We are incredibly lucky to live very close to some of the most beautiful countryside in the UK. On our doorstep we have the desolate moors of Bronté country and the rolling hills and dales of North Yorkshire.
Yesterday morning we wanted to make the best of G’s one day off over the bank holiday so packed a hurried picnic of tuna sandwiches, crisps, strawberries and chocolate buttons and headed out for Hesketh Farm Park near Bolton Abbey.
The drive there takes us over the heather filled moors above Ilkley, drops down in to the valley past the Cow and Calf rocks then follows the route of the River Wharfe to Bolton Abbey. Hesketh Farm Park is hidden along a slightly precarious single track road a mile outside Bolton Abbey village.
When we arrived a small queue of people were waiting to pay. Big E, blissfully unaware of queue etiquette, tried to barge his way through whilst insisting ‘I neeeeed to see the animals!’ (I shall explain the finer points of the British obsession with queuing when he is a little older). After much ‘Oh-my-goodness-I-am-gonna-pull-your-arm-out-of-its-socket’ type wrestling we eventually paid and Big E made a beeline for the indoor barn.
He ran rings around his daddy in the hay maze, climbed on the slide and ran around the go kart track (narrowly avoiding being ploughed down. Boys). He barely ate a mouthful of his sandwiches, although, he did of course have room for chocolate buttons.
All the while I sat and relaxed with a Diet Coke and fed Little E her lunchtime bottle. She was quite content to watch the hustle and bustle going on around her. She’s nosey like that, just like her mummy.
Energy levels refuelled by the chocolate buttons we headed outdoors. Big E spied the steam trains down at Bolton Abbey station (he totally lives for trains), tried to hitch a ride on one of the giant tortoises and giggled like a looney on the swings.
Still not tired out, off Big E toddled back indoors to handle guinea pigs and have a chat with the pigs, sheep, calves, chicks and rabbits. I have a little Dr Doolittle in the making. The mere suggestion of going home was met with full on toddler force 10 tantrumming which was only appeased by completing a giant cow jigsaw three times and the promise of sausages for tea.
Until this year we were unaware of it’s existence. I only discovered it purely by chance when stumbling around the ‘Places to Go’ page on Netmums. I was looking for somewhere with a big indoor space during those balmy summer days we had during June so we had a refuge from the sun.
I really could wax lyrical all day about the virtues of Hesketh but Laura at ‘Are we nearly there yet mummy?‘ already did a good job of that here.
We arrived home with one happy but tired out toddler. Result.
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