pm

      Aw thank YOU for hosting Rosie! I love finding animal appreciators, I think most people humour me but secretly think I’m a bit bonkers X

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