Familydaysout - Michelle Tompkins takes her neice and nephew to Farmer Gows at Longcot, near Faringdon

A VISIT to Farmer Gows involves getting up close and personal with the animals – and I really do mean personal.

It was a good job my mum was wearing her waterproof raincoat when we visited with my niece and nephew, because just about every creature she touched decided to... ermm... well, let’s say, leave its mark on her.

The little fluffy baby chicks? Perfectly well behaved and cute for everyone else, but disgraced themselves when placed in her lap.

The tiny newborn lambs? Happily sucked milk from the bottles held out to them, but then deposited the surplus on her shoes.

The playful kid goats? Nibbled hungrily at the pellets in most people’s palms, but left a puddle of slobber in hers.

Needless to say the washbasins saw a fair bit of action that day!

Farmer Gows is less than half an hour from Swindon, just off the Watchfield roundabout on the way to Oxford.

It’s probably best visited on a fine day, but the drizzle and winds on the day we went certainly didn’t deter the children. Nor did it stop any of the day’s planned activities from going ahead – as long as you’ve got your wellies and a coat, you’ll be able to join in.

We spent a full four hours at the farm, never running out of things to do. From playing on the pedal tractors in the yard, to being pulled by a real tractor to feed the pigs, there wasn’t a moment to be bored.

But the highlight of the day was undoubtedly feeding time, which combined with egg collecting from the hen houses, lasted a full hour.

Kieran, six, wasn’t so keen on getting close to the animals (and, to tell the truth, neither was I) so we sat to one side and watched as Caitlin, eight, and nanny got hands on.

First came the comical but cute lambs, their wobbly legs trotting from one bottle to the next for their milk.

Next were the boisterous ewes, barging their way past one another to be first to the food.

But funniest of all were the baby goats, who hopped from bale to bale, popping up when you least expected them and even tearing the bottle from their feeders’ hands given half the chance.

As an observer, it was brilliantly entertaining. As a participant – and for one in particular – it looked more than a little messy.

Caitlin and Kieran Lea, aged six and nine, of Liden, said: I loved feeding the bottles to the cute lambs and holding the little chicks. We helped hide the clues in the treasure hunt and got to pick a prize at the end. This is a great place for anyone who likes holding animals – CAITLIN

I was a bit scared of the animals, but I still had a nice time. My favourite bit was riding on the tractors and seeing the pigs – KIERAN

NEED TO KNOW

Farmer Gows is on Fernham Road, Longcot, Faringdon, SN7 7PR.
Email enquiries@farmergows.co.uk or call 01793 780555.

The farm is open daily until December 23 from 10am to 5pm.
Adults pay £8, OAPs and students are £7.50, children three to 16 pay £7, and under threes go free. A family tickets (2+2) costs £28.
Trailer rides to feed the pigs cost £1.25 per person, as does the reasure hunt on the giant hay bales.