For Christmas magic head to the forest

In the heart of The National Forest lies an enchanting woodland grotto. At Conkers’ Winter Wonderland Extravaganza, all good girls and boys will be invited to travel on the festive train and weave their way through the trees to reach the cosy century-old log cabin and receive a present from Santa.

His reindeers will be close at hand for children to meet. Places are restricted with set time slots throughout the day, so booking is essential. Dates to see Santa include the 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th December and then every day from 18th December to Sunday 4th January (excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Years Eve and New Years Day).

Conkers will also be hosting four Christmas Party Nights on 12th, 13th, 19th and 20th December, the panto favourite Dick Whittington on 13th and 14th December and a beautiful candlelit carol service on 23th December. To finish off the festive period there will be the annual New Years Eve Extravaganza on 31st December, which this year has a Disney Theme.

Nearby Moira Furnace will be open until 9pm on the 27th November and 6th, 13th and 20th December with a craft village, Santa's Grotto and choir.

Pokey Hole’s Christmas Special will be at Moira Miners Welfare on 29th December with music performed by Herman’s Hermits.

Visitors to Calke Abbey on 29th-30th November can help make decorations and dress the trees on the Christmas Tree Trail that weaves from this fascinating house, up through the gardens to the church. The trail will be open on 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th and 21st December and will be illuminated by Christmas lights and lanterns after dusk. Families can listen to the seasonal music, enjoy children’s craft activities and visit Father Christmas in his grotto.

From 7th November to 31st December the Ferrers Gallery at Staunton Harold will have a Christmas Exhibition including a special ‘Sparkle’ Christmas jewellery showcase.

Christmas celebrations start in South Derbyshire on Friday 28th November with Swadlincote Christmas Lights switch-on. Celebrations go on all day with music, entertainment, stalls and rides, followed by a spectacular firework display. Sharpe’s Pottery Museum has a packed Christmas Programme. Coinciding with Swadlincote Christmas light switch-on, it is hosting a Christmas Fayre with stalls, crafts, pottery tree decorations, as well as carols, songs, stories and poems to entertain all the family.

A Christmas exhibition runs throughout December at this beautifully restored pottery including hand painted Christmas themed ceramics and cards. And visitors can learn Christmas Flower Arranging on 6th December or how to write a Festive Tale on 9th December. This workshop is suitable for complete beginners or those with some writing experience.

Wild Orchid Theatre will present a selection of humorous Christmas plays that include Santa going on strike, misbehaving angels, three wise men from Bootle and a bowlful of bickering cake ingredients on 6th December. Or for more traditional Christmas music, Karl Harper presents A Victorian Christmas on 19th December and there will be a concert in the Kiln on 20th December.

Children can visit Santa’s Grotto and ride on the Ice Train at Staunton Harold Nursery on 8th, 15th- 16th, 22nd - 23rd and 29th - 30th November, 6th- 7th and 13th - 18th December. There will also be a children’s entertainer and competitions. And from 23rd November to 23rd December Ingleby Gallery will be hosting a Christmas Exhibition.

Santa will also be visiting Melbourne on 6th December where there be a street fair, funfair rides for small children and performances by Melbourne Town Band.

Christmas festivities at the National Memorial Arboretum start with the hugely popular Reindeer Parade on 7th December. Santa will be there every weekend throughout December and on 19th December the arboretum is hosting an open air traditional Christmas concert. There will be a brunch-time guided walk on 1st January to walk off those Christmas excesses.

Create beautiful Christmas cards with Forest Arts’ Watercolours Workshop at Rosliston Forestry Centre on 12th November. With places limited on this popular session, booking is essential.

Rosliston Forestry Centre is holding a Christmas Craft Fair on 6th December where you will find special gifts and unique Christmas presents. Or if all the Christmas shopping is too much, visitors to Rosliston Forestry Centre on 13th December can enjoy a bracing guided walk followed by a warm up of mulled wine and mince pie in the restaurant.

The splendid Illuminated Christmas Trees along Tutbury High Street will be officially switched on during the town’s Christmas Festival on 28th November from 6 pm. It will be a lively evening with a traditional street market, fairy grotto, the Ghost of Christmas Past and music from Tutbury Band.

For those people scratching their heads for Christmas gifts, the Forest may hold the perfect solution. Plant a Tree is a gift that grows. The recipient receives a certificate and is invited to a special tree planting day to actually plant the little tree in a new woodland. Or how about a gift voucher for one of the fantastic woodland craft and bushcraft courses in The National Forest. Greenwood Days, Woodland Ways, Survival School and Woodland Survival Crafts all offer gift vouchers that make perfect presents.

Finally, where better to get your Christmas tree than The National Forest! Real Christmas trees are available during December from the Forestry Commission at Rosliston Forestry Centre and Sence Valley Forest Park as well as Forest Timber, near Conkers Waterside in Moira.

For more information, log on to Nationalforest.org.