Festive Tales at Woodhorn Museum (AD)

I was kindly gifted an advanced electronic copy of Meant to be Yours by Susan Mallery in exchange for an honest review*.

As it’s Elsie’s first Christmas I’m really wanting to embrace the festive spirit, I won’t have as much of an opportunity next year as I’ll be back at work so we’re getting right into the magic of it all this year.

Woodhorn Museum is a former colliery and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument in Northumberland. 

Here you can find the amazing collection of the Ashington Group or Pitmen Painters. This iconic display showcases what daily life was really like for miners in and around Ashington from the 1930s. 

The museum is home to a large collection of social history items related to the Northumberland coalfield.

And there’s also an important material record of the Hartley Pit Disaster – after which led to changes to mining legislation saving countless millions of lives throughout the world.

Festive tales with Father Christmas is your chance to meet Father Christmas and find out what you should be leaving for him and the Reindeer on Christmas Eve.

There’s also seasonal stories featuring classics like The Polar Express and The Snowman.

As well as lots of fun opportunities to get on Santa’s good side with every child leaving the experience with a lovely seasonal gift.

It took about 40 minutes to drive there from our home in County Durham.

There’s ample free parking and it’s all wheelchair and pram friendly.

We made our way to the elves where we were warmly greeted.

While we waited for Father Christmas there were other families enjoying the free festive crafts.

Then it was our time for Festive Tales for Father Christmas.

We stepped inside a room which had been transformed into a magical winter wonderland with Father Christmas beaming in his leather chair.

He invited all the children to sit by his chair on a large rug with cushions laid out ready.

Elsie and I cosied up under a blanket while Father Christmas asked us our names. We had a lovely little chat with him and we found out if we’d made it onto the good list (Elsie’s in the top 20 for girls, phew).

He told us an amusing anecdote about getting stuck up the chimney upon his arrival at Woodhorn and the children had to help him find his lost pants! Thankfully he had a spare and we were able to find his lost pair.

Then it was time to settle down for story time.

Our festive tale was the wonderful classic The Snowman and Elsie was absolutely captivated hanging on his every word.

After the story Father Christmas invited each child by name for their photograph and to tell him what they would like for Christmas.

He gave each child an age appropriate present.

Elsie was mesmerised by him and posed quite happily for a picture.

We had about half an hour with Father Christmas who was warm, funny and engaging with all the children.

Elsie’s gift was a little book all about first words at Christmas and a little toy duck. The older children received a larger book.

After we had thanked Father Christmas we decided to explore the rest of the museum as it was our first visit.

As part of our review experience we were kindly given a complimentary pass for the museum and ice skating as well as a voucher for a free drink and slice of cake each and a 20% discount at the gift shop.

This was extremely generous and we were very grateful for such hospitality.

We enjoyed the Pitmen Painters and the interactive tablet helped to bring the artwork alive with extra information and even some short videos to watch.

The miners banners were really impressive and Elsie couldn’t take her eyes off them.

Next we made our way to Coal Town to find out more about what life was like back then in a mining community.

My grandad was a coal miner here in the North East so I always feel really emotional learning more about the industry and what life was like for the communities.

Our next stop was the cafe for a much needed drink and slice of cake, the chocolate cake was delicious and Steve enjoyed his lemon drizzle.

The prices in the cafe are fair and there’s a variety of cakes, snacks, meals and some good options for children too.

Then we headed to the gift shop.

We made good use of the discount voucher – I snapped up this canny mug (a present), a shy bairns pin badge for me and a felt tractor for Elsie when she’s a little bit older.

There’s lots of The Snowman and Polar Express related goodies too which I think will be popular for visitors attending the Festive Tales experience.

Although we didn’t have a go ourselves the ice rink looked a lot of fun and there’s a nice outdoor play area for kids to enjoy too.

We had a lovely festive afternoon and I would absolutely recommend Woodhorn for a fun family day out. The Festive Tales with Father Christmas is a fair price for a lovely festive experience.

The ticket price is £6.50 per child and free for adults. This seasonal experience is charged in addition to the Museums Northumberland annual membership.

The ticket price includes:

• A 30-minute session with Father Christmas including seasonal stories
• Photo opportunity
• A seasonal gift

A huge thank you to Woodhorn Museum for inviting us to attend and for such generosity, we’ll be back again! They have lots of activities running throughout the year so please visit their what’s on section on the website for upcoming events.

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Woodhorn Museum opening times and contact information

Woodhorn Museum
Queen Elizabeth II Country Park
Ashington
Northumberland
NE63 9YF

• Monday Closed
• Tuesday Closed
• Wednesday 10am – 4pm
• Thursday 10am – 4pm
• Friday 10am – 4pm
• Saturday 10am – 4pm
• Sunday 10am – 4pm

E: hello@museumsnorthumberland.org.uk
T: 01670 624455

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*Disclaimer

Museums Northumberland allowed us free entry to Woodhorn Museum in exchange for a fair review on my blog.

This review has been written with 100% honesty. I was not financially compensated for this post.

I will not receive any monetary award if you click on any of the links within this post. I received this item for review purposes.

The opinions expressed in this post are completely my own based on my own experience.

If you would like your company/service featured on rachaelstray.com either in the form of review, sponsored post or an advertising slot, please feel free to contact me at rachaelstray@gmail.com

Please visit my contact/work with me page for more information.

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Other related posts:

Discover what’s on offer for tourists in the North East

I answer all things Christmas in the Christmas Tag

You can find out all about my Christmas family traditions

Read all about how I made my very own Christmas wreath

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