Fun on the farm in Dovedale, Derbyshire

Join the residents of a working farm for a relaxing self-catering break in the countryside. By Adrienne Wyper

Awaiting us in Swallow Cottage was a basket of eggs ‘from Petticoat, Miss, Mrs, Blue and Belle', some of the farm's hens, plus bread and bacon from a local farm shop and marmalade from Henry's mum.

 

Jane Stretton, who works on the farm and runs the holiday cottages side of things with her husband Henry, welcomed us and took us to meet the permanent residents. It was feeding time for them too. The hens, including guinea fowl, silkies and pekins, gathered round. Click here for Country Living's  ‘hot chicks' gallery for more hens.

 

Hens and ducks share their living quarters. Our favourite was Neil the white duck with a large bouffant ‘featherdo', who seemed to be the boss of the mallards and Aylesburys.

 

On to the cowshed where British White cattle are kept for beef, then to meet the mischievous donkeys, who liked a stroke of their soft-tipped ears.

 

Last and most unusual was the herd of alpacas, in colours ranging from cream to gingery black. They scattered as we approached, then made a U-turn when they saw the bucket of food. Gathered at the fence, they made faint humming noises, pitch varying with size, rotating their ears and gazing at my alpaca coat with round deep, deep dark eyes.

 

Ryedale sheep are quartered next to the alpacas and, being bred for their wool, are like solid woolly barrels.

 

Dove Farm is near the banks of the river Dove, which gives its name to Dovedale. We headed out on the farm trail, a circular route past the animals' fields, down to the river and back across a water meadow. The cottages were converted from a milking parlour and some of the beams remain, with high ceilings, and spacious rooms with comfortable furniture and absolutely everything provided in the kitchen. And the bed was extremely comfortable, which is extremely important.

 

As we were there for just two days, we opted to stay within Dovedale itself, but we weren't short of things to do.

 

After a hearty breakfast from the provisions provided, we set out for a walk in Dovedale. Our four-miler started with a riverside path by the Dove past the scree slopes of Thorpe Cloud, through Thorpe village, then downhill with impressive views to the river Dove along to Ilam. Along the way we had the drama of red flags at the rifle range (we were safely out of the way on our trail), the delight of newborn lambs bleating and gambolling and beautiful wild flowers.

 

We returned to Swallow Cottage, to find a note from Jane saying that she'd provisionally booked us in for dinner at the Rose & Crown pub in Mayfield, which was very thoughtful. As she'd suspected, we hadn't got round to booking it ourselves, between patchy mobile reception and the excitement of being in the great outdoors. Dinner was delicious, and we drove back to plan our next day.

 

As it was a little drizzly when we woke up, we drove north to Alstonefield in the Peak District National Park, an attractive stone-built village.

Heading southwest through Tissington where the ancient custom of well-dressing takes place in early summer, when the well is covered in flower-petal pictures, we took my ancient Ford through a ford. The rain had stopped so we hired bikes at Carsington Water, but after being nearly blown off the bikes by a blustery cross-wind, we retreated to a warm hide to spot some birds. Among those out there were mute swans, teal, great crested grebe and ringed plover.

 

Dinner was at the Cock Inn, In Clifton, four miles away. We tucked into the bar area as the dining part was full, and enjoyed good honest grub, with generous portion sizes, in a friendly atmosphere.

 

On Sunday we headed for Dimmings Dale to walk a forest trail through a wooded river valley. Above the treetops you can glimpse Alton Castle and Alton Towers. The sun shone long enough for us to eat our final meal of our break outside in the pretty garden of the Ramblers' Retreat café at the edge of the woods.

 

What does it cost?

Barn Owl, Swallow and Wren Cottages cost from £490 to £700 a week; £325 to £490 for a short break. Dove Farm doesn't charge peak rates for school holidays, or any time apart from Christmas/New Year. Short breaks are available all year round. If you're housing a crowd, all three cottages, set around a central courtyard, can be booked together, giving 18 bed spaces (inc two on a sofa bed) for £1,150 for a weekend.

 

For more information

Dove Farm is at Mill Lane, off Dove Street, Ellastone, Ashbourne, Derbyshire DE6 2GY. 01335 324357; www.dovefarm.co.uk - The website won a Best Tourism Website award from Enjoy England, so it's well worth a look - don't miss Jane's great blog!

For where to go and things to do:  www.discovereastmidlands.com