The Astley Arms is a Crown Carveries pub. It mainly serves a carvery – although other options are available. We went for a family get together. The walls are bright and the tables are clean. The highchair Lyra sat in was clean – and as a bonus the tray had high sides so she couldn’t brush bits of food off it all over the carpet

My husband and I have been to The Snowy Owl many times as it is so close to where we live. It’s part of the Vintage Inns chain, so is done out in a vintage inn style – dark walls, dark wooden furniture, chairs that don’t match and real fires in the winter. The pub is split up into sections by big stonewalls and fire places and railings, so what may have been a huge open space is divided up into more cosy areas. The pub itself is right on the edge of Cramlington with views across the country side – it’s like being in the middle of nowhere without having to travel that far

Friends of ours had invited us to join them and Adelie, their two year old, on a trip to the Pleasance Theatre to see a production of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Room on The Broom. It was Jack’s first trip to a proper theatre and he was transfixed.

After all that excitement the children (not to mention their parents) were ready for some lunch. The Pleasance Theatre is tucked in Carpenter’s Mews off Caledonian Road and hungry tummies dictated the nearest eaterie had better be up to the job