Christmas Trail at Calke

After all the eating on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, it seemed like an excellent idea when y daughter suggested we get out and about somewhere. The weather wasn't brilliant - rain and gusty winds - but I reasoned that Calke's Christmas Trail winding through the stables and on into the walled gardens ought to be relatively sheltered.

The theme was a Tudor Christmas with a laden table (including presumably roast swan), and various entertainments such as a modern take on shadow theatre, and a toss-the-bean-bag game.

There are lots of nooks and crannies around the stableyard, filled variously with Christmas trees, kissing boughs, and illuminated stars. 

Onwards then to the pleasure grounds. Till this point we'd been relatively sheltered but there's an exposed path leading from the house to the gardens, and at this point the rain decided to bucket down. Under the trees though it was calmer, and there are several spots, like inside the orangery, where you can get dry again. 

Then it was time to head back for tea and cake - always the best end to a short walk.

 

Wintertide at Hardwick

This year's Christmas decorations at Hardwick Hall draw on the house's Tudor origins, welcoming weary travellers with light and warmth (or at least the representation of blazing yule logs).

Carrying your own lantern through the dimly lit house, the visitor climbs the main staircase, past a hillside village of cardboard houses to the great state rooms where a portrait of Elizabeth I awaits her guests.

The huge fireplaces are filled with twinkling lights to represent the massive yule logs which would have burned turned.

Visitors are encouraged to share their memories of the past year, and wishes for the coming one - through notes or by adding ribbons to this great Yule log.

The Lord of Misrule wasn't there for our mid-week visit but in Tudor times he would have been in charge of revelry and partying during the Christmas feast. There were shadow puppets to play with, and a selection of games.

In the kitchen, preparation of mulled wine was underway.

Back outside, the sun had appeared, so e walked around the gardens and found a summerhouse where typical Tudor garlands and a kissing bough were being made of foliage found on the estate.

 I now feel really inspire to try something similar with greenery from my garden

Getting into the Christmas mood at Kedleston

When you no longer have school-age children, if you keep clear of the big shopping malls and watch advert-free streaming services (as I do these days), it's actually quite easy to not notice Christmas sneaking up, so I always try to make a point of visiting local stately homes that are decorated for the season - starting the season at Kedleston Hall.

This isn't a huge display but rather one which reflects how the hall might have been decorated when still lived in.

Each room has a Christmas tree with presents piled beneath; some have baubles in colours to match the room's decor - some have angels and stars made from paper.

Outside, we headed up the Short Walk to follow the Advent Trail - twenty four little houses whose doors open on to Christmassy mini-activities; counting stars, singing Christmas songs etc. Great fun for children!

It wasn't as cold as on last year's visit, when the lakes were frozen, but, late in the afternoon with the sun dropping behind the hill, it was still chilly. A trail like this, though, with numbered boxes to be found and surprises inside each, is a good way to encourage children, and adults, to get outside if only for a short while.

 

Frost and snow

December arrived with cold temperatures and hoar frost, crystals growing out from leaves, transforming mundane plants into things of beauty.

Even dead twigs took on new life.

It wasn't a totally monochrome world though - here and there winter shrubs brought colour to the garden.

 And before a thaw set in, snow fell. Not a lot, but enough to cover the world in white for a day.