Getting Christmassy in Castleton
The Meek Family
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We have just spent a week at Castleton Caravan Site, one of our favourites. It's early December and we have, until now managed to avoid Christmas but were smacked in the face with festivities this week. The site was full of caravans and motorhomes displaying a range of brightly coloured lights attached inside, outside and around the pitches. The main office was also a welcoming sight with lights adorning the buildings and pine trees outside. The decorations continued to go up during our stay with Ella helping the wardens to decorate the tree in the family room one afternoon.
Castleton itself also has a wonderful warm glow about it with Christmas trees lining the streets and shop windows sparkling with festive decorations. In the build up to Christmas, the caverns offer carol services deep inside the caves - this must be a wonderful experience which I'm sure is booked up quickly. We didn't miss out on the Castleton church though, recommended to us by the wardens on site. Every year the church invites the local community to decorate a tree and display it in the church. There are over 50 trees to admire from local groups such as the Cinema Club, Historic society and WI to local businesses such as B&Bs, outdoor shops, bakeries and pubs. The trees each have their own theme and you can spend quite a while wandering up and down the aisle admiring them.
Then it came to our motorhome....a sorry sight with no Christmas charisma. We don't have the space to carry around a box of decorations or a little cubby hole that will neatly store a Christmas tree but Ella was desperate for some sparkle. We dug out the battery powered lights and attached them throughout and red and gold tinsel was twisted around the ladder that leads to their little sleeping den. We then decided to make our own decorations! Heading down the path into the countryside of the hills, we foraged for pieces of wood that we could use. When we returned we set about creating two different decorations: a Christmas tree made out of different lengths of wood and decorations made from discs of wood that had been sawn. The girls decorated the decorations with festive images and lettering. We even made a spare one for the family room so if you're visiting Castleton in the next festive few weeks keep an eye out for a homemade wooden string of letters saying Merry Christmas!
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