Ferry Farm Park at Hoveringham - A Fab Day Out

Farm parks seem to entertain all of the family, no matter what age. They can get a bit expensive though, so it is nice that Ferry Farm Park at Hoveringham offers the farm experience at a more reasonable price.

At just £6.95 each it is half the price of one of the other farm parks in the area, it has all of the animals you could wish of a farm park, animal feeding and petting as well as plenty of space to run around and explore.

With lots of outdoor and indoor play equipment, a sand pit and ride on tractors it is the perfect place to take a picnic and spend the day, it also has a wonderful restaurant offering home cooked food and cakes, which were delicious.

Since it was half term and mine and my daughters besties from Mummy Plus Three were heading there, we decided to join them, and I am so glad we did. It was a really lovely way to spend a sunny half term day.

We picked up some food and set about feeding the animals in the barn, my daughter has so much confidence when it comes to feeding them and loved the goats snuffling at her hands for food.

 

All three children could have spent all day driving round the tractor course or playing on the adventure playground, with the sun shining why not.

There is plenty of space to let off steam and enjoy the countryside and with it being close the to the River Trent you can always take a wander down there too.

My daughter and her friend really loved feeding the ponies and donkeys and chatting to them, it was really lovely to see the kids at one with nature, beats being indoors watching telly and is much better than any fidget spinner.

If you are local and after something to do in the summer holidays then why not pay a visit to Ferry Farm, some areas could do with a lick of paint but it is still well worth it, plus with Gonalston Farm Shop just down the road you can pick up some local produce on the way home.

Stagecoach Drama Classes One Term On

My son has been attending the Stagecoach Drama School in Southwell for the past term, he has had a fabulous time and his teachers have had nothing but praise for his outgoing personality, eccentric voices and acting. So much so, that they gave him a special part in the end of term play.

The end of term play this time was their version of The Lion King, it's a well loved film and something most people know, all of the children had made or helped to make their own colourful masks and it was an absolutely amazing play that showed how much time and effort the children and teachers had put in over the 11 week term.

My son has really enjoyed his term at Stagecoach and he has developed some wonderful acting skills, as well as finding a love of dancing.  Stagecoach has definitely built some confidence in my son, to go on stage in front of a room full of people, standing out there with just two other actors is pretty good going.

Here is what Stagecoach have to say about the benefits of their classes, I wholeheartedly agree with what they say here and it has certainly has been the case with my son.

"Acting is a wonderful outlet for our emotions.  Whether it’s laughing together or acting out a tense and dramatic scene, Stagecoach drama classes are a great way to express your feelings.

Dance has always been a part of our culture as a great way to have fun and celebrate, but you may be surprised to learn just how important dancing is in shaping the bodies and minds of children and young adults.

Singing is a powerful tool!  There is evidence that participation in group singing can significantly improve your physical and mental health."

With a term costing a little over £300 I was worried about how much my son would get out of it for the cost, however, it has been great for him. So if you have a child that maybe needs a little more confidence, that little extra push with their abilities then these classes may very well be for them.

NB: We were given a term at Stagecoach in return for our view on the classes. All opinions and photos are my own 

Southwell Ploughing Match 2015

A few weeks ago, we headed over to the Southwell Ploughing Match, it has grown since we last went and we spent at least 6 hours wandering round the many stalls tents and exhibits. It was a great day out, that also allowed us to show the children what farming was like many years ago and now.  As well as how important farming is to Britain and how we need to support local producers with a fair price for the extremely hard work that goes into farming.

The ploughing itself took place early on in the morning, so first of all, we went to the fields to watch this. With lots of different machinery, from horse drawn ploughs, through to the first motorised models and to the modern machines of today, it was a wonderful look into how far we'd come.

Afterwards, we grabbed some food from one of the many wonderful food stalls in the farmers market area, for lunch, we chose our favourite farm shop which is Maxeys and grabbed a few of their wonderful burgers. As well as a few beers from a local brewery's stall, later on in the day we bought some cakes from All Mine Cakes and some raw milk from Milky Business, both fabulous local businesses. 

After finishing our burgers and beers, we headed to watch the digger dancing, a great opportunity for the children to sit down as well as to watch an absolutely wonderful spectacle. Six diggers all doing acrobatics, it was brilliant and a great thing to be able to watch.

Next up, we went and looked at some of the many other stalls around the site, my son had a go at archery. It was great to be able to try something new out, especially something like archery when we are in Robin Hood County.

We next went to the craft and produce tent, there were amazing flowers, vegetables, drawings and displays of all sorts. The scarecrows were particularly cute, as were the animals made from vegetables, the winner being a rather creative and oober cute elephant made out of cabbage, red onions and beetroot.

And where would a farming related show be without some some wonderful animals. To be able to get up close and personal with some of the finest specimens of cows and sheep was a great experience for the children, you don't realise how big cows are either until you're up that close.

We had an absolutely amazing day and the children both got something from the craft tent to take home. As well as seeing how faming works, we got to meet many wonderful makers, from milk to cakes and toys to farming.

We will definitely be back next year and if you are local and I can highly recommend it.

Little Herbert Shoe Shop Southwell - Shop Local

I recently visited a beautiful little shoe shop in the gorgeous town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire.

Now this post will only really be relevant to those local to the area but I felt the need to shout about this little shop.

Not only are the shoes all beautiful, the shop is owned by Amy, a knowledgable and helpful lady who loves shoes and making sure you get the right ones for your child.

For me, my children's shoes are an important investment and one that I take seriously, knowing how important feet are for a healthy back and to support your whole body.

Stocking everything from Ava & Luc to Bobux, Crocs and more it is a little haven for trying on shoes, there is no feeling rushed and like you can't give them a proper try!

Southwell has some lovely coffee shops and other independent boutiques with everything from clothing to gifts, so it is well worth a trip to this lovely little town.

Here are my daughters lovely Ava & Luc boots, I was only a little bit jealous!

You can find Little Herbert Shoe Shop on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Southwell Ploughing Match and Country Show

Today we visited Southwell Ploughing Match and Show, an annual event which we had not had the pleasure of going to before. But with about four generations in tow we decided to make it a family day out.

The show had everything from farm equipment to craft tents and rather large vegetables as well as best in shows and horse events.

We arrived at 10.45am and didn't leave until 4.50pm so t was a full day and for only £7.50 each adult it was money well spent.

First of all we found lots of tractors to see and climb in to.

 Who knew combine harvesters were so big?

 This tyre was huuuge!

We had always wondered how they harvested corn, now we know.

We loved this beauty, totally gorgeous.

Amazed at the size of these parsnips, the carrots were pretty amazing too. We all would have loved to try some of the fruit and veg on those tables ;)

We are definitely going to make some of these paper plates with leaves and other autumnal bits on.

These gorgeous vegetable animals were made by 11 and 12 years old, my son wants to make some now so we will be out in the garden looking for leaves and feathers later this week.

This gorgeous old steam engine was a wood plane and wonderful (and scary) to watch them cutting wood with it.

This old hay baler was wonderful to watch and we got to see the finished product and look at the corn too.

Looking at the ear of corn with grandpa.

Looking at the corn

This was a really lovely day and I can't wait until next year, we will definitely be going back.

We are linking up to Country Kids over on Coombe Mill Blog