Last week, my partner and I went on holiday to Stratford-upon-Avon. While we were there, we wanted to see all of the houses associated with William Shakespeare, if we could. So on the Wednesday, we visited the second one - Mary Arden's Farm. We were lucky that our hotel was just over the road from this, so we didn't even have to drive there or worry about parking!

INFORMATION

Mary Arden's Farm is three miles from the centre of Stratford at Wilmcote, CV37 9UN. It is open 10am till 5.30pm daily, thought it closes from October 30 for the winter. It has its own car park and a two-hour visit is recommended.

There are summer holidays activities from 23rd July to 4th September. Other things coming up this year include the Tudor Hiring Fair from August 27th to 29th and Apple Days on October 1st and 2nd.

We paid £19.50 each for an adult five house pass to all the Shakespeare's Houses and Gardens (Shakespeare's Birthplace, Nash's House and New Place, Hall's Croft, Anne Hathaway's Cottage and Mary Arden's Farm). Tickets are valid for twelve months, so you can go back again for free. Children cost £12 and Concessions £17.50.

If you just want to go into Mary Arden's Farm, but not the other attractions, it will cost £9.50 per Adult with Children at £5.50 and Concessions £8.50.

REVIEW

Mary Arden's Farm is a real working Tudor Farm and famous for being the childhood home of Mary Arden, Shakespeare's mother. The farm aims to show what rural life was like in the 1570s. Attractions include Falconry displays, Mangalitza curly-haired pigs, the ability to feed the goats, you can see various farm animals (horses, cows, sheep, etc.) and there is an "easy circular nature trail" if you fancy a walk. There is an adventure playground for the kids too and this is probably the best attraction if you have a young family. You can even have children's parties here!

This was probably my favourite of the five Shakespearean houses, as there is a lot to see and I do love farm animals. The Mangalitza curly-haired pigs were great, as they are unusual looking and I found them fascinating. There were other more normal looking pigs and piglets too and the breeds of animals were clearly labelled, with some rare Bagot goats, English Longhorn cattle, Cotswold sheep and Tamworth pigs as well. You can touch the animals if you want to (and if they'll let you!), but I didn't as being pregnant, I didn't want to take any risks. The farm is aware of the importance of hygiene though and there are many hand sanitizer dispensers dotted around, with signs reminding you to wash your hands.

As you walk in to the reception, you are given a mini map of the site and you can follow this if you want to see everything, or you can just walk around as you wish. You can follow two routes marked out on the map - the Tudor Rose Trail (which covers the houses and main farm areas) or the Green Woodpecker Trail, which covers all of the grounds and involves much more walking.

On the Palmer's Farm section, there are displays of traditional crafts and farming activities such as threshing and bread-making. Mary Arden's House continues this theme with such activities as basket weaving. The part I found most interesting was in the kitchen where two women were preparing a pottage (a kind of stew which all the leftovers would go into). They had all the ingredients out and were cooking on the old fire. They explained what they were doing and how this would have been done back in Tudor days. They also had a basket of plucked chicken feathers, which they explained would be used for stuffing pillows.

I always find the houses fascinating and I was quite surprised by how spacious they were, although some of the spaces between the rooms were low, so you had to duck down. There are also parts where you can see inside the wall to find out how they were built. In one room, you could see how herbs were prepared and there were many different varieties growing in the gardens.

Upstairs in one of the rooms, there was a fun word activity where there were colour-coded flash cards. You chose a 'Thou' (white card) then picked a red card (a Shakespearean adjective), a yellow card (another Shakespearean adjective) and a green card (a Shakespearean noun) to make a funny Shakespearean insult! One of ours was 'Thou jarring ill-breeding rampallion!' but I haven't had chance to use it in conversation yet!

There are toilets at two locations, which are basic but okay. There is a picnic area in the shade with tables and benches, if you want to take your own packed lunch to eat. Otherwise, there is a cafe there with indoor and outdoor seating and a wide range of food and drink available for a fair price. I had a cream tea (warm scone with jam, cream and a pot of tea) as well as a banana milkshake, while my partner had a Ploughman's lunch. We were both impressed with the food and drink, as well as the seating area.

There is a gift shop on the way out with a wide mixture of souvenirs from pocket money gifts to more expensive ones. When we were there, a large group of schoolgirls were there on a trip, so the gift shop was packed and we didn't stay in there long.

Overall, we both enjoyed Mary Arden's Farm and probably did spend the suggested two hours there, so it felt like it was worth the money. Whereas most of the Shakespearean houses wouldn't appeal to young children, this one should do, as they will enjoy the animals and the playground, even if they don't know who William Shakespeare is.