As we had not packed a great deal of supplies, making the decision before we left to purchase anything for the first night from a farm shop on the way. Unfortunately we did not pass a farm shop on our journey, and made a detour to Castle Bytham where there is a small local shop hidden away from the main street. This shop sells plenty of basic supplies, locally farmed meat, pies, hams, cheeses and at the weekend the most delicious croissants. If you want to purchase the croissants with your news paper make sure you get there early as they always sell out. This store is in effect also the nearest cash point as they take switch and do cash back. There is also a Morrisons in Stamford with all that you should need. Failing that the Farm itself has an honesty pantry selling basics and products from the farm. The honesty pantry is also where you get your frozen water bottles to place in your cool box in the tent. There is also an option for you to pre-order food from the farm, either as basic ingredients or as a pre-prepared meal that will be delivered on your arrival. One family staying at Pettywood pre-ordered the stew and the banoffi pie. We were lucky enough to try the banoffi pie on their second day as there was some left and I can say that it tasted as good as my mum makes, and that is hard to beat.

On arriving at the farm we were welcomed by Katy and shown around the farm to our tent. On this occasion there were only two tents with occupants and that included ourselves. So my first impressions as I stood at the entrance of the safari style tent were that of a peaceful site perfect for the family to escape for a weekend. The Farm is a family-owned working farm comprising 350 acres of woodland and 450 of farmland, which is a mix of arable and livestock. The sounds and smells leave you in no doubt that you are in a working farm and ensures that you are instantly given that back to nature experience. As I stood at the entrance of the tent, taking in my surroundings, and dodging the hens pecking my wellies, I spotted a Kestrel circling the farm.

The tent itself has a solid wooden floor, wooden partitioning walls to the rooms but with a canvas outer and roof. The tent is kitted out with Dutch style furniture, enamel ware crockery, and traditional vintage style lanterns and chandeliers. I felt as if I had stepped back in to a time where things were simpler. The first thing we did was to chop some wood and kindling for the fire, as the wood burning stove does take some time to get started. Once the fire was lit we set about making the beds with the cotton linen provided. The fire once the wood and kindling caught didn’t cause any excess smoke and warmed the tent gradually as the sun started to set.

At dusk the sounds of the woodland take over, and you can hear the sound of owls, and cuckoos through the canvas. With the lanterns lit, the fire burning and the food cooking on the stove the tent has the most relaxing atmosphere as you huddle round. There was a large enough supply of candles, enough to see us through the days that we were there, but I would recommend taking extra for extra light, and tea lights for the lanterns in the bedrooms as these do not last long.

Cooking food on the stove does take longer but this all adds to the experience, and to the flavour. Make sure that once you have finished cooking that you remember to put the kettle on the stove to do the washing up, or if you are only cooking with one pan have it on at the same time. If you run out of logs, you can go and help yourself to more, just make sure you chop the kindling before it gets dark. Allow plenty of time to get the fire started before you get too hungry and sit back and enjoy. There is now also a wood burning hot plate outside each tent which takes less time to get started and cook on. Great for warm evenings or breakfasts in the sunshine.

Children will enjoy discovering the workings of the farm; feeding the orphan lambs, collecting the eggs from the hens and chasing the hens out of the tent at breakfast time! The eggs collected from the hens in the morning are the freshest that I have tasted, still warm and tasting even better for having collected them ourselves.

The major thing that lets this site down is that the facilities are basic, there is only one shower allocated for men and one for women. This was not an issue when we were staying there but if we had been visiting on a bank holiday this could have caused problems and queues. There is a toilet in your tent, but no hot water for washing your hands. Take some anti-bacterial hand wash with you, or make sure you have a kettle on the ready. For the money that you are spending you would expect there to be more showers.

Apart from this our stay at Pettywood Farm was peaceful and cosy. I would recommend staying at one of the Featherdown Farms if you are splashing out for a special occasion, a romantic getaway or a special family or group holiday. Treat it as a special break and you don’t mind the cost so much. This is not an option instead of camping but more of an alternative stay-cation. It may be an opportunity to ease some non campers in to camping, so take it all in, enjoy the atmosphere and relax.