Morpeth, Whitehouse Farm Centre

We love Whitehouse farm. Living locally, we have bought annual passes and visited the centre lots of times. There's plenty for the kids to do - pedal go-karts, toddler tractors and pedal karts, an outdoor area, indoor softplay area, indoor electric go-karts, large cafe, a maze, frisbee golf, trampolines, tyre slide and tractor rides. The tyre slide, tractor rides and little indoor go kerts cost extra.

There are plenty of animals to see and pet - reptiles, insects, small furry critters, birds, sheep, cattle, goats, etc. Petting sessions are regular. At different times of the year, you can bottle feed lambs, bath pigs, groom ponies, etc.

The staff are friendly and helpful; they know the animals well.

During the hols, extra activities are laid on - magic shows, arts and crafts, etc.

Family of 6 :)

We arrived at 3 (the literature says allow 2 hours for the whole experience'). We made a beeline for the petting barn. There were enclosures for rabbits & guinea pigs and cages with rats, mice chinchillas and chipmunks - but no memeber of staff in sight! Eventually a member of staff turned up and informed people who asked that she had no time to get animals out to pet as she was busy doing her checks after which she had to present the beastie show and then feed the calves. When people started complaining the kids did get an opportunity to pet the animals, but it seemed quite short.

The Beastie Show was quite interesting - the girl was knowledgeable and there was an opportunity to have a stick insect and a cockroach on your hand. Next was feeding the calves - sadly not enough bottles to go around and the less pushy children didn't get a look-in.

The other attractions were a playground, some plastic ride on tractors (like every toddler has at home), an indoor soft play, pedal go karts which could do with a bit of mechanical attention, a maze and a few trampolines. Other attractions listed were closed on the day.