Mike Laycock took some young visitors for a fun - and cheap - day out down on the farm.

KIDS today just want to sit goggle-eyed in front of a TV or computer all day long. Right? Wrong, judging by the excitement of my daughter and her little friend as they ran around the farm and held out handfuls of feed for the animals to devour. You can't beat a bunch of cuddly creatures to give young children an afternoon of innocent fun.

A friend and her two children had come up from London to stay with us and we had wracked our brains to think of somewhere to go on the Sunday afternoon that would a. amuse the youngsters and b. leave us still solvent by evening. Then I recalled driving past Wyville Animal Farm some months ago and made a quick phone call. It was good news. Yes, they said, we're open daily until the end of October. And, even better, admission cost only £1.50 per adult and £1 for children, with children under three going free. It was less than a tenner for the lot of us: I couldn't argue with that.

We got to the farm at Slingsby via the A64 and then Castle Howard, taking a quick look across the lake at the magnificent stately home as we drove past.

Wyville, a working family farm, is an excellent example of diversification at a desperately difficult time for the industry. Opened to the public five years ago by Jane Hodgson on land behind her father's shop, it has the nostalgic appeal of a small farm where a mixture of animals and poultry are reared in a traditional way. Visitors explore along walkways, seeing a range of animals including horses, sheep, pigs, ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens, and even guinea pigs and a tortoise.

But of course it's the touching and the feeding that the children really liked. After parking easily, we went through to the shop to pay. The man behind the counter then asked if we wanted food. No, I explained, we had brought our own picnic, and was there anywhere we could eat it? "Not for you, for the animals!" he exclaimed and, with some embarrassment, I bought four little buckets of feed. But before heading for the animals, we did indeed eat our picnic at one of the many tables provided around the farm.

Then the kids shot off into the sheds, plucking up the courage to feed some ravenous and very persistent goats, and some gentler, beautiful deer straight out of a Disney cartoon. There were also chipmunks, pigs, horses and goodness knows what else in the different stalls. I must warn those with a sensitive sense of smell that all those animals produce a pretty rich stink, and after ten minutes I was gasping for some fresh air.

Outside, there were turkeys and chickens, and a couple of beautiful horses, which also wanted feeding. The farm has some rare and older breeds.

It wasn't a long walk, and after a while we came back through the sheds - where we were accosted by a goat looking accusingly for more grub - to the main farm, where there is a small museum. After washing our hands in the spotlessly clean loos, we returned to the shop and cafe, where local crafts and gifts are on sale plus lollies and teas.

Fact file

Wyville Animal Farm, on corner of The Balk and Green Dyke Lane, Slingsby. Farm is signed from the

B1257 Malton - Helmsley road.

Open: Daily until end of September, 10.30am to 5pm. (Last admission 4pm). Then weekends only in October.

Admission: Adult: £1.50, children (3-16) £1. Disabled facilities.

Further information: 01653 628930.