Step back to the 1800s and see how Christmas was celebrated in Victorian times.
Residents at Blists Hill Victorian Town, one of the ten Ironbridge Gorge Museums in Shropshire, will be busy preparing for Christmas over two Festive Weekends on 6th-7th and 13th-14th December with a wealth of traditional celebrations and entertainment.
The Victorian Town will be full of festive atmosphere and festooned with traditional decorations. Father Christmas’ reindeer will be available for everyone to see and the costumed townsfolk will be on hand to talk to visitors about how the Victorians celebrated Christmas.
New for 2014 will be the Family Activities Workshop in the Goods Shed where, at no additional charge, children will be able to have a go at a wide range of traditional activities such as printing Christmas cards, making paper-chain decorations, writing letters to Father Christmas and fun quizzes about fascinating Christmas facts. A ‘perfect Victorian Christmas card scene’ will be on display centred on a beautifully decorated Christmas tree surrounded by presents.
Mr Morton’s festive celebrations will once again see the magnificent Iron Rolling Mill transformed into a place for a ‘Workers Christmas Party’. Here visitors will be able to enjoy a wide variety of seasonal entertainment, such as a ‘mini performance’ of the classic pantomime Little Red Riding Hood, Christmas songs, a magician and a Punch and Judy show.
Elsewhere around the Town visitors can listen to carol singers and brass bands as they soak up the atmosphere of a bygone era, shop for unusual gifts in the Town’s Victorian shops and young visitors can visit Father Christmas to receive a gift in his wonderful grotto (£3.50 extra charge per child).
Those looking to purchase Christmas presents will find a unique selection including traditionally made cast-iron paperweights and doorstops, handmade plaster decorations, perfumed soaps, hand printed gift wrap and traditional sweets as well as a huge range of unusual items in the museum’s gift shop.
Blists Hill will be open from 10am to 4pm on these special Christmas event weekends. Entry is £16.50 for adults, £13 for 60 plus, £11 for children 5-18 years in full time education and under are 5s free. A special Family Ticket (2 adults and 2 children) is available for the Christmas Weekends at £48. Whilst Annual Passport Tickets are not valid for these weekends, Passport holders receive a 25% discount off their Christmas Weekends’ admission price, on presentation of their current Annual Passport Ticket.
For further information, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
