Friends, family – and farmyard fun

SO here's the dilemma: you have dear friends you've known since school; you've grown up, married, had kids, and ended up living on opposite sides of the country. Suddenly visits to each others' homes – assuming they aren't the size of your average premiership footballer's – become tricky, if not impossible.

How, then, do you spend quality time together in comfort, without spending a fortune on hotel stays?

One solution is the humble English cottage. There are thousands of them available for hire all over the British Isles, but you need look no further than Devon and Cornwall for some of the finest. For a relatively modest sum, you can rent huge amounts of space and, in many cases, a touch of luxury.

This is precisely what we, my wife and two children aged five and two, got at West Goldsworthy Farm near Clovelly in North Devon. Joining us in the glorious May sunshine were another family of four – in total eight bodies to accommodate.

Set in 200 acres and dating back to the 12th century, West Goldsworthy is a working farm, complete with cow milking shed, tractors, bleating lambs and that unmistakable farm smell that tells you you've left the city behind.

The farm house is big enough to have been split in two with the owners' home. For rent there are four bedrooms, two of which are spacious yet cosy doubles both with ensuite showers. There is another adjoining bedroom with one double and bunk beds, plus a smaller bedroom with a single bed and space for a cot, which they provide. Downstairs has a large living and dining area, and a well-equipped modern kitchen complete with that life-saving dishwasher. Everything is furnished to a good standard and has been designed to make you feel instantly at home – which it does. Another thoughtful touch were properly fixed stairgates top and bottom, the absence of which would have made the visit much more stressful.

If inside ticks all the boxes, outside ticks even more. The farm is set on an elevated position amid pristine rolling farmland, so the views are both restful and spectacular – at least 10 miles on a clear day. Our own private garden was a well-designed gated play area, complete with trampoline, slide, swings, picnic tables, and plenty of room to run around.

This would be more than enough, but thanks to the warmth and great hospitality of the farm owners, we enjoyed free run of the entire farm, too. The children were invited every morning to bottle-feed the lambs, and we were all welcome to watch the milking, pet the donkeys, and take a spin in the farm buggy – truly memorable – while the older kids adored the chance to take a pony ride.

Once we'd exhausted our own personal petting farm experience, it was time to dive into the hot tub – a genius addition to the property, perfectly positioned as it is on the cusp of the valley, so you can sit back and take in the amazing view while enjoying the bubbles. I think at one stage we managed to get all of us in it at once, which caused some chaos, but great fun all the same.

There's also a large and powerful gas barbecue which made light work of dinner for eight.

The farm is so relaxing and well equipped that you could stay on it for a few days, go nowhere else and come away very happy. But it is very close to the breathtaking Atlantic coast and plenty of North Devon tourist landmarks, such as the steep cobbles of gorgeous Clovelly, panoramic Hartland Point and the bucket and spade fun of Westward Ho! Big family attractions aren't far away, including the Big Sheep and Milky Way theme parks. Walk just five minutes and you'll find a pub.

Swamped with the demands of work and family life, it may be some time before we see our friends again. Thankfully, the memories of our wonderful visit to West Goldsworthy Farm will sustain us through the drought.