Close by are Macclesfield Forest, Tegg’s Nose Country Park and the Peak District, offering dramatic landscapes and a whole range of outdoor activities including walking, mountain biking, skydiving, wildlife spotting, rock climbing and paragliding.

Macclesfield Golf Club borders the farm, while those at Tytherington, Mottram Hall, Prestbury and Wilmslow are all within 20 minutes drive.

Indoors, as well at the borough Leisure Centre, there are a number of privately run clubs including DW in the centre of Macclesfield, Mottram Hall and the Tytherington Club in Prestbury.

Nearby Wildboarclough has stunning walks around the valley, and Blaze Farm, where children can pet the animals and enjoy a short walking trail. They have a café and sell fantastic home-made dairy ice cream, too.

Buxton in Derbyshire, a drive of just half an hour away, is a beautiful spa town set in magnificent countryside. It has an exquisitely restored Victorian theatre with an ever-changing programme, and hosts an internationally renowned opera and literary festival every July. There are also a number of venues in Manchester and Stoke offering the whole spectrum of cultural activities, and Macclesfield has a small cinema in the Heritage Centre, Cinemac, if you don’t feel like the drive to the nearest Multiplex.

National Trust properties within easy reach for a day out include Chatsworth, Haddon Hall, Dunham Massey, Quarry Bank Mill and Lyme Park to name just a few.

Gawsworth Hall is worth a visit just to see the house, but also hosts a season of theatre and music every summer, with a chance to picnic in the beautiful gardens.

Staffordshire to the south has outstanding moorland countryside, as well as the industrial heritage of the Potteries on display in many museums and visitor centres.

Tittesworth Reservoir and Rudyard Lake with its miniature steam railway and boats for hire, are both great places for kids (and grown ups), offering waterside walks, cafés and play areas.