Pumpkin Picking at Gullivers Farm

Free entry and no booking is the headline here, which makes this one of the few patches you can decide on over breakfast. You pay for the pumpkins you pick and nothing at the gate, and the fields are open seven days a week from Saturday 10 October.

Rows of pumpkins are grown in all shapes and sizes for carving, decorating or cooking, from a giant one to make a statement on the doorstep down to small ones a child can carry back to the car unaided.

On Pumpkin Fest days the farm turns the picking into a wider celebration: live music, craft activities, pumpkin carving, children's activities, tractor rides and games, with food and drink stalls running alongside. Those are the busiest days of the season, so if you would rather a calmer visit, come on a weekday when it is quieter and the pumpkins are the whole of it.

Gullivers is a cafe, farm shop and organic working farm as well as an events venue, and it provides support and opportunities to adults with varying support needs. Proceeds from the events and from farm shop sales go back into maintaining the farm and keeping it sustainable, which is worth weighing if you are choosing between two similar days out.