1Welcome to the Fiddy Working Heritage Farm.
2This open-air museum gives you the experience of agriculture and rural life in the English countryside at the end of the 19th century.
3So you'll see a typical farm of that period,
4and like me, all the staff are dressed in clothes of that time.
5I must give you some advice and safety tips before we go any further.
6As it's a working farm, please don't frighten or injure the animals.
7We have a lot here, and many of them are breeds that are now quite rare.
8And do stay at a safe distance from the tools:
9some of them have sharp points which can be pretty dangerous,
10so please don't touch them.
11We don't want any accidents, do we?
12The ground is very uneven,
13and you might slip if you're wearing sandals
14so I'm glad to see you're all wearing shoes -
15we always advise people to do that.
16Now, children of all ages are very welcome here,
17and usually even very young children love the ducks and lambs,
18so do bring them along next time you come.
19I don't think any of you have brought dogs with you,
20but in case you have, I'm afraid they'll have to stay in the car park unless they're guide dogs.
21I'm sure you'll understand that they could cause a lot of problems on a farm.
22Now let me give you some idea of the layout of the farm.
23The building where you bought your tickets is the New Barn, immediately to your right,
24and we're now at the beginning of the main path to the farmland -
25and of course the car park is on your left.
26The scarecrow you can see in the car park in the corner, beside the main path,
27is a traditional figure for keeping the birds away from crops,
28but our scarecrow is a permanent sculpture.
29It's taller than a human being, so you can see it from quite a distance.
30If you look ahead of you, you'll see a maze.
31It's opposite the New Barn, beside the side path that branches off to the right just over there.
32The maze is made out of hedges which are too tall for young children to see over them,
33but it's quite small, so you can't get lost in it!
34Now, can you see the bridge crossing the fish pool further up the main path?
35If you want to go to the café, go towards the bridge and turn right just before it.
36Walk along the side path and the café's on the first bend you come to.
37The building was originally the schoolhouse, and it's well over a hundred years old.
38As you may know, we run skills workshops here,
39where you can learn traditional crafts like woodwork and basket-making.
40You can see examples of the work, and talk to someone about the courses, in the Black Barn.
41If you take the side path to the right, here, just by the New Barn,
42you'll come to the Black Barn just where the path first bends.
43Now I mustn't forget to tell you about picnicking,
44as I can see some of you have brought your lunch with you.
45You can picnic in the field, though do clear up behind you, of course.
46Or if you'd prefer a covered picnic area, there's one near the farmyard:
47just after you cross the bridge,
48there's a covered picnic spot on the right.
49And the last thing to mention is Fiddy House itself.
50From here you can cross the bridge
51then walk along the footpath through the field to the left of the farmyard.
52That goes to the house, and it'll give you a lovely view of it.
53It's certainly worth a few photographs,
54but as it's a private home, I'm afraid you can't go inside.
55Right. Well, if you're all ready, we'll set off on our tour of the farm.