I think ‘Christmas’ would be a contender if I had to decide on my favourite word…
Two syllables that excite my imagination and effortlessly bring warm thoughts and happy feelings to me regardless of the time of year
I’m a shameless Christmas lover and thankfully for me, Cornwall and Devon score very highly on the ‘best places to be on the planet at this time of year’
Since moving here in 2017 we’ve found a few things that make our Christmas special and here’s our current twelve recommendations for Christmas and New Year in no particular order:
As an aside, being a keen quizzer who has duly prepared for the ‘Christmas round’ in our local quiz, I thought I’d share the fact that the twelve days of Christmas actually start on the 25th December – and there was me thinking they started on 1st December – who knew!?
1. Starting with ‘Christmas Spirit’ which in this case is a delicious, locally made liqueur distilled at English Spirit of Treguddick in Launceston
It’s one we keep at the ready for expected and unexpected Christmas visitors…
Understandably billed as ‘Christmas in bottle’ or indeed ‘Christmas Pudding in a bottle’ having ingredients such as orange zest, split vanilla pod, cinnamon sticks and star anise
Over the festive season we enjoy it as a rum liqueur and we’ve yet to find anyone who doesn’t love it too, it’s a warming drink to savour over the Christmas season…
And if that wasn’t enough… Treguddick Distillery has it’s own shop, bar and restaurant and regularly holds events – check their website for details, we recommend a visit and it’s just 15 miles or 23 minutes drive away from the Old Station
We like it so much that we’re attending their New Years Eve party too, their chef is a past Masterchef finalist so we’re looking forward to our three course meal with a fantastic selection of drinks followed by DJ playing 70s, 80s and 90s classics…
For us it’s a perfect way to end the year and welcome in 2023
2. Jigsaws are a Christmas tradition for us, my sister and I like to complete jigsaws together and have some of our best conversations whilst doing so… I’m delighted to share a find with any other jigsaw lovers out there…
In King Street, Tavistock you’ll find ‘Owens’ it’s a gem of a shop like no other and a visit to this shop will leave you feeling like you’ve stepped back in time. The window belies the joy of the interior as the faded jigsaw puzzles adorning them suggest a lack of interest or care but this could not be further from the truth as a veritable treasure trove is to be found within. Once inside, the delightful proprietor is engaging, courteous and helpful and the shop is generously stocked from floor to ceiling with every type of jigsaw you might ever fancy
It’s a little piece of British retail perfection and it makes me appreciate the individuality that can still be found and enjoyed on the high street. To buy my jigsaws here might mean this shop survives and I believe the high street and shopping experience would always benefit by having amazing shops like these
3. Cornwall and Devon are alive with Christmas markets, fetes, bazaars, late night shopping and the like… In fact most of the beautiful National Trust, English Heritage, and grand houses and buildings, theatres, hotels, golf clubs and varied venues open their doors to host lovely ‘one off’ shopping events where independent traders can sell their wares
Christmas shopping in Devon and Cornwall is a total pleasure and if you’re looking for something bespoke, individual and different, it will be here…
Having once lived in a world where the high street is mainly made up of larger chain shops and where the Christmas shopping experience is the less for it – even for the particular breed of people who actually enjoy shopping
So it’s both refreshing and inspiring to be spoilt for choice by art, craft and ‘locally made and produced’ as standard in these parts
Luckily for us this shopping experience stretches across the whole spectrum of gifts and includes, food and drink, clothing and even vouchers for events… In my experience, Christmas shopping is a pleasurable experience in the West Country and we welcome visitors at this time of year to enjoy this seasonal experience
4. Cornwall and Devon are mainly made up of small communities who maintain their own identities, traditions and spirit. Local churches and places of worship have a healthy part to play in community life here, especially during Christmas time
Our local place of worship is Stoke Climsland Parish Church, it’s a beautiful old grade II listed building and is located about two miles from the Old Station and set in the heart of the beautiful village
Having been a church attender as a child, the church is a lovely and very natural place to visit at Christmas time, regardless of the reason for doing so although the draw of the beautiful church, the singing of the choir and the feeling of warmth and community are reason enough alone
There is a ‘Carols by Candlelight’ service on Wednesday 21st December at 18:30, it’s a beautiful service
Truro cathedral also hold a pets carol service annually where all pets are welcomed so whether your pet is huge or tiny, feathered, furry, scaly, wet or wooly, they’ll be welcomed to join the service
This year it’s on Thursday 29th December 2:00-4:30pm
5. The West Country provides and abundance of choices for Christmas food, we are totally spoiled for choice when making our plans…
We’re traditionalists so it will be turkey and beef this year with all the trimmings and our local butcher is also a friend who supplies the most fabulous meat and poultry – www.chrisrounsevell.co.uk
We also get the very best beef and lamb from the wonderful farmers next door at South Haylands, it’s small batch so you have to be super quick to order when it becomes available otherwise they’ll be sold out
We use Dan the Fishman who supplies fish once or twice a week in Tavistock, he’s superb and can provide anything you need with notice
If you like seafood, I highly recommend the locally caught crab, it’s my favourite along with the best mussels I’ve ever enjoyed
The Tamar Valley is known for it’s fruit and vegetables and we also have the best cream, milk, butter and cheese (I love cheese, especially at Christmas time).
We are blessed to keep our own chickens, their eggs are more delicious – knowing the chicken’s who laid them really makes a difference!
We can pretty much source everything we need to eat locally and to know where our food comes from feels like the right way to live and eat, especially when you’re overindulging and wanting to share the very best that you can on your Christmas table
www.trepolandpen.com
www.louisteamrooms.co.uk
www.tamarvalleyfoodhubs.org.uk
6. The Christmas events calendar keeps on giving, we select what we’d like to do in advance and also share a small selection of posts on our Instagram and Facebook pages inviting guests to ask for recommendations if needed
We both enjoy getting out and about as much as we enjoy being at home. We are part of a quiz team and try a new quiz in Devon or Cornwall each month to keep us challenged, entertained and informed
This month’s quiz was the St Mellion Golf Club Christmas Quiz, 27 teams took part and we were happy with 6th place but… we’d all really rather we’d won!
We’re attending Christmas prize bingo at our local social club this month and in addition visit open gardens, National Trust properties, theatres and attend anything everything that takes our fancy…
This month we are looking forward to seeing the play ‘Twisted Christmas’ in Launceston Town Hall, ‘Oh No It Isn’t’ At The Barbican Theatre in Plymouth with a Thai meal at the B-Bar restaurant in The Barbican before the show. On Christmas Eve we’re going to see ‘Is that a bolt in your neck’ at The Drum Theatre and at New Year we’re attending the panto “Sleeping Beauty” with Shane Ritchie playing the lead role at The Theatre Royal Plymouth
Following lockdown and, making our living in the hospitality business, we want to fly the Cornish and Devonian flag and get out there and enjoy and support everything that we can whilst also having the time of our life too
A previous neighbour of mine, when asked to share some wisdom about ageing on their 50th birthday, said to me “use it or lose it” in this case she was referring to body and mind and this advice has stayed with me since
Where and when we can, we get out there and attend, we turn up and in turn keep ourselves involved, healthy, entertained and as such, our calendar is always full
7. Christmas Nails, working hard in the garden and with the holiday lets mean that however I try, my hands are sore, chapped and rough so my nails, without polish, would look pretty bad
My treat to myself is to keep my finger and toe nails painted and looking as nice as possible and I always ask my lovely nail technician for something ‘different’ every time. I’m currently sporting red glitter nails with Rudolph the red nosed reindeer on both ring fingers, I’ve received lots of compliments and my nails make me smile so it’s money well spent on myself, for myself. A word to the wise… my nail technician told me that the most popular theme is gnomes or elves so far this year. Don’t fancy that myself…
8. My sister and I attended a wreath making workshop at Hotel Endsleigh in Milton Abbott at the end of November, it was a great experience and regardless of skill level, you’ll leave with a beautiful handmade Christmas wreath that you can enjoy and show off over the Christmas season
We selected this particular workshop because lunch and a glass of wine was included and it really was a good call for us. If you don’t know Endsleigh, it’s Olga Polizzi’s hotel set in the most fabulous location and the food here is usually divine – as was our wonderful lunch
9. I think that the massive effort that goes in to preparing for Christmas by people across the land is wonderful and, accepting the limitations of the energy crises for many, we very much enjoy adorning the Old Station in lights, lit and unlit large snow flake decorations, A coloured ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ message, an illuminated Christmas tree decoration and of course reindeer pulling a sleigh. It brightens up the dark winter evenings here and hopefully spreads some Christmas cheer too
A small selection of some special places to visit at this time of year are:
Cornwall
Mousehole – The Christmas harbour lights are legendary in these parts – we visited a few years back for the ceremony of Christmas lights switch on – we were not disappointed, it was really special and very pretty. 12th December to 6th January, check the website for times
www.mouseholelights.org.uk
Angarrack Christmas lights – It’s worth a visit to Angarrack to see the Christmas lights, they are stunning for a small village and you can link it with a visit to Penzance, Newlyn, Mousehole or anywhere really on that coastline
The Christmas light shows at The Eden Project and The Lost Gardens of Heligan (Heligan Night Garden) are stunningly beautiful, check their websites for times and details
edenproject.com | heligan.com
National Trust: Cotehele House with it’s magnificent annual flower garland or Saltram House which is being dressed for a ‘Festive Ball’ and ‘Sparkling Garden Trail’ this year, check the website for details
Tunnel of Lights underneath the shipwreck museum in Charlestown is the UK’s longest indoor lit tunnel of Christmas lights. 3rd December until 8th January, check the website for times
www.shipwreckcharlestoen.co.uk
Devon
Dartmoor Zoo has ‘Zooluminate’ this year from 9th December until 2nd January, check the website for times
dartmoorzoo.org.uk
Tavistock is beautiful at Christmas time with The Bedford Hotel’s nutcrackers guarding the entrance and the lit trees outside the Guildhall
RHS Rosemoor has ‘Glow 2022’ from 17th November to 17th December and 20-30 December, check the website for times
rhs.org.uk
10. Our wonderful dog trainer Mark, who is helping to train us to be better owners of our challenging and clever puppy, advised us that we need to walk our dog twice per day, every day and that our chosen walks should be interesting for the puppy as, apparently, dogs can get bored of the same walk every day
With this in mind, we will forevermore vary our dog walks across the whole counties of Devon and Cornwall
Christmas Dog walkers be aware that the majority of beaches in Cornwall are dog Friendly from October 1 to the end of April and we also have a wealth of amazing places to walk our dogs, Bodmin Moor, Dartmoor, Kit Hill and the varied endless choices of walks around both counties. We will make it our Christmas and New Year’s resolution to make our dogs and our own lives more interesting by finding new places to walk remaining forever curious. We like to use the app iwalkcornwall which has been invaluable to us
11. Cornwall Council have support in place for people who are sleeping rough and they also have a duty of care to provide homeless people with a bed for the night when temperatures drop and severe weather comes in:
What to do if you are rough sleeping or know about someone rough sleeping:
- Alert the local authority and outreach services by making a referral to www.streetlink.org.uk or by calling 0300 500 0914
- Support or advise the rough sleeper to present as homeless by telephoning 0300 1234 161
12. It’s okay not to be okay
Christmas is a joyful time for many but this time of year may be a difficult and challenging too, with this in mind, I finish with some support information that might be helpful or useful to have at hand
If you’re in crisis and need to talk right now, there are many helplines staffed by trained people who are ready to listen. They won’t judge you, and could help you make sense of what you’re feeling
Mental Health Crises Helplines:
- Contact the Samaritans to talk about anything that is upsetting you, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone), email jo@samaritans.org or www.samaritans.org/branches
- SANEline If you’re experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else, you can call 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm–10.30pm every day)
- National Suicide Prevention Helpline UK Offers a supportive listening service to anyone with thoughts of suicide. You can call on 0800 689 5652 (6pm–3:30am every day)
- Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) You can call the www.thecalmzone.net on 0800 58 58 58 (5pm–midnight every day) if you are struggling and need to talk. Or if you prefer not to speak on the phone, you could try the CALM webchat service.
- Shout If you would prefer not to talk but want some mental health support, you could text SHOUT to 85258. giveusashout.org offers a confidential 24/7 text service providing support if you are in crisis and need immediate help.
- The Mix If you’re under 25, you can call The Mix on 0808 808 4994 (3pm–midnight every day),
- Papyrus HOPELINEUK If you’re under 35 and struggling with suicidal feelings, or concerned about a young person who might be struggling, you can call www.papyrus-uk.org on 0800 068 4141 (weekdays 10am-10pm, weekends 2pm-10pm and bank holidays 2pm–10pm), email pat@papyrus-uk.org or text 07786 209 697
- Nightline If you’re a student, you can look on the nightline.ac.uk/want-to-talk to see if your university or college offers a night-time listening service. Nightline phone operators are all students too.
- Switchboard If you identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, you can on 0300 330 0630 (10am–10pm every day), email chris@switchboard.lgbt or use their webchat service. Phone operators all identify as LGBT+.
- C.A.L.L. If you live in Wales, you can call www.callhelpline.org.uk on 0800 132 737 (open 24/7) or you can text ‘help’ followed by a question to 81066.
- Helplines Partnership For more options, visit helplines.org/helplines website for a directory of UK helplines. www.mind.org.uk can also help you find services that can support you. If you’re outside the UK, the www.befrienders.org website has a tool to search by country for emotional support helplines around the world.
Have a very happy and healthy Christmas and New Year
Best wishes
Jacqueline and Tim
