The fun farm
James Waldron takes the family on a working-farm holiday This year I’m eschewing all luxury holidays. It’s true that I will be helped in my resolve by the fact that I can’t afford such holidays, but that is not the central issue. In the current climate, extravagance just doesn’t seem to have the same appeal. In 2007 (as in every previous year, it would be fair to say) I will not be jetting off to some ostentatious hotel or showy villa, and the only butler I’ll come across on holiday will be between the pages of P.G. Wodehouse. I’m going back to basics, and taking my carbon shoe size down a peg or two while I’m about it.
What set me off on this line of thinking was, strangely, the Christmas turkey. It was an exceptionally fine bird, and it turned out it came from a farm, South Torfrey in Cornwall, where you can also stay in one of four holiday cottages. Simon and Debbie Andrews, the farmer and his wife, sensitively converted old stone outbuildings, saving original roofslates and floorboards, and repointing with real, mossfriendly, lime mortar. Even the built-in furniture is made from reclaimed wood, and the overall look is a modern, stylish take on the country cottage: all cosy and homely, but without a hint of chintz.
Young guests in particular love to forage for eggs and frolic with the organic lambs (the long-horned cattle being better admired from a slightly greater distance). The couple have five children, and there’s plenty of other sprog-friendly entertainment, by way of swings, a slide, sandpit and trampoline. Bring your own computer games. Or rather don’t, because this is about good, old-fashioned, fresh-air fun. And if rain drives you indoors, there’s everything from table football to a sauna. If that still sounds too cosseted for you, then Luite Moraal has just the thing. He’s the Dutchman who brought Center Parcs to this country, and his new venture, Feather Down, is camping on working farms. It’s deluxe camping, mind, and the ‘tented cottages’ are canvas-and-wood affairs, complete with proper floors and real beds. There’s a wood-burning stove for warmth and cooking, and (cold) running water.
There is no electricity or gas, however, and a hot shower is only available in a separate building. The brochure is full of what seem to be warnings for soft townies. You might, for example, be woken at the crack of dawn by a crowing cock, only to see your breath turn to steam as your head emerges from under the covers. Early mornings, even in high season, can be surprisingly cold when there’s nothing between you and the field but a plank of wood. The stoves unfortunately don’t stay in overnight, and getting them going, and the kettle boiled, can take up to 45 minutes. But the coffee, for which you will have ground the beans using the wall-mounted hand-grinder, will taste all the better for the wait and the effort.
Children, anyway, have little concern for such discomforts, and Mr Moraal sees the farms as predominantly family destinations. Typically, girls love to play Little Bo Peep in the paddock, while boys, tomboys and even the odd father let off playful steam, released for once from the suffocating embrace of the nanny state. The dreary minds at the Health and Safety Executive may disapprove, but the perfect companion for this kind of holiday is the surprise bestseller of last year, The Dangerous Book for Boys, full of information on how to build catapults and go-carts.
Another refreshing aspect of Feather Down, and indeed any farm stay, is that they don’t form part of the ‘Have a nice day!’ hospitality industry. You’re involved in a real working farm, even helping with the chores if you want to. ‘If the farmer’s having a bad day, you’ll know about it you won’t see plastic smiles,’ says Luite Moraal, a man who presumably had his fill of plastic smiles, both literal and figurative, when he was involved with Disneyland.
All the exercise, country air and lack of electricity sends you to bed early, but even so, the absence of electronic kit (television, telephone, computer, etc.) frees up a great deal of time. You’re actually forced to do novel things like watch the sunset, look at the stars and, yes, talk to each other. In a way, then, Feather Down could be said to be the most indulgent of holidays because, for most of us, time is the greatest luxury of all.
David Montgomery
Farm Stay UK has over 1,000 farms offering hotel-style and self-catering holidays. Tel: 02476 696909; www.farmstayuk.co.uk.
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