October half term is the last easy week of the year. The clocks have not gone back, the trees are turning, and the Shropshire hills look better in the last week of October than at any other point in the calendar.
It is also a week where the weather will do whatever it likes. A house that works in the rain matters more in October than it does in August.
When Shropshire half term falls
Shropshire schools take their autumn half term in the last full week of October, which usually means the Monday after the third weekend. Neighbouring authorities, including Herefordshire and Worcestershire, tend to line up with it. Worth checking your own school's calendar, because a week either side can make a real difference to how busy Ludlow feels.
What to do when it is dry
- The Clee Hills. Titterstone Clee is the obvious one and the view from the top on a clear October day runs to the Black Mountains. It is a short, steep walk rather than a long one, which is the right shape for children.
- Mortimer Forest. Waymarked trails, fallen leaves, and enough tree cover that light rain is not a problem. Ten minutes from the house.
- Ludlow Castle. Open through half term and a genuinely good ruin to let children loose in.
- The kart track. Ours, in the paddock. Dry leaves and a stopwatch will occupy a family for an entire afternoon.
What to do when it is not
This is the part that matters in October, and it is the reason the house works in a way a cottage does not.
The entertainment room has a pool table, a racing simulator and a drum kit at one end, with a ball pit, a play kitchen and an activity table at the other. It absorbs children of very different ages at the same time, which is the hard problem on a wet day.
The hot tub is at 38 degrees and is arguably better in the rain than out of it. The woodburner in the snug is laid and ready. The AGA makes the kitchen the warmest room in the house, and if you tell us before you arrive we will have it up to temperature for you.
The farm itself
The house sits on a working cattle estate. There are hens, and children are welcome to collect the eggs. The cattle are in the field behind the house through most of the autumn.
Sam, who works on the farm, will sometimes take children round for a look at what is happening that week. It depends on what the farm is doing, so it is worth asking rather than assuming, but it is the thing families mention most often afterwards.
Eating
Ludlow is eight minutes away and has more good food per head than anywhere else of its size in the country. The market runs several days a week and the butchers and bakers on the square are the real thing rather than a tourist version of one.
At the house there is a BBQ and a wood-fired pizza oven, both charcoal, and we provide the charcoal. Pizza in the paddock on a cold October evening is a better night than a restaurant with six children in it.
Practical things
The house sleeps twelve across five bedrooms with three bathrooms. Two travel cots and a high chair are here. One well-behaved dog is welcome. Bedding and towels are provided.
Half-term weeks sell early. If you are planning ahead, the autumn week is usually the first of the school holidays to go in our calendar.
Live availability and direct booking are on the booking form.