Christmas At Lotherton

As you know, we're regular visitors at Lotherton and so Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas if we didn't visit their Christmas Experience event. It's grown and grown over the years and now in addition to the Festive Woodland Walk with the interactive Twelve Days of Christmas displays, and a visit to see the main man himself, there's also the opportunity to decorate gingerbread people with Mrs Claus or do some crafts with the elves.

If you look back through my blog archives during December of each year, you'll come across the posts I've previously written about our walks at Lotherton at this time of year.

Last year, I also wrote a post about The Fairy Dell, and we visited it again this year.

I decided that instead of taking you on a walk around the grounds this year, I'd take you inside Lotherton Hall itself so that you can see how it's decorated for the festive season. We passed the Lotherton Advent Calendar on the way.

The entrance looked inviting, decked out in red bows and twinkly lights. This is where Mick and I parted company as we had Archie with us. I went inside and Mick took Archie for his much anticipated walk.

The hallway looked pretty adorned with attractive swags, and garlands up the bannister. The upper floor is usually open to visitors but unfortunately, it's closed over the festive period so there's nowhere near as many rooms to view at present.

A beautifully decorated tree stands in the hallway too.

In fact, I think there's a tree in every room open to the public. This is the one in the drawing room, a different colour scheme in here.

The decorations in the drawing room represent Laura Gwendolen Gascoigne 1859-1949.  She married Frederick Richard Trench Gascoigne, they inherited Lotherton Hall from his aunt and they made it their family home. They were responsible for the modern extension which incorporates the drawing room.

I'm always drawn to the portraits whenever I visit any stately home or country house. This is Laura Gwendolen Gascoigne and her eldest child, Alvary. Sir Alvary went on to inherit Lotherton Hall when his father died in 1937. He lived in retirement at Lotherton Hall and in 1968, presented it, along with the grounds, to Leeds City Council.

Another room, another Christmas tree.

The dining room is all set for dinner.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing Lotherton Hall decorated for the festive season. We visit mainly because the grounds are so lovely to walk Archie but we love following the events throughout the year too. The Christmas Experience is especially lovely if you've got children, though tickets have to be bought in advance as it does get booked up.