Christmas in Derbyshire

What a difference a month makes. At the start of November Matlock experienced some bad flooding. In the centre of Matlock, just at the side of Glendon, the park was badly affected. But a short time on it is great to see plans for Christmas well underway.

Christmas in Matlock Derbyshire

Each year the first weekend of December sees the Matlock Christmas market. The event runs over three days – Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The Matlock lights are also switched on and Father Christmas, time permitting, drops by. The market brings a real buzz to the town and attracts many visitors over the three days. On the Sunday it culminates with a great firework display.

And of course, there are many other events in the Peak District and Derbyshire in the lead up to Christmas. From historic houses to carol concerts in caverns there is sure to be something to raise some early festive cheer.

Preparing for Christmas at Glendon

In time for the Matlock Christmas festivities it was time to decorate Glendon. So, over the past few days we took advantage for some early spring cleaning ready to decorate the house with the Christmas trimmings. Each year there is a debate about the location of the main Christmas tree. This year it is the dining room, ideal for guests to enjoy during breakfast. This year the tree is decorated in silver and white with a range of glass ornaments.

Pride of place on the fireplace is the Willow Tree nativity figurines. Cast from hand-carved sculptures it is always lovely to see them on display each year. The figures have been collected from different locations and hold many memories. This is one of the things that make it so special to see the decorations unpacked each year.
This year there is one extra animal addition. If you look closely, you can see the dog (who travelled all the way from America) between two of the kings. There is now quite a menagerie of animals in this scene.

And as a gift this year we received another dog figure, accompanied by a snowman. The figure is inspired by Raymond Briggs the author of the classical children’s book – the Snowman. Jasper will be feeling jealous if there are any more for legged additions!

Christmas floral displays

As well as the decorations it is always lovely to see floral festive displays. This year there are the traditional roses and a range of local foliage, including the festive requirement of a good bunch of holly. They start of looking great but to stay that way will need ongoing attention in the run up to Christmas.

The door wreath

The door wreath is always another challenge. Each year Adrian wants it to look different and there are only so many variations on a wreath. The key question – homemade or bought? This year Glendon has a classical wreath from Forest Garden Centre in Darley Dale. To balance this, Derwent House, our self-catering property for large groups, has a homemade wreath, with festive fruit and nuts. This one is inspired by a picture in Delia Smith’s Christmas cookery book.

The Advent calendar

On a recent visit to Cromford, we dropped into our favourite chocolate shop – Taylor Wilde Chocolatier, who also supply our guest chocolates. Now every house has to have an Advent calendar and they had the prefect option this year. A tree shaped calendar with a gorgeous chocolate for each day. The only problem with this one is it looks too good to eat!

A modern twist

Inside we are always mindful of the Victorian build and design of Glendon and try to reflect this in the decorations. Outside we have more of a modern twist as is clear from the circular pyramid design and multi-coloured flashing lights of the Christmas tree.

So all in all, as the song says, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, at Glendon. Whatever your plans for the festive season we hope have an enjoyable time. In the hectic days in the lead up to Christmas things can seem a little frantic. So we hope you take some time to relax, even if it is just sat looking at one of your favourite Christmas decorations.