An early Christmas in the South West
When it comes to Christmas, most of us want to do something special, but the run-up to the big day can be just as exciting. You’ll find no November blues in the South West as the Christmas celebrations will be starting early, with carnivals, late night shopping and festive street markets. Why not take a pre-Christmas break, perhaps for some shopping to stock up on hand-made presents, or simply to enjoy the entertainment. And, if you want to spend the big day away, there is still plenty to do with many pubs and restaurants opening for Christmas lunch. Here are just some of the events being held.
TORBAY
Torbay really comes alive at Christmas, proving it is far more than just a beach resort. The major event is the Torbay Christmas Carnival on December 1st. A procession of floats starts from the Lymington Road bus station in Torquay at 4.15pm and makes its way along Union Street and down to the inner harbour, where fireworks light up the night sky at 6.15pm.
Babbacombe Model Village, Winter Wonderland 2 runs from November 24th to January 4th. Even if there is no snow outside you’ll find plenty here, and you can wade through it to Santa’s Lapland-style grotto. With Icy-luminations from 3.30pm and kid's alpine skiing on the terrace (3-8 yrs), the village offers hours of winter magic. Phone 01803 315315 for dates and times or log onto www.babbacombemodelvillage.co.uk
Go underground this year at Kents Cavern, where you can tour the caves with Santa and his helpers as he searches for his workshop, where there is a free present for each child. You can obtain a 10% discount on daytime heritage tours if you produce your Blue Chip booking confirmation at reception. Special events are not included in the discount.
Phone 01803 215136 for details or log onto www.kents-cavern.co.uk
Why not join Father Christmas on the Paignton & Dartmouth Steam Railway for a scenic chug over the South Devon countryside? Enjoy a festive drink and mince pie before you alight at Kingswear for live entertainment and a Santa's grotto full of presents. Stanta’s Steam Specials depart at 11am and 3pm. Pre-booking advisable.
Phone 01803 555872 for dates or log onto www.paignton-steamrailway.co.uk
Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust has its traditional Christmas at Cockington on Sunday November 25th and December 2nd, where you can munch on roast chestnuts from the clay oven, accompanied by mince pies and mulled wine. Make a gift at the family craft workshops and be entertained by local performers. Time 11am to 4pm at Cockington Court.
Package up a present of the best Devon food at Occombe Farm, Preston Down Road, on Sunday December 9th from 10am to 4pm and listen to live music while you are browsing. Children can amuse themselves in the craft workshops. Adults £3.50, concessions £1.50, children free.
For information about both these events phone 01803 606035 or log onto www.countryside-trust.org.uk.
Take breakfast with Santa at Paignton Zoo. He will make a personal visit to your table so make sure the kids know what they want for Christmas! The elves in their workshop will give each child a free present and let them try their hand at the sand art craft before they board Santa’s Ice Express and travel round Gibbon Island Lake. The event runs each weekend in December and on Christmas Eve; booking open towards the end of October. Phone 01803 697500 or log onto www.paigntonzoo.org.uk
If you’re staying in Torbay over Christmas, The Drum Inn at Cockington is open on Christmas Day for food; set lunch is £34.95, tel 01803 690264. And why not go along to the Lions' Boxing Day swim on Paignton beach, near the pier, at 12 noon and brave the waves if you dare. To join the swimmers, phone Malcolm Stone on 01803 554864 to register in advance, or register on the day.
TEIGNBRIDGE
Encompassing the best of coast and countryside, Teignbridge shines at Christmas. Whether you want to party, shop or get out and about, there is plenty of choice.
Bovey Tracey is a traditional Devon stone town and home to the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, whose Gifted Christmas exhibition is displaying top quality designer gifts by Guild members, including jewellery, ceramics, and glass from Saturday November 17th to Monday December 31st. Visit the Christmas Fair on Saturday December 8th from 10am-5.30pm for free mulled wine and mince pies, carol singers, special offers and members’ showcases.
Phone 01626 832223 or log onto www.crafts.org.uk
Bovey Tracey farmers’ market starts at 8.30am on December 8th and 22nd, the latter being a special Christmas market which runs until 2pm. In the past there has been street entertainment and hot food. Sing carols by candlelight in the parish church on December 21st at 7.30pm.
Newton Abbot travels back over 100 years for its Victorian Evening on December 5th from 6pm to 9pm with stall holders dressed as they would have been in the 19th century. On November 17th the Christmas lights are switched on at 6pm after a day of Christmas events, and there is late night shopping until 9pm on December 5th, 12th and 19th. A special combined farmers’ market and South Devon Food and Drink market is held in Courtenay Street on Tuesday December 18th from 9am to 2pm. Don’t miss the newly refurbished Victorian Butter Market Building which houses traders from local food stalls to bags and clothes - the local pasties are superb! Parking is free in Newton Abbot every Sunday and after 6pm.
TOTNES
Just outside Totnes, The Dartington Cider Press Centre no longer produces cider but is a self-contained shopping village with an emphasis on local crafts including glass, jewellery, pottery and wood turning plus some world crafts. You can also buy gifts and high quality kitchenware before stopping for lunch at one of the restaurants. If you’re a vegetarian, don’t miss Cranks. Tel 01803 847500 or log onto www.dartingtonciderpress.co.uk
Nearby, at China Blue, you can paint your own Christmas pottery gift. The homeware store is a sheer delight and you won’t be stuck for present ideas here, while Totnes town itself has a wealth of individual shops that will inspire and delight any discerning shopper. Tel 01803 860905 or log onto www.china-blue.co.uk
KINGSBRIDGE AND DARTMOUTH
The Kingsbridge Extravaganza starts at 1pm on November 24th with clowns, jugglers and music. At 5pm the grand illuminated parade makes its way through the town and is followed by a short firework finale and music on the quay.
Candlelit Dartmouth starts on Friday December 14th at 6pm with a lantern procession through the town. Father Christmas sails in on the Boat Float and will be met by music, street entertainment – including food and drink stalls in Royal Avenue Gardens – and late night shopping until 8pm.
Buy those last-minute presents at two seasonal markets the following day and enjoy Dartmouth’s famous Dickens of a Christmas in the Old Market on Saturday December 15th at 10am, a Victorian fair which in the past has seen Father and Mother Christmas, mulled wine and mince pies and carols by primary school children. Later there will be a Christmas market in Royal Avenue Gardens with local crafts and produce, street entertainers and musicians.
On Sunday December 16th children can take part in craft activities and enjoy a film in the Flavel centre. Free parking at certain times makes these events unmissable. Celebrations continue on December 31st with a street fancy dress party. For more information log onto www.fatboydesigns.co.uk/candlelitdartmouth
PLYMOUTH
Plymouth is the largest city in the South West and you will find plenty of Christmas activity here. Thursday November 15th sees the switching on of the Christmas lights in the Piazza from 6.15 to 6.30pm, to link in with live coverage on ITV. Fairground rides start the following day at various sites around the city centre, including Frankfort Gate and Armada Way, and these continue until January 5th.
Santa is taking time out from his busy schedule to drop in with his reindeer at 1pm on Sunday December 16th at Frankfort Gate and at the West End. The Christmas markets from November 19th to December 22nd feature a new German market with 20 decorated stalls sitting alongside the craft market which brings together 30 traders showcasing their hand-crafted goods.
Plymouth is a shopper’s paradise, with the new Drake Circus indoor complex housing many national chain stores and independents, the huge indoor pannier market and the art and craft shops on the historic Barbican. Late night shopping starts on November 15th and continues every Thursday up until Christmas, with shops staying open until 9pm. The farmers’ markets are held at the Sundial on November 10th and 24th and December 8th and 22nd from 9am to 3pm.
TAVISTOCK
Enjoy a Dickensian evening on December 1st from 6pm with carol singing and possibly a band, farmer’s market and late night shopping. While in Tavistock visit the two nearby National Trust properties.
Cotehele, a Medieval manor house, is holding its 14th Winter Food Fair as part of the Taste of South East Cornwall festival on November 17th and 18th, with Christmas craft workshops, carols, wassailing, lunches and gift shopping throughout November and December. For more information log onto www.nationaltrust.org.uk and click on the link 'Events at this property'.
Buckland Abbey, home of Sir Francis Drake, has hedgerow Christmas tree decorating and other original decoration workshops, a Christmas craft fair and mummers’ play. For more information log onto www.nationaltrust.org.uk and click on the link 'Events at this property'.
CORNWALL
Looe has been voted one of the top places to be in England over Christmas, and in a small town that retains a lievly Continental feel at night, it is easy to see why. Festivities here start on Friday December 7th at around 6pm when Father Christmas sails in by boat, to join a procession through streets with fireworks on quay afterwards.
See colourful glowing hand-made lanterns dance through the town on Thursday December 13th from 6.30pm onwards, sing carols on the quay and enjoy soup, fresh bread and other hot food in the Guildhall afterwards.
The New Year’s Eve fancy dress parade is gaining a reputation far and wide, and if you don’t dress up, you’ll feel left out. Fireworks on the quay afterwards.
The Taste of South East Cornwall continues at Mount Edgcumbe House near Saltash and has its Christmas Food Festival and Fayre on Saturday and Sunday December 8th and 9th. Local chefs cook local produce for you to sample, and you may pick up a gift or two at the craft stalls. Phone 01752 822236 or log onto www.taste-southeastcornwall.com
Fowey’s Christmas market is held on December 8th and 9th with live music and dance around the town, food and drink stalls, mulled wine, chestnuts and much more. Craftspeople from Fowey River Crafts Association will be selling a wide variety of locally-made goods. Log onto www.foweymarket.co.uk for more information.
Newquay Zoo starts its Christmas celebrations on Saturday December 9th with the Festival of Lights, when the trees are decorated and the grounds illuminated by icicle lights. Last entry is 5pm as the zoo closes an hour later. On Sunday December 16th the Newquay Zoo Carol Service starts at 3:30pm, followed by a stroll round the zoo to view the light displays. Santa’s Grotto is open on December 9th, 16th and 23rd from 12 noon to 4pm. As a bonus to Blue Chip Clients, the zoo is offering £1 discount on normal entry per person for up to six people until December 31st if you produce your Blue Chip booking confirmation. Special events are not discounted and the offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer including the family ticket.
Phone 01637 873342 or log onto www.newquayzoo.org.uk
Trerice, an Elizabethan mansion just off the A3058, has festive craft making, a puppet theatre, ancient Lammas celebrations in the Tudor decorated hall, carols, shopping and Father Christmas.
Log onto www.nationaltrust.org.uk and click on the link 'Events at this property'.
The ice rink at the Eden Project will be open in conjunction with the winter festival, A Time of Gifts, which runs from November 30th to January 6th. Animation around the biomes will put you in the festive spirit. www.edenproject.com
There are many more exciting events happening in November and December in the South West. Once you have experienced the festive season down here, you won’t want to be anywhere else.
