Most of it is free and starts at the gate. Send them into the woods to build a den, or walk down to the river; save the paid days out for the wet ones.
On the farm and nearby
- Den building. The wood at the edge of the farm is made for it.
- Wildlife spotting. Red kites all day, fallow deer at dusk, and barn owls over the headlands if you are lucky.
- Fly a kite. Six hundred feet up and open to the west; there is nearly always something to fly one in.
- Football. Take a ball up to Ibstone Common, which is on the thirty-minute walk from the gate.
- The walk to Hambleden Lock. From Mill End car park down to the weir, and on to the Flower Pot at Aston. A firm family favourite.
It is a working farm, so the usual applies: leave gates as you find them, keep away from machinery and livestock, and do not disturb the wildlife. Beyond that, they have the run of it.
Days out within an hour
Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre
Great Missenden, half an hour. Where he wrote them, and a good deal of making things.
Bekonscot Model Village
Beaconsfield, half an hour. The oldest model village in the world, and still the best.
Chiltern Open Air Museum
Chalfont St Giles, forty minutes. Rescued historic buildings in woodland, with room to run.
Legoland Windsor
Forty-five minutes. Book ahead and go early.
Go Ape at Wendover
Forty minutes. High ropes in the beech woods for anyone tall enough.
Chinnor and Princes Risborough Railway
Twenty-five minutes. A preserved steam line along the foot of the escarpment.
And if it rains
Henley, Marlow and Oxford are all close enough for a wet afternoon, and the River and Rowing Museum at Henley has a permanent Wind in the Willows exhibition that holds up rather well.