A Weekend Glamping with Featherdown Farms

We arrived at our Featherdown Farm canvas hideaway in Layer Marney, Essex, in the rain.  The older two children were sceptical, the younger ones unsure.  We played some games, ate dinner and eventually settled for the night in the (incredibly) comfy beds. The next morning I was prepared for cries of 'I'm bored' and 'there is nothing to do', and I definitely heard those from the tweens who are used to technology and activities all the time. I knew I needed to keep going though so I offered suggestions and let them work it out. 

It didn't take long at all until things changed. Before long their fingernails had turned brown, their hair looked like they had been climbing through hedges and the light of the campfire danced in their eyes. I had looked at what was around locally but that list went unused, we had everything we needed on site.  It was such a wonderful opportunity to do very little, but in the best way.  I don't know how long I have got before my elder ones take too long to revert to this childhood wildness so it felt like a really special chance to spent this time with them.  It was a detox from technology and modern life and a connection with nature that we all needed more than I knew.

We stayed at the Tudor site Layer Marney which is a small site with six canvas hideaways (named after the six wives of Henry VIII).  In the mornings we met the farmer at 8am to change the goats hay, feed the sheep and collect the chicken eggs and the children all loved getting stuck in with this.  For the rest of the day we alternated between cooking outside of our canvas hideaway, playing table tennis by the wood stores, going to the playground and back to see the animals and sitting around the fires.  The children were convinced their food tasted better after being cooked outdoors - even more so as the eggs came from the chickens on the farm.  They loved watching the fires, collecting more logs and of course roasting marshmallows over them.  They played together, they made friends with the children staying in the other canvas hideaways and they were wonderfully wild for the duration of our stay.

Our trip had been timed to coordinate with the Tudor Fayre being held at Layer Marney tower on the Sunday and there was a pass for the tower in our guidebook for everyone to use. The fayre was fantastic, with so many people dressed up demonstrating Tudor crafts and skills like weaving and arrow making.  There was live music, lots of games for the children to try out and birds of prey to admire.  All the children played 'the game with no name' with a Tudor man and raced wooden horses. I was delighted to see how reasonably priced the gift shop was as we love to bring home a souvenir and they enjoyed choosing something each.

Our canvas hideaway was a great size for the six of us (Due to work commitments it was just the five children and I).  It is divided into three rooms, one with a double bed, one with bunk beds and then the cupboard bed which was a brilliant den in the day if they wanted to chill out.  All of the beds had incredibly comfortable mattresses and warm duvets provided.  As we had booked with a baby we had a cot set up in my room too.  We had a toilet in our canvas hideaway and running water in the kitchen area, a table with enough chairs for us all, a sofa and a log burner in the middle of the room which we used to warm the hideaway and to boil the kettle.  Outside we had a private hot shower, a fire pit and a wood stove which we cooked on.  The hideaways were well spaced out so we had lots of privacy.

We arrived home late on Sunday evening smelling strongly of smoke with a bin bag full of dirty clothes, dirty fingernails and with a sense of contentment from a weekend well spent.  There are Featherdown Farms all over the UK with availability for this summer (and dates released for next summer too). I thought this would be the ideal getaway for my animal loving seven year old but it was exactly what my tweens needed too. Rex at 20 months was just delighted by the freedom and space as well and we definitely plan to visit again in the future.

Read more ⇨

Days Out in Great Yarmouth // Pleasure Beach

Part of a Paid Collaboration with Visit Great Yarmouth.  All opinions are my own

Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach is situated right on the seafront and splits into two halves.  The Pleasure Beach has a gated entrance and costs £15 per person to enter which gives you unlimited rides, and the Pleasure Beach Gardens is free to enter and has paid for attractions including mini golf, an upside down house and a grand prix track, as well as Sara's Tearooms which serves hot and cold food as well as drinks and cakes.  We visited both parts on our recent trip to Great Yarmouth so scroll down to read more!

The Pleasure Beach

It cost £15 to enter (under 2s are free) and for that price you have a four hour slot to explore the park at your leisure.  With the limited tickets we found that this gave us plenty of time to go on all the rides we wanted (some several time) as there were virtually no queues on our trip (this may be different in the height of summer but for a hot June weekend we were impressed).  Inside the fun fair there are also games you can pay extra for, such as hook a duck and shooting games, and stalls to buy food and drink.  

With young children, I find it important to see what they are able to ride before we go and there is a handy table here with more information. The boys (aged 7,9 and 10 and all over 1.3m) were able to go on every ride unaccompanied and Cora (nearly 6 and 1.1m) could ride on all bar 7 rides.  Rex at 7 months enjoyed watching his siblings from the safety of our arms or the buggy and was mesmerised all day by the colours and movement. 

Our favourite rides were:

Me - The Classic Roller Coaster. I love the wooden roller coaster, it was mild enough that all the children could ride on it, but had enough bumps that you can put your hands in the air and scream. It stands proud in the centre of the Pleasure Beach and was as bright as the summer sky

Dylan- Dylan took some convincing to go on the Log Flume and we all got totally soaked but he loved it all the same.  There was a machine you could use for £2 to dry off afterwards which the boys made good use of! I ended up buying the picture of Ed and the four children on there as a fridge magnet.

Archie - The dodgems will always be a favourite for this boy, he doesn't stop giggling as he drives round.  You can ride in the dodgems from 1 metre but you need to be 1.25 to drive.  Often one of the busiest rides in a fair, we never had to wait longer than 5 minutes for a turn.

Finn -  The Haunted House and the Fun Factory next to it were Finn's favourites.  The Haunted house takes you round in a small car that sits 2 and the Fun factory you walk round yourself. Do be aware for the fun factory, closed toe shoes are necessary for entry so no sliders or flip flops allowed.

Cora - The Big Apple ride was a favourite for Cora. A rollercoaster designed for smaller children where you sit in a caterpillar.  They all liked to sit in the back carriage as we think it goes faster. 

We had a fantastic visit to the Pleasure Beach and the children are already insisting we book to go again.  Find out more about Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and book your tickets here.

The Pleasure Beach Gardens

Next to the Pleasure Beach is the Pleasure Beach Gardens which is an attraction in itself.  With the large Great Yarmouth letters in the background, the safari themed mini golf is a great place to start.

With 12 holes it is a great length for younger children and we were given a score card with our clubs and brightly coloured balls.  The course was relatively simple and the children enjoyed the challenges. It was easy to navigate and felt well looked after.

The Pleasure Beach Garden's area includes a large cafe called Sara's Tearooms where you can get hot or cold breakfasts and lunches, cakes and drinks.  The milkshakes came with cream and marshmallows and were a big hit with my boys! We had a hot lunch and I was excited to see vegan options on the menu for me. There is plenty of indoor and outdoor seating and a few smaller tables on the beach side which are perfect if you want to enjoy a drink whilst the kids build sandcastles.

Also in the gardens are a race track with ride on motorbikes and trucks which takes £1 coins and are always a hit with my children, and the upside down house.  It was our first time visiting something like this and the children all thought it was amazing! They particularly liked doing Spiderman poses below the bed.  You can explore the two stories but be aware that you can't take babes in arms inside as the sloped floors make it unsafe.

There is easily a full day out to be had between Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and the gardens (although our visit was split over two days).

Read more ⇨

Our Week in Selsey with Seal Bay Resort

I was looking for somewhere to take the children away to over the Easter holidays that wasn't too far to drive from us and I came across the recently renamed Seal Bay Resort in Selsey near Chichester. We are fans of a mobile home style holiday because as a larger family they are usually well set up for us to have our own space and all be together and there seemed to be plenty to do, so with only a couple of weeks until the children broke up, I booked our stay.  Ed unfortunately had to work, but my sister had volunteered to come with us and the children were so excited to spend some quality time with her.

I had seen that Seal Bay was big, but I hadn't realised it was quite so huge, with over 3,500 mobile homes across three sites that were all linked by a complimentary bus service.  Our three bed caravan was on the White Horse Site, only metres from the new White Horse Complex which had an outdoor pool and splash zone, a huge arcade, bowling alley, soft play, restaurant, pottery painting shop and a massive theatre which had bingo and shows on every night.  The children would have happily spend all day in the arcades and we attended the silent disco by the outdoor pool mid week which was a big hit.

The busiest park was West Sands, which is right on the seafront and you find yourself on the beautiful pebble beach as you step out the door.  The complex here also had a huge arcade and theatre as well as the indoor pools (which included a pool for lanes, a shallow kids pool, a beach pool and two water slides), a gym, restaurant and café, crazy golf, a wave rider and more.  

During our stay we tried out the Cove club for kids where the children got to take part in crafts as well as go on an immersive adventure (Sophie was the team member running these on our trip and her energy was incredible).  We also watched the 'Fun Factory Live' each evening which is an interactive show and all four of my big kids were at the front each evening hoping to get called up for the games.  Every evening there was a fun filled line up including 'Bonkers Bingo' and musical shows.  The Rock Show was a highlight of the week for all of us and we were so impressed with all the entertainment.  Every caravan park we have stayed at has had entertainment for children (and adults) but I was blown away with the quality at Seal Bay with so much to see and do.

During our stay there was an Easter circus which I had booked and the children found it hilarious.  I didn't think it was as impressive as other circus shows we have been to, but the two clowns were brilliant and the focus on humour definitely engaged the children more.  There was an adult only circus available too but we didn't visit that.

I had made a list of things to do in the area but other than the day we had booked to go to Southampton (around a 45 minute drive) to do the Ninja Warrior course, we didn't want to leave the park!  There is plenty to see locally though including Chichester town, Arundel Castle and the South Downs National Park.

I didn't take nearly as many photos as usual to share, but you can see more of our adventures over on this Instagram Highlight.  It was Rex's first holiday and I think he loved it!

A few bits of practical information

• There is a shop on site but there is also an Asda (and Costa) three minutes drive from the park if you want to fill up the fridge.
• The swimming pool requires one adult per child for under 1s and one adult per two children for under 10s (we may have added a few months on to Archie's age as I was confident he is a capable swimmer).
• They don't sell food in the theatres but you can bring in your own food. We ordered from the fish and chip shop and the Papa John's situated just outside the main complex doors and could take our dinner in to the table with us.
• There was a big screen outside the restaurant/bar when the football was on if you don't want to miss your game (West Sands)
• We found three playgrounds in total, one on our site near the circus, one on the West Sand's site that was at a bus stop and the largest one was down by the playing fields. They weren't all obvious on the map.
• There are so many activities you can pay to do as extras.  Some sounded brilliant but on a budget trip (or if you have lots of children and don't want to pay out) you can find so much to do without spending too much extra. Everything is bookable through an easy to use app.
• This advice does not include the arcades.  We spent all our money there as you have to walk through them to get to everything else!

Read more ⇨