A GROUP of Tynedale school children have been putting an award-winning hotel’s new family initiative to the test.

The pupils from Stamfordham First School were the special testers for Matfen Hall Hotel’s recently launched family-friendly range.

Executive head chef Paul Blakey, who has devised a new children’s menu with an emphasis on healthy ingredients, met the children for the visit to chat about healthy eating.

The youngsters were then given the chance to make their own sandwiches before heading into the hotel’s grounds to try out giant outdoor games, including snakes and ladders and Jenga, and meet the hotel’s newest characters.

Fergus the Frog, Connie the Cow and Dotty the Duck, are the new hand-drawn characters who will illustrate everything from children’s menus, to family hours in the hotel’s indoor pool and signage for the recently opened easy golf course.

They have been designed by Amelia, the artist daughter of Sir Hugh and Lady Blackett, owners of Matfen Hall Hotel, Golf and Spa, who launched the new family-friendly range.

Matfen Hall’s sales and marketing director, Sarah Barber, said: “These are the first in a rolling programme of ideas we will introduce to ensure our youngest guests get as much fun and enjoyment out of a stay here as their parents do.

“It was great seeing how much fun the children from Stamfordham School had during their visit.”