Crooked Willows Farm

This is a fab area for fresh air activities: bring your rod licence for day tickets to fish in the Holt Heath National Nature Reserve, opposite the site, or pack your clubs to tee off at the 27 holes of the Ferndown Golf Club (15 minutes’ drive). Make your way to Moors Valley Country Park (10 minutes’ drive) to get around however you like: there are walking trails and bike paths, Segway tours and a miniature railway, or you can see it from above while flying along the treetop course at Go Ape. There are yet more outdoorsy antics (walks, horse rides, bike rides and wildlife trails) to be had in the New Forest National Park (20 minutes’ drive), or at the watersports centres along the beach at Bournemouth (half an hour). For a more leisurely look at the sea, plot a course for Poole (also half an hour) and a trip to Brownsea Island from its quay. If the weather’s not approving of such activities, a cinema, bowling alley and waterpark are 25 minutes away at Tower Park. When it’s a little brighter, even tinies can play at being giants with a wander around the model town in Wimborne (15 minutes).