Walking in a Winter Wonderland...

Santa Fir Christmas Tree Farm

We have always bought our beautiful Christmas Tree from our local supplier Santa Fir. This year was great – they had a couple of hot drink/food outlets as well as the farm itself of course, and a couple of beautiful gift shops. Getting our tree with my daughter is always my very favourite part of Christmas. You can contact them on: 01483 271770 or visit their website at: www.hanschristmasandersen.co.uk.

Alfold Barn Pub

We treated ourselves to one of Frans fantastic Sunday lunches this month as a pre-Christmas treat. Can’t beat it – such amazing and reasonably priced food, wonderful attentive staff and we sat right in front of their roaring fire – just bliss on a winters day! You can contact them on: 01403 752288.

Winkworth Arboretum

Only a 15 minute drive away, the ‘big kid’ in me took myself off to see the beautiful painted ‘Snowmen’ trail at Winkworth Arboretum. There is one for each of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’, and they have some Snowmen-related activities for the little ones until the 2nd of January. Winkworth is always lovely all year round – I particularly love the views from the boathouse. A really lovely place for a winter walk. You can call them on: 01483 208477 or find them on the National Trust website at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk.

RHS Wisley Glow

I was lucky enough to be invited to go to visit the Wisley Glow Event this December, with 3 lovely friends that I originally met at an NCT group almost 19 years ago! We had a wonderful evening wandering around the gardens together, all beautifully lit up for Christmas. Just gorgeous and we had such a lovely time. We might have had a glass of mulled wine too – it would have been rude not to! You can call them on: 01483 224234 or find them on the RHS website at: www.rhs.org.uk.

Hever Castle and Gardens

Myself and one of my lovely friends took ourselves to Hever Castle last weekend. My parents buy me membership every year as part of my Christmas gift, so I am lucky enough to be able to go all year round – and it is always stunning. This time though, has to be the most beautiful I have ever seen it. It was cold, as there had been quite a frost, but the result was the most beautiful of views – every single place you looked was a perfect photo. The stunning lake was partially frozen – every statue looked like it had been kissed by the frost, and every leaf and petal looked just beautiful. The spider webs everywhere looked like delicate lace, and I took almost 300 photos! We had a really lovely day just walking and taking photographs, and keeping warm with coffees (and one of Hever’s special home-made sausage rolls of course!). The castle had also been decorated beautifully for Christmas, and there was a ‘Forest Trail’ for the kids with a story about a Red Squirrel, so of course we walked round that too! Just a wonderful day. Scary drive home as it had started to snow about an hour before we left, so the roads were a bit slippy - but SO worth it. I adore this place! You can contact them on: 01732 865224 or visit their website at: www.hevercastle.co.uk.

Nymans National Trust House and Gardens

I love Nymans – it is one of my favourite National Trust places to visit. I visited it this morning to catch it with the morning frost, and it was just beautiful. They still had some snow there too so it was very pretty – especially in the Rose Garden. They have a Beatrix Potter theme there for Christmas this year. There are items dotted across the garden to find, and this continues with more information and lots of other items inside the house, which is also decorated for Christmas. Just lovely for a brisk winter walk and some great photography opportunities. You can call them on: 01444 405250 or find them on the National Trust website at: www.nationaltrust.org.uk.