On site activities:
We have an all-weather tennis court (proper tennis shoes essential), croquet lawn and kids' putting green, and you can play boules on the lawn. The enclosed children's play area has swings, slides & a climbing frame. For rainy days there is an indoor games room with pool table, table football, table tennis, air hockey, darts, and some children's toys and ride-ons.
There are usually sheep grazing in the orchard, and plenty of bird-watching opportunities with swallows, nuthatches, wrens, woodpeckers, chaffinches and dozens of other birds frequenting the gardens and orchard. If you're lucky you may spot one of the badgers that visit most nights - their run can be seen behind Betony. You can help collect eggs from our hens, feed the ducks and stroke the friendly rabbits and cats.
A public footpath runs alongside the farm, and leads through bluebell woods to the hamlet of Gatcombe, from where the path gives lovely walks along the bank of the Severn in either direction.
Local Pubs and Restaurants:
There are many good pubs and restaurants and in particular our local pub, the 'Red Hart at Awre' is one of the Forest's best and is recommended in all the leading pub guides. Good value, imaginative food is served everyday with excellent wines and beers; dogs welcome in garden, children welcome in restaurant. The Cock Inn in Blakeney, 1 mile away, also serves good food and has a large garden for children & dogs.
There is a good range of take-away foods in Lydney nearby (3.5 miles), as well as Tesco, Coop and Somerfield supermarkets. There is a 24hr esco at Chepstow. Blakeney (1 mile) has an excellent open-all-hours local shop that sells just about everything.
Local Activity and attractions.:
The Forest of Dean offers unrivalled opportunities for walking, cycling and mountain biking (hire bikes available nearby), horse riding, canoeing on the river Wye, Quad bike racing and paintballing. An excellent leisure complex at Lydney has a pool and gym, there are also many local Golf courses and fishing lakes.
Attractions include a preserved steam railway (Thomas the Tank Engine visits 3 times a year), unique 'one man' coal mines, Clearwell Caves - Roman iron ore mines, river cruises, two vineyards, several museums and an acclaimed Bird of Prey Centre.
For small children there are two excellent soft-play centres, one of which (the Dick Whittington centre at Longhope) also has go-karts and farm animals. For over 10s the 'Go Ape' high wire forest adventure is very popular.
Other Activities:
Canoeing, archery, clay pigeon, paintball, llama trekking, Go Ape
