Visit Lancashire

Winter Wonderland

With the Lancashire weather taking a distinct turn for the colder this weekend, we headed out to the Trough of Bowland to find some snow to keep the kids happy and let the sledges have a run out.

We found a fantastic little area just near Inglewhite which looked utterly beautiful in the winter snowscape and we proceeded to make snowmen, have good old fashioned snowball fights and take advantage of a 100 metre (or so) gentle slope which was a delight for my six year old and three year old.

Loving Lancaster

Friday night was our Tourist Board Christmas 'do'. We move around Lancashire for our annual party so that we can experience what the different places have to offer. 2008 was Kwizeen in Blackpool, 2007 was The Millstone at Mellor, 2009 was to be The Borough in Lancaster.

We started off in The Sun Inn for a couple of drinks. A warm welcoming atmosphere in this cosy pub. Full of revellers in sequins and warm coats it set us off in a great mood. As we moved to The Borough across town the weather was a bit icy and slippy underfoot for the array of towering-heeled party shoes but we all made it safely.

Entertainment Remembered

After watching the splendiferous Blackpool show it's entertainment pedigree last night for the Royal Variety Performance I thought I'd share with you that I attended the launch of the Cyril Critchlow Collection which documents Blackpool’s entertainment history.

As a founder member of the Blackpool magic club for over 60 years he collected and recorded all aspects of Blackpool’s entertainment heritage from the nineteenth century through to the present day. The collection includes theatre programmes, hand bills, posters and photographs – including some unpublished images of the Beatles. Over 100 locals turned up to see parts of the collection and listen to his good friend Ken Dodd presenting his own personal reminiscences of Cyril.

The collection is housed in the Local and Family History Centre on the first floor of Blackpool Central Library. A catalogue is available at the centre, or can be viewed at www.blackpool.gov.uk/cyrilcritchlow.

This is a fantastic resource for local historians, family history enquiries, researchers, schools and community groups. For further details contact the library on 01253 478090

Diane Blakemore

 

A Victorian Christmas

Last night, for the fifth year in a row, we took the drive up the A6 to Garstang to attend their Victorian Festival. It truly marked the start of Christmas for me as we wended our way up the high street whilst watching the entertainment, enjoying the displays and buying one or two extra little gifts. The town really puts on a show as local organisations and businesses dress up in Victorian costumes for the evening, brass bands play Christmas carols, the Punch and Judy man keeps the kids entertained and the roasted chestnuts kept the hands warm!

As always many of the businesses were selling local Lancashire produce and the new Booths store opened their doors to join in the festivities. We also got a preview of the new Visitor Centre where the tourism team were merrily handing out mulled wine.

Although the festival is only on for two days there are plenty of independent shops open to take a browse around and lots of lovely eating establishments. So why not take a trip out over Christmas?

Diane Blakemore

The Big Wheel - Christmas in Blackburn

Hmmm...try the Big Wheel, they said - knowing that I'm terrified of heights. That's your colleagues for you...always supportive - and always ready to make you suffer for their entertainment. So, that's how I came to be standing at the foot of Blackburn Town Centre's latest attraction for the Christmas season - a huge ferris wheel, reaching over 100ft (and then some!) into the air.

It was the first "flight", and all the great and the good of the town - Blackburn's "glitterati", if you like - were patiently queuing to get into one of the 24 gondolas and be first to experience views of the town from the air.

It's behind you!

Saturday afternoon saw me heading to the Grand Theatre for this year’s Christmas pantomime Peter Pan. With a mix of small screen stars and local favourites the next two hours passed in a whirlwind of songs, swordfighting, acrobatics and slap stick. Although Tinkerbell didn’t appear to have quite got her confidence on the roller skates Peter Pan has however found his magic dust and flies around the theatre with gusto. With water fights and comedy acrobats the show will certainly keep the kids entertained.

As we walked back to the car we passed the covered ice rink that has been set up in St Johns Square. Two things impressed me – the size of the rink will make great skating and the fact that it’s real ice! Skating and boot hire is £5 per person.

Diane

Christmas extravaganza at Barton Grange

Barton Grange Garden Centre, just outside of Preston, is now on my list of favourite shopping places after a whistlestop visit at the weekend. It's not 'just' a garden centre but it has a fantastic gift shop, fab farm shop and a cafe. But apart from that, they've gone wild for Christmas and their gift shop has been turned into a magical winter wonderland. This year's theme is ‘A World of Christmas’ and the displays are designed to represent different continents, countries and cities of the world including Africa, Thailand, India, Venice and the UK. But my favourite was a min-world complete with mountains, rivers and waterfalls, a zoo and a working railway! I can definitely understand why they've won 'Best Christmas display in the North West' two years running now.

Needless to say, I came away with far more things than I was planning on buying but it was a great experience and I'll be back again soon.

Psst, don't forget to visit the men's toilets (ladies, please ask first if you want to sneak a peak!), they may possibly have the most beautiful urinals in the world...!

Cilla

Brilliant Briardene

I am a bit of a traditionalist and do enjoy a Sunday roast with the family, so was delighted to have lunch at the Curbside Brasserie at the Briardene Hotel in Cleveleys which is quite close to home. Their restaurant is open to non-residents and offers a good choice of fayre under the direction of chef Deano. My wife and I opted for the full roast beef lunch consisting of ample portions of vegetables and divine Lakeland beef, superb roast potatoes (mine never come out that good) and Yorkshire Puddings. The menu choice was locally sourced and showed off the best of what the north west has to offer. Our two youngsters opted for sausage and chips, which again, were produced to an excellent standard and kept them quiet.