Christmas was always family time and looking back, we didn’t have any unusual Christmas traditions. But here are some that come to mind:
“Harrod’s” Christmas Pudding
My Taid would go to London every year on a “jolly boy’s outing”. He would come back with a Christmas pudding from Harrod’s. It was one of those proper stylish puddings which had coins in. So yes every year he’d bring a Harrod’s pudding… or so I thought! It was only quite recently that my Nain informed me that it wasn’t in fact a Harrod’s Christmas pudding but it was a Kwik Save one which she then put money in whilst cooking! Thanks Nain for shattering one of my Christmas tradition memories!
Visit to Llechwedd Slate Mines
My absolute favourite Christmas traditions has to be a visit to Llechwedd Slate Mines. At Christmas the local slate mines would have a Santa’s grotto in one of the old caverns. You would travel through the old mines on a little train and visit Santa. It was a firm favourite and it was always made better by the fact that my cousins would visit and we would all go on it together. I want to say we did it every year but I honestly don’t know if we did. But all I remember is that it happened and it was such a great outing for us!
Christmas Eve Pub Crawl
This was one of Taid’s traditions! As a child I always knew he was going out on a pub crawl but it’s only after I passed my driving test that I fully understood the concept! I would be taxi and would take Taid and his best friend up to town. I would drop them both off at the farthest pub and they would walk the length of the High Street stopping at each pub on the way. They both would end up at the King’s Head (or “Tap” as it’s known locally – their local as it happens!).
New Christmas Traditions
Very happy memories from my childhood Christmas “traditions” however not many have carried forward to my family and kids. The one I had hoped to carry on was the Ceudyllau Llechi Llechwedd visit but they’ve stopped doing the Santa’s grotto now as Zipworld have taken over the caverns. I’m actually really saddened by this fact! Instead we are creating new traditions…..
- Christmas Eve Box – we create a Christmas Eve box for each of the girls. Nothing fancy just a bit of chocolate, a new DVD and new pyjamas! It’s a simple Christmas tradition to do but it brings a smile to their faces!
- Visit a Santa’s Grotto – ok so I can’t take them to Llechwedd but there are plenty of other Santa’s grottos out there to keep this Christmas tradition going. This year our choice was to visit Santa at the Quarrymen Cottages at the National Slate Museum (or at “Tai Tangrisiau”at Amgueddfa Lechi).
- Travel on a Santa Train – combining my love for steam with the festive period! This year we have tickets booked for the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway.
So not many Christmas traditions in our house unfortunately. I’m focusing on creating happy memories instead!
I think memories are the most important things you can create for them. A few years ago my husband and I started a great tradition. We are playing a game (usually a board game) each evening for the advent. Sometimes we play something that takes less than 10 minutes, like Dobble, other times we are playing for half an hour or an hour. We also have a special tea or hot chocolate. Traditions can be made as you go along, from baking something to games or family nights in watching a Christmas movie. The most important thing is to enjoy it and make memories you are going to cherish for years to come.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas. Hugs xx