Feather Down Farm, various, UK

We went to Dolphinholme Farm in Lancashire, which is in a beautiful location on the edge of the Trough of Bowland.

Overall we loved it - the 'tents' are fantastic, rustic enough to give a real sense of adventure, with the super-cute cupboard bed and deck chairs ideal for lounging in front of the wood-burning stove. But comfy enough that you don't feel cold or have to wee in a bucket!

The stoves take a bit of getting used to - take some firelighters and start with small twigs/paper, until it is well-established, or the bigger logs put it out. And you do need to keep an eye on smaller kids around it - there is a small barrier but you know how little hands are like magnets for anything dangerous.

The location was great - on the edge of a huge field perfect for ball games, just across from a beautiful stretch of river where you could paddle and skim stones. There's also a playbarn with slides, a trampoline, and hay bails. And as it's next to the goat shed you get little goaty faces peeking out at you!

It's a working goat farm and the owner will take you on an interesting tour, and my teenager went along and helped with the milking as well, which he loved.

Plus points: eggs fresh from the hen! Lovely bacon in the honesty shop!

Downsides: getting that fire burning can be tricky, so if you are there during colder weather, take extra blankets and PJs etc, as well as slippers. Plus take a big bin bag to throw any wet clothes in. It is also, I think, a bit overpriced - I did feel a tad ripped off by the end of the weekend. I'm sure all those countryside folk think it's hilarious that us city types pay a small fortune to come and 'rough it'!

Overall though a really fun experience.

I've been to Billingsmoor three times with my 3 children and my experience was much more like Carletta's than Eightieschild. Our children 'borrowed' the farm dogs and went for walks in the woods and across the fields. We took our food scraps to feed the pigs. Hens wandered free, and there were calves, ducks and sheep. Obviously you have to be careful around the cows (but the point is it's a working farm).There's loads to do nearby, but we spent loads of time just mooching on the farm.

As for the farmers 'cashing in', that's just nonsense. Many of the products were comparable with supermarket goods of the same quality. OK a few things were marked up, but presumably someone had to use petrol and time to go and buy them and so the farmer is probably covering their costs and breaking even, which is fair enough, they're not Tesco!! Also you have a choice, it's not mandatory to use the honesty shop-it's just a great service so that you don't have to leave the farm every time you need something.

The farmers were lovely, so friendly and kind, they really add to the holiday. Our children are always asking when we can go again.

We went to FeatherDown site at Billingsmor farm and had such a different example as the one I have just read. I have three children and we stayed at the farm for a week and had such a great time. The kids could roamed safely in the woods and field with out my husband and i worrying about them. The kids went on the farm walk and meet all the animals including the pot bellied pigs as well as watching the cows being milked. Their were baby calves and different types of ducks and we seemed to adopt one of the farm dogs called Meg who had had a litter of puppies which the kids loved. Their was a Pizza night and the communal oven was lit once a week so we could cook our own food. My kids had a day at Wildwanderers which was fantastic. It is a forest school site set in Bilingsmoor woods and they learnt how to firelight, whittle and make walking sticks and have pizza and loads of cooked marshmallows.

Our views from our dwelling were splendid. We had time to relax and rejuvenate in a peaceful, quiet area. We will go again as the facilities were great. A holiday away from the hustle and bustle of TVs, videos a time to take in the simple outdoor life with the luxury of comfy beds and a woodburner. Thanks for a great holiday.

We stayed at Billingsmoor in June 2011. We had high hopes as it all looked and sounded amazing! In the end it was 'okay', the farm is a working dairy farm and we had a tour of the milking area etc but there was no communal hens or other animals for the kids to get involved with, indeed, the only entertainment was a field full of stinging nettles in front of us and a wood which was okay for a while... I lost count of the stings our kids got. The farmer was quite lax in keeping the grass manageable just outside of our tent. Glad we had the 'private rather small chicken coop' at extra cost as it provided some entertainment for the kids (3 and 5) although no eggs.

The featherdown concept is very much 'cashing in' on extras, the one that really got me was having a metal barbeque outside our tent but we needed to rent the metal grill at a cost per night! So much is made from extras and I don't think they are worth it. The stew seems extortionate to me and I am not5 tight at all. The honesty shop was pricey and you could get things like local eggs much cheaper locally.

I think Featherdown is nice, but for me I could not decide whether it was 'posh camping' or 'slumming it in a dodgey mobile home', but for £700 plus per week off season I would be really sure its what you want!

We went on a featherdown farm weekend in June 2011, with our 2 dd's (aged 11 and 9) and absolutely loved it.

We stayed on East Shilvinghapton farm in Dorset, the highlights for us were feeding the baby goats, cooking pizza in the oven and having a camp fire.

Our dd's loved it and didn't want to come home.