VISITORS have been meeting the newest arrivals at a farm attraction on its opening weekend of the year.

As well as meeting the older farmyard residents at Hall Hill Farm, near Lanchester in County Durham, visitors got to meet this year’s newly arrived pygmy goats, baby rabbits, piglets and chicks.

The farm has had recent success at the National Farm Attraction Network Awards, including winning Farm Attraction of the Year and being a finalist in the Best in Education category.

Tourism manager Ann Darlington said: “People always love meeting our new arrivals.

“It’s always lovely to open up again after being closed for a while and it’s been lovely having all the people coming in to congratulate us on our awards as well.

“We’ve had a tremendous weekend which has exceeded all expectations really and the sunshine has been fantastic.

“There’s always lots of nice things going on for children on the farm at this time of year.”

The farm is gearing up for the annual lambing season, when it expects to welcome around 500 new members of the Hall Hill family.

The farm is open every day during the February half term between 10.30am and 4pm.