Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm: A Family Day Out at Cornwall's Biggest Cyder Maker

Healey's Cornish Cyder Farm at Penhallow, between Truro and Newquay, is one of Cornwall's most visited working farms and the home of the Rattler cyder brand. It's a brilliantly packaged family day out: tractor tours through the orchards, animal feeding for the kids, cyder tasting for the grown-ups, a properly atmospheric barrel cellar to walk through, and two of Cornwall's better summer festivals (the Rattler Festival in July and the Little Orchard Festival in early September) hosted on site each year.

This is a guide to visiting: what to do, who it suits, what's on the festival calendar, and how to fit it into a Cornwall day-trip.

Where it is

Healey's is at Penhallow, on the inland side of the north coast between Truro and Newquay. From Falmouth it is around 50 minutes by car: A39 north through Truro, then A30 a short way east, then A3075 north past Goonhavern. Signposted from the A3075 with the distinctive Cornish Cyder Farm signage.

There is free parking on site. The farm is a working production facility (the cyder is genuinely made here), so the parking and the visitor side are clearly laid out without taking over the operation.

What it is

Healey's was founded in 1986 by David Healey and family, with apples grown on the family's Cornish orchards and the cyder fermented and bottled on site. The farm has grown into one of the largest cyder makers in the UK, with Rattler the headline brand and a wider range of fruit cyders, traditional cyders, Cornish cyder brandy and (more recently) Cornish whisky from the on-site distillery.

The visitor side has grown alongside the production. Today Healey's is a properly polished family day out, with five or six things going on simultaneously: cyder-making tours, animal feeding, the indoor and outdoor play areas, the cafe, the shop, and the festival calendar.

Entry to the farm is free. Tours, tractor rides and tasting experiences are paid extras, but you can have a properly good half-day on site without paying for any of them.

What to see and do

The cyder-making tour

The flagship paid tour takes you through the apple press, the fermentation room, and the famous barrel cellar (the dimly-lit, cobbled-floor maturation room with rows of oak barrels stacked floor-to-ceiling, dated and labelled by year). The cellar is the photogenic heart of the visit. Tour ends with tasting of the Healey's range, including specific tastes from the cellar barrels.

The fuller distillery tour adds the stillhouse where the cyder brandy and the new Cornish whisky are made. Worth the upgrade if you've an interest in distillation.

The tractor tour

A 30-minute tractor-and-trailer ride around the orchards, with explanations of which apple varieties are grown and how the cyder year runs. Particularly fun with kids; bring a coat in shoulder seasons.

The animal area

A small farm-animals collection: pigs, goats, sheep, ponies, chickens. Animal-feeding times are scheduled through the day. Strong with younger children.

The play areas

A large outdoor adventure playground, an indoor barn play area for wet weather, and various smaller features (a children's tractor area, the strawpark in autumn). Plenty of running-around space.

The shop

The full Rattler and Healey's range, plus Cornish food products, gifts and the on-site distillery's spirits. Worth a stop on the way out for souvenirs and supplies.

The cafe

Substantial cafe with breakfast, lunch and Cornish-leaning specials. The Rattler is on tap. Family-friendly seating.

The festivals

Healey's hosts two of Cornwall's better summer-and-autumn festivals on the farm site each year:

The Rattler Festival

A one-day cider-and-music festival, typically held in July at the farm. Live bands across multiple stages, food stalls, the full Healey's drinks range, family activities. It's the more accessible of the two festivals: family-friendly, single-day, focused on cyder and Cornish music. Tickets sell out in advance; check healeyscyder.co.uk for dates.

Little Orchard Festival

The bigger sibling: a multi-day camping festival held in early September at the farm. Headline music acts (often nationally known names), full festival food-and-drink scene, family camping options, and the full Healey's range. Has grown into one of Cornwall's larger summer-end festivals over the past decade. Tickets sell months in advance; the headliner announcements typically come in spring for the September festival.

Both festivals are major draws for the area, and Healey's is genuinely set up to host them well: the farm has the space, the licensing and the logistics worked out across multiple years of running them.

Visiting practicalities

Opening hours: Healey's is open year-round, typically 10am to 5pm in summer with reduced winter hours. The cyder production runs continuously; the visitor side opens and closes seasonally. Check the website before visiting in winter.

Tours: book ahead in summer (especially school holidays). Walk-up availability in shoulder seasons.

Family-friendly: yes, comprehensively. Allow at least three to four hours for a proper visit, longer with the tractor tour and the play areas.

Accessibility: the farm site is mostly flat and accessible, with the exception of the historic cellar (uneven cobbled floors, dim lighting). The cafe, shop, animal area and play areas are wheelchair- and buggy-friendly.

Where to eat: the on-site cafe is the easy option. For a proper restaurant lunch, head 15 minutes east to Truro for more options.

Beyond Healey's

Healey's pairs well with several other north-coast and mid-Cornwall destinations:

• Truro 15 minutes east, the cathedral city with shops, restaurants and the Royal Cornwall Museum.
• Newquay 20 minutes west, with the famous surf beaches at Fistral, Watergate Bay and Crantock.
• Perranporth 10 minutes north for a long sandy north-coast surf beach with the famous Watering Hole pub on the sand.
• St Agnes 15 minutes north for the Tin Coast mining heritage and clifftop walks.

For day-trip itineraries from a Falmouth base:

• A long weekend in Cornwall for couples covers the wider Cornwall trip-planning.
• The best places to stay in Cornwall for the regional context.
• The best surfing spots in Cornwall for the north-coast surf beaches Healey's pairs naturally with.
• Things to do in Falmouth (local's guide) for the home-base day options.

For tickets, festival dates, opening hours and the full visitor information, the official site is healeyscyder.co.uk.