Thinking about going away over February Half Term?  We have availability in both our holiday cottage or our cabin which is slightly quirkier.  Both are warm and cosy with wood burning stoves in the sitting rooms, and the cottage has central heating and double glazing as well.  There's a private wood fired hot tub outside both accommodations and we're offering hot tub pre heats as well for guests who want to plunge straight in when they arrive!  

We have animals close by both accommodations, there are lambs in the orchard at the moment munching away at apple prunings, and a large friendly pig further along the drive who is very happy to see our visitors and eat any apple cores.  The alpaca are hungry at this time of year so super engaged, and very happy to peer at humans as well, do join us to see them eat their morning muesli!   ​

There are lots of family friendly things to do in the local area, we love the new East Quay Gallery at Watchet, it's free to visit with interesting modern art exhibitions, artist's workshops to visit and a really good cafe.  The gallery has great vistas out over the harbour and Bristol Channel. Watchet is just a 20 minute drive from us, make sure you visit the lego shop when you're there too, ask us where it is before you go, it has a brilliant display of vintage 1970s lego and some very collectable Star Wars models too! 

Blue Anchor is our nearest beach, about 25 minutes drive from here, also near Watchet.  It's a couple of miles long, and a combination of stones and sand, we love to go shell hunting at this time of year, there are also interesting coloured stones at the far end of the beach.  The Driftwood Cafe is open all year round, an unpretentious place with all day breakfasts, fish and chips and cream teas, it's not expensive and has seating both indoors and out.  

Dunster Castle is a few miles further down the road and a really good National Trust.  Families can explore both inside the castle where there's lots to see and the gorgeous park and gardens.  They're very child friendly, with lists of things for children to spot around the house and there's a lovely play area in the woods.  Dunster village is also lovely to explore with its thatched cottages and ancient buildings, there are plenty of cafes, good pubs and restaurants in Dunster too and a good tourist info with lots of local information and friendly well informed staff who know the local area well.    

We have lots of food choices available which can be pre ordered and ready in your kitchen for your arrival and you can also order food during your stay.  Breakfast hampers with local products are always available consisting of sausages and bacon from our free ranging pigs, freshly eggs from next door (the deepest yellow yolks, double yolks if you're lucky), home cooked bread, local apple juice, milk and butter.  We can provide joints of meat for the oven or barbecue and home cooked suppers too.  

We're counting down the weeks until the Spring and busy getting our safari tents ready for the 2023 glamping season! Easter is a lovely time to stay with new born lambs, blossom budding on the apple trees, a chorus of birdsong in the trees and native hedging  and usually a busy glamping site full of families and children!  

We offer a variety of long weekends, short stays or full weeks in both our glamping and cottages during the Easter holidays.   Usually Easter has fairly decent temperatures, it was freezing last year, so we're prepared with lots of blankets and water bottles in case it's another cold start to the school holidays.  We've replaced all the blinds in the safari tents this year with thick linen curtains, wool interlined in the bedrooms making them much warmer for the start and end of the season.  

Our herd of alpacas grows a little larger every year, this photo is of the boys who live opposite Porlock, Kilve and Bossington safari tents, they whizz over when they see a bucket of food, and we hope to offer guests some hand feeding this year as we've been encouraging them to be a bit braver and eat out of a scoop.  

We start lambing in mid March, we plan this carefully so the ewes should have all finished by the time guests arrive.  By April they should have had their collustrom and be bouncing around fairly independently in the fields.  We always have a few orphans on a bottle, or abandoned lambs when their mother has three.  These will definitely be part of our farm tour for any children who'd like a go lamb feeding, or picking them up for a cuddle.  The orphan lambs are very tame and will rush over when they see a human!

We're a great glamping site for groups of families wanting to stay together.  We have two separate fields of safari tents, all with hot tubs, private bathrooms, proper beds, electricity etc.  The lodges in the photo above are Porlock, Bossington and Kilve, these ones are good for families with older children, they're a minute or two's walk away from the play area, and have gorgeous views onto Exmoor National Park.  These three safari tents are dog free, so suitable lodges for guests with allergies. 

Our pigs were a bit out of control last year, with so many pregnancies, piglets and escaping pigs everywhere!  We have a few less this month, with 10 small pigs in the freezer, but still plenty of pigs around the farm to amuse guests on farm tours.

Happy New Year, we hope 2023 will bring good things to everyone and it'll be a more settled year! 

If you're thinking about a UK holiday this year, we have lots of availability and we're working hard through the winter months on improvements, tree planting and generally tidying up the farm ready for when we're busy.  The glamping cabin and holiday cottage stay open all year round, so if you'd like to stay before the school holidays, you'll find available dates on our booking calendar.  Early January's rain has been very tedious, we hope for some more colder crisp days with clear winter skies soon, we have good clear skies here, Exmoor is an International Dark Sky Reserve so we're well places for star spotting.  

Our six large family friendly safari tents open for the glamping season on 3rd April, the spring is a busy time on the farm with new born lambs, no doubt more pigs and our goats and alpaca will be delighted to see guests again, they get a bit bored during the winter with just us to stare at!  

Exmoor is right on our doorstep, and really beautiful.  Unlike other National Parks Exmoor is fairly quiet, it's never crowded even in the height of August, and if we have another hot summer, this is a lovely place to go for a walk along the river, or in one of the beautiful areas of forestry.  Our favourite places are Bossington Beach, Horner Woods or Selworthy, Wimbleball Lake Porlock Weir Tarr Steps (if you walk away from the bridge it's less busy), Dunkery Beacon - all of these places are less than 45 minutes drive from us.  

Wimbleball Lake has water sports, clip and climb and a cafe on the water's edge.  In last year's drought the water levels were very slow, so not quite so good for watersports, but we've had so much rain this January the levels are increasing again and we look forward to being back on the water on our kayaks!  Wimbleball is 20 minutes from us, Clatworthy reservoir is nearer, no water sports but there is fishing and a gorgeous walk around the water's edge, there's a playground up there too which I hear is currently being renovated.  

Buzzard, Hawk and Kestrel Safari Tents are our dog friendly options, these three safari tents are all suitable for dogs, we allow up to two dogs in each of them.  The decks are fenced and gated with a metal loop you can attach your dog's lead to so it can be outside with you whilst you use the hot tub.  As we're a working farm and have lots of animals we don't allow dogs off the lead on the farm, we ask you to keep your dog with you at all times please.  We have a long tree lined driveway you can run your dog up, there's a good walk in the village and Exmoor National Park and the coast are nearby for lovely dog walks.  

All our safari tents, the cabin and the cottage have large wood fired hot tubs.  These are an optional extra and can be booked on our reservation form.  They're heated by wood, not electricity and are the perfect way to relax after a day out exploring.  If we have another hot summer you can also get in them cold!  

We begin lambing in March, no idea how many we'll have as we don't get the ewes scanned, we leave the surprise to Mother Nature!  I expect it will be around 40 and we usually have a few lambs on a bottle in a paddock near the farmhouse, they are very sweet and guests can have a cuddle on our farm tours.  We find the ewes who have three lambs will reject one, usually the smallest as she won't have enough milk for all three.  As long as they get some colostrum when they're born, they'll be fine on a bottle, although never quite as strong as the ones who feed from their mother.  We run farm tours twice a week, times are pinned on the shop door, wellies are essential, farm life is rather messy!  

We've kept Mangalitsa pigs for the last couple of years, they're really gorgeous with their curly ginger coats and have the sweetest stripy piglets.  In 2021 things got a little out of hand, when they kept escaping under their fences and visiting pigs in other paddocks around the farm - resulting in at least 15 piglets in August, and more in the winter!  11 have recently left us, and hopefully more off to Somerset Charcuterie later this month as we're a bit pig heavy on the farm at the moment and will probably try a different breed in the spring.  

If you're coming to stay and want to try our meat, please do, it's terribly disappointing when guests by their meat from the supermarket.  Our pork isn't expensive and travels zero food miles to get to you, we use as little plastic packing as possible and our pigs are outside all year round eating a healthy diet.  We have various different cuts available, from delicious fat sausages, chops, rolled joints and more.  If you're coming to stay with a dog, we offer dog treats too.   Our shop is open from April through to the end of October Half Term.  If you're staying in the winter months when it's closed we can leave home cooked food, meat from the farm or breakfast hampers in the cottage or cabin ready for your arrival.  If there's something you fancy which isn't on our food list, just get in touch, during the winter when we're quiet we have time to produce something bespoke if you wish!  

After a mild and rainy November when confused trees were in bud and apples were sprouting in the orchard, we finally have some proper winter weather and have had beautiful mists and double rainbows over the farm.  

We haven't had many guests stay recently, so whilst we're quiet we have been busy planting more trees in the glamping fields and around the pigs who need more shade in the summer.  We have started tidying the veg patch which was rather neglected this year and Patrick is finishing the polytunnel so we can double up the amount of veg we grow and offer more to guests in the glamping season.

However well we think we have secured the pig paddocks, they seem to escape, we have 11 Mangalitsa piglet toddlers on the farm at the moment - and they are everywhere, digging under the fences and free ranging around both our farm, and our neighbours!  If anyone would like one for Christmas they're all for sale, £30 a piglet, four months old, so they're quite chunky now.  If we don't manage to sell them, no doubt they'll be off to the butcher in January as we never intended to have quite so many pigs, they are very good at reproducing!  

Our sheep are much better behaved and quietly munching the grass and getting much needed vitamins before they lamb in March.  

We have Christmas and New Year available in the cottage and cabin, both are family friendly, both are warm and cosy with wood burning stoves and both have wood fired hot tubs.  Our daughter will be decorating them over the weekend so they look festive and welcoming.  

Both our holiday cottage and glamping are family friendly, we also have couple price discounts when there are only two guests staying.  

If you're looking to escape to the countryside for Christmas, Middle Stone Farm is a lovely spot.  We're very quiet at this time of year and you'll probably have the farm to yourselves, it will certainly be peaceful over the Christmas holidays.  Both the Deckhouse Cabin and Stable Cottage are available for New Year, and the cabin is also available over Christmas and the Bank Holidays.  We'll be putting the decorations up soon with twinkly lights outside and a little Christmas tree and holly over the pictures in both accommodations.  

Both the cabin and holiday cottage are family friendly, they are also lovely for couples.  Both have large wood fired hot tubs, there's also a firepit outside the cabin.  

There are plenty of cosy pubs nearby if you want to go out for lunch on Christmas Day, wise to book sooner rather than later as tables get booked up fast.  Alternatively if you're planning to stay in and drink fizz around the fire, we can provide breakfast hampers, meat, local ciders, gin, prosecco or champagne  - whatever you need ready for your arrival.  The local National Trusts are open all year round, with good walks and stately homes to explore at Dunster and Knightshayes.  

The year we arrived at the farm we installed solar panels on our barn roofs and a bio mass boiler, so lots of our energy is being produced ourselves from renewables.  Both the holiday cottage and the cabin have wood fires as well as central heating from the biomass boiler in the Stable Cottage.  Our water is from our own borehole spring and all our firewood is from sustainable forestry on Exmoor.  We do our own laundry using power from the solar and most of the produce in our breakfast hampers and homemade meals is either produced on our farm, if not very local.  

We love a winter walk on the beach, Blue Anchor Bay is our nearest, about 25 minutes drive from here.  It's a combination of stones and sand, and a good mile long, Dunster beach is next year for miles more sand and views over towards Wales.  West Somerset is a quiet part of the West Country, it's never busy here even on a Bank Holiday, so you'll see plenty of dogs running free, happy families and friendly smiles.  There are plenty of pubs in nearby Dunster or Porlock if you want to eat out afterwards, we have a list of our favourites on our Explore page above.  

We keep two accommodations open through the winter, The Deckhouse Cabin and Stable Cottage.  Both of these properties sleep either a couple, or family of four.  There are king beds  and childrens bedrooms in both accommodations, wood burning stoves with logs provided, the cottage also has central heating.  Parking for both accommodations is close by, so you won't need your wellies unless you're heading out for a walk!  The walks up on Exmoor or along the coast are gorgeous, there are public footpaths around the village too if you would rather stay local. 

We have couple discounts running outside the school holidays, a weekend in either the cottage or cabin is £195 for two nights, or £250 for a family of four.   These discounts continue until 16th December.  

Our shop is closed now we're quiet but you can still pre order a breakfast hamper, homemade cake, curry or lasagne which we can leave in your fridge ready for your arrival.  If you like a full English breakfast, we offer sausages and bacon from our pigs, beautiful free range eggs, farmhouse bread, local Somerset apple juice, homemade bread, West Country butter and milk.  All our accommodation has cafetiers and we provide ground coffee from our local coffee roasters, the Stable Cottage also has a coffee machine.  

There's a wood fired hot tub outside each accommodation, and we have fairy lights as well as LED lighting outside, useful now the clocks have changed!  If you want to get straight into the hot tub when you arrive, we also offer hot tub pre heats at this time of year if you'd prefer us to tend the fire and do the heating for you.  

Although lots of our guests stay on site, curled up by the wood burning stove or cooking breakfast over a fire pit, if you want to venture out there's plenty to see and good places to eat.  Winter weekends in the country are synonymous with blustery walks and hearty pub lunches, most of the pubs around here serve a proper roast Sunday lunch - with all the trimmings.  There are too many to list here, but you'll find them all on the net, and a list of our favourites on the Explore page above.  Nearby Wiveliscombe has a couple of breweries so you''ll find plenty of local beer on tap too.  

We have a little bit of availability left for October Half Term, Hawk Lodge is the last safari tent left from 24th to 28th October, this one sleeps a family of up to 6, it's dog friendly and close to the children's play areas.  The beautiful clear days we've been having recently mean it is cold at night, but the stars are amazing, and we provide lots of firewood for you to use on the lodge stove and keep yourselves warm. 

There's pumpkin picking in nearby Wellington, the local National Trusts always have something child friendly on and the Bear Trail over the border in Devon is always a fun option during the school holidays!  

Toasting marshmallows around the fire in the autumn is rather special as the sun goes down, there are so many different recipe variations on the net, the simplest being Rich Tea Biscuits, a few squares of milk chocolate and a couple of nice fat marshmallows of course.  We'll have all the kit ready in our shop ready for toasting on the firepit.  

At this time of year all the beds in our safari lodges have fleece blankets and hot water bottles as well as warm duvets, our bedding is non feather and hypo allergenic so should be fine for anyone with bedding allergies.  When the last person goes to bed, we suggest you put on a couple of heat logs on the wood burner which which burn slowly through the night.  It's always cold when the first person gets up to light the fire again in the morning, so remember to pack warm bed socks or cosy slippers.  

We're a working farm with animals and have products from our farm in our shop.  You can order a breakfast hamper in advance of your stay, or pick up things from the shop after you arrive.  We always have pigs to admire on the farm, and sausages in the freezer.  We have created our own sausage flavouring with the help of a local butcher, our bacon is also delicious, both for eating with eggs and toast, or in a pasta sauce.

Unfortunately the fox took all our hens this summer, now we only have a cockerel who despite being handsome, doesn't produce any eggs!  So this year we have eggs from our neighbour (in all different colours), they are free range and delicious, with lots of deep yellow double yolks.

Farmhouse bread, freshly cooked croissants and pain au chocolates are also available to collect from our shop ready for breakfast.

All our accommodation has its own private wood fired hot tub, we have eight of them on the farm.  They're made in Sweden and the hot tub water is heated via a wood stove, if you choose to hire the tub, we'll provide you with an extra supply of firewood to heat the water yourselves.  Outside of the school holidays we offer hot tub pre heats, this is a good idea if you're arriving late after work or school and want to get straight in when you arrive.  

The hot tubs here on the farm are large, the tubs next to the cottage and cabin are for four people, and the safari tent hot tubs are for six.  These are optional extras and cost £60 for a four night stay, you can read about how they work here.  We're glad we invested in wood fired hot tubs, rather than electric ones with the current cost of energy crisis.  Although the cost of firewood has gone up, we have kept our hot tub prices the same for this winter and next year, and will absorb the increase ourselves, rather than pass it on to our guests.  

We buy our firewood from a high quality seller on Exmoor, the facts on his website state Co2 released from burning wood is equivalent to Co2 absorbed by the tree during its growing life, unlike other fuels burning wood is carbon neutral.  

We have discounted prices for the next couple of weekends with additional discounts for couples.  A stay in our cabin or cottage for the weekend of 14th October for example is now £245 for a couple or £295 for a family of four.  We continue to run farm tours for anyone who is interested, the animals are well trained to a bucket and will come running when they see us, pigs are never full and at this time of year we feed them buckets of apples as well as their normal foods.  The goats like a few branches taken from one of our trees with good growth and the sheep will run over as soon as they hear the gate unlatch!  

October is the time of year when we plan our lambing - we have a new ram this year, Patrick has named him Raymond as he's a french breed and if you're into sheep, a rather fine specimen who deserves a name!  He'll go into the paddock of ewes on the 20th October and I expect we'll begin lambing in mid March.  Hopefully perfectly timed so all the lambs will be born before we open the safari tents for the Easter 2023 holidays!  If his visit to the ladies doesn't go as well as we plan, we'll put some of these lovely Exmoor rams in instead - they produce the sweetest of lambs!  

October is a gorgeous time to come and stay with dramatic autumnal sunsets, stargazing and toasting marshmallows around the firepit.  The trees are turning bronze and the leaves are falling, perfect for crunchy family walks.   The hedgerows are alive with berries and full of wildlife,  if you step out quietly in the evening you may see the local barn owl who swoops over our fields at sunset.    There's a nip in the air but with large wood burning stoves, and lots of blankets and hot water bottles you'll be cosy in our safari tents.  

A half term holiday in Somerset is a whole lot less stressful than going abroad, although we can't predict what the weather will do, there'll be no queuing at airports or the worry about your suitcases going in a different direction!  Just pack some warm clothes and wellies, we provide most of the kit you'll need for your holiday.  

There are large wood burning stoves ​in the heart of the lodge, with ovens and hobs to cook on and they are also used for heating the space.  They work a bit like an Aga with a good size oven and the top of the stove is your hob.  We provide lots of sacks of firewood for you along with kindling, firelighters and matches etc.   There are firepit style barbecues outside too if you'd rather cook your breakfast outside.  

We'll be running regular farm tours through Half Term which include a tractor ride, opportunities to meet our many piglets, feed and stroke our friendly flock of sheep, get close to the alpaca, feed the goats, our one remaining cockerel (the fox had the hens) and have a scratch of the larger adult pigs.  We also have moorhens and a family of ducks on the pond and no end of rabbits, pheasants and wildlife pottering around.  

There are two children's play areas in the glamping fields, and we also have a covered space with table tennis.  The badminton net is still up, wellies are definitely a good idea in October as the grass is long and dewy at this time of year.  Our fields are unlit so some head torches are a good idea as well if you want to be outside after dark.  

We have lots of ideas of local places to visit on our website.  Dunster Castle is brilliant for families, they usually have Half Term activities, a pumpkin or halloween trail, Knightshayes Court in Devon is also nearby and another good National Trust.  The Bear Trail is a local assault course, great for children, teenagers and adults - getting muddy is optional, they have a wood fired pizza oven too.  

Taunton has bowling, the Odeon Cinema, Somerset Museum (free), all the usual chain pizza places and a farmer's market once a week.  We like the independent Scott Cinema in Bridgwater, brand new with several screens and great value - we definitely recommend it.    Exeter isn't far away and a great city to explore - Topsham is lovely, there's Crealy Fun Park on the outskirts too if you're looking for rides!

Exmoor National Park is on our doorstep, there will be a calendar of events on their website - it's beautiful - head out for a walk on a fine day - Dunkery  Beacon, Selworthy, Horner Woods, Porlock Weir - they're all nearby and gorgeous!  

It's quiet again on the farm now the schools have gone back, if you are a couple, or family with pre school age children, now is a lovely time to stay, you may well have the farm to yourselves!  We have discounted our prices for the next six weeks, for example a weekend in the cabin is £245 for a couple or £295 for a family of four.  Four night mid week stays are £325 for couples, £375 for four.  

We have also reduced prices in our safari tents, they are larger sleeping up to six, couple discounts are available if only two adults are staying in there, we have three dog friendly safari lodges too.  

Exmoor National Park is on our doorstep, and in late summer the moorland is a sea of purple heather and wild flowers, it's never very busy up there and September is the perfect time of year to walk some of the many footpaths or a part of the South West Coast Path.  We have links to our favourite beaches and rivers on our website and if you want some less well known walks head to one of the friendly Tourist Information Centres, either at Dunster or Dulverton, both about 20 minutes from us.  

For water activites, Wimbleball Lake is 20 minutes from here with sailing, paddle boarding, kanoeing etc, or you could get in touch with Exmoor Adventures over in Porlock Weir, they have lots of activities both on and off water including electric bikes.  Porlock Weir is really lovely, with independent food places, gorgeous views and a beach to explore, it's a good place to spend the day, if you set out early, you could drop in to Dunster Castle on your way past.    Dunster Castle, National Trust is open all year round, with gorgeous semi tropical gardens, water mill, couple of cafes there's lots to see outside as well as inside the castle.  

Our two fine Exmoor Horn Rams have left the farm now for new homes and Patrick will pick up a new ram or two next week so we can get them used to the farm before they go in with the ladies in November!   We've had around 100 sheep on the farm this year, so it's time to reduce the flock a bit before lambing again in March when I expect we'll go back to 100.  If you'd like to stay when we're lambing, we open the safari lodges at the start of April when the last ewe should have had her lambs and we usually have a few ophans for anyone who'd like to have a go bottle feeding.    Our cabin and cottage are open all year round, lambing is usually 2nd and 3rd week of March.  

Less sheep will mean we have more time to focus on our pigs, three of the sows have recently given birth and we have 16 fine little Mangalitsa piglets who've been entertaining us on farm tours.  The goats tend to be a bit bored when we have less guests staying, so we plan to make them a playground this year.  We love a bit of upcycling and have pallets on standby to make them some climbing ramps! 

We have lots of October availability, both in safari tents, and the cottage and cabin.  Half Term seems to be on different weeks for different schools, but we'll be running farm tours whenever we have families staying and our shop will be well stocked for our last busy holiday of the year.  

The Deckhouse Cabin is available from 23rd August onwards, for either a full week, mid week stay or just the Bank Holiday Weekend.  Three nights is £395, a full week is £1020.  The cabin sleeps a family of four, two adults and two children under the age of 12.  It's separate from the rest of our glamping so a good option for guests wanting a bit of extra privacy, but only a minute's walk to the play area if you have children who want to make friends with the families staying over in our safari tents. 

We are a very friendly farm stay option with lots of animal goings on at this time of year!  Don't ask us how many pigs we have, we have rather lost count this month as three of mangalitsa sows have recently produced lots of piglets.  They are super sweet and we'll show you them during one of our farm tours.  

We have lots of availability at the end of the month, including a whole field together which would work well for a group of families or extended family wanting to have a whole field to themselves.  If you hire Buzzard, Hawk and Kestrel Lodges we include our barn where guests can all eat together under one roof space.  These lodges are also dog friendly and near the children's play areas.  If you're thinking of booking several accommodations together, do get in touch with us first as we will be able to make an offer for group bookings in September and October.  

Outside the school holidays we have price discounts for couples.  The price for a couple staying in our cabin or cottage in September for example is £260 for two nights (or £310 for a family of four),   September tends to be quieter on the farm, so you're likely to have a field or the playground to yourselves.    We have whole fields available if you'd like to stay as a groups, get in touch if you do so we can let you know about any group offers.  

If you're thikning ahead to October Half Term, we have lots of availability for short stays or a full week if you'd like to stay for longer.  We include a generous supply of firewood in the cost of staying in our safari lodges or cabin, and if you're unsure about glamping, we have a holiday cottage too which has central heating as well as a log burner.  We'll have fires lit before you arrive and the lodges all have thick duvets, hot water bottles and lots of cosy blankets.  You don't need to rely on candle light, there are lamps and LED ceiling lighting as well.  The local National Trusts usually have halloween trails running too.  We close the safari tents at the end of October Half Term for winter renovations, if we plan something exciting I'm sure I'll have photos on Instagram so keep an eye if you're thinking of booking a stay for 2023!