It's a gambol: why lambing weekends are an unlikely holiday sensation

In a shed in the Malvern Hills, lambs struggle clumsily to their feet as holidaymaking couples look on.

- Sally Howard

Clare John, the third generation in her family to farm these 50 acres of Worcestershire pasture, began offering lambing-themed breaks two years ago in response to a surge of customer requests. Rowley Farm's holiday cottages are block-booked for the 2025 spring lambing season, which traditionally peaks around Easter.

"For farmers like me it's a bit strange to treat sheep like pets," John said. Self-catering guests arrive at Rowley Farm from February to May to feed hay to her pregnant ewes, and to bottle-feed orphan lambs who have been abandoned by their mothers or are the thirds in triplets (which ewes can struggle to feed).

"Mostly the guests want to touch and cuddle the lambs rather than do the mucking out," she said.