Christmas

Chatsworth to offer visitors warm welcome this festive season

Chatsworth is delighted to announce the house will be open for A Happy Christmas this festive season to offer a warm welcome to all those looking to end the year on a high.

Tickets for timed visits for the season are now on sale, which runs from 7 November to 3 January. With limited numbers to ensure safe social distancing throughout the route, this is a wonderful opportunity to see the house in all its festive glory.

The State Rooms and Sketch Galleries – usually closed during the winter season – will also remain open, extending the normal Christmas route and providing a one-off opportunity to experience the Devonshire Collections in these spaces, beautifully dressed for the festivities.

Rooms lit by candlelight with stockings hanging by the fire, along with a letter to Father Christmas and carrot for Rudolph will strike a comforting note; the dining room table fully dressed with a Christmas banquet fit for kings and queens, and a huge 24 foot real Christmas tree decked in gold and cream in the Chapel are just some of the delights in store.

The Duke and Duchess of Devonshire said: “Christmas at Chatsworth is always a magical time, but we think that 2020 will be even more special than usual. In such challenging and uncertain times, we are very much looking forward to the house being decorated and welcoming visitors during the festive period.

“Our team is doing a fantastic job to make sure we offer our usual warm welcome and breathtaking displays this Christmas, while protecting the health and wellbeing of our visitors and employees.”

A celebration of Christmas classics and music from all ages will run throughout the route, including playlists selected by the Duke and Duchess.

The highly talented team at Chatsworth has been hard at work making many of the beautiful decorations by hand.

Susie Stokoe, Head of Textiles at Chatsworth, said: “We have been hugely inspired by the ingenuity and creativity of communities near and far during the pandemic. Through working together and supporting each other, in both the physical and online worlds, through the difficult days of lockdown, we have all dug deep. Our Christmas team has drawn on this spirit of resilience, and making the most of what we have, to create beautiful handmade decorations that we hope will delight, and encourage others to have a go themselves.”

Chatsworth has taken the difficult decision not to run the hugely popular Christmas market this year. Having worked closely with the local planning department, it was agreed that the event could not take place without compromising the safety and enjoyment of visitors.

A Chatsworth spokesperson said: “Our main priority remains the health and wellbeing of our visitors, staff, exhibitors, partners and local communities and this decision reflects that. We would like to thank all those who play such a vital role in the event’s success and apologise for the disappointment this decision may cause, but believe that it is the most responsible course of action. We hope to welcome everyone back in 2021, when we aim to make the Chatsworth Christmas market even more special than usual.”

Chatsworth retail and food outlets will be open for festive shopping and eating with additional safety measures in place. With the house and garden having now been open for several months, Chatsworth has tried and tested safety procedures across the estate to help ensure the health and wellbeing of visitors and staff. To find out more, go to https://www.chatsworth.org/your-visit/

Timed Christmas tickets go on sale 24 September 2020, priced at £25 per adult and £15 per child (aged between 4-16 inclusive), and include entry to the house and garden. Family tickets are also available. Visits will be via online booking only with no tickets available on the day.

Chatsworth supports the marketing and economic growth of the town through Chesterfield Champions, a network of over 180 organisations across Chesterfield and North Derbyshire.

Images credit: Chatsworth House Trust

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Chesterfield Royal Hospital launch charity Christmas card competition

Chesterfield Royal Hospital are launching a Christmas Card Competition for children in order to help raise money for their Chesterfield Royal Charity.

They are now seeking entries from creative young people under the age of 18 to come us with a special festive design with lots of colour, vivid imaginations and originality.

Entries will be judged with the ‘winning’ five printed and sold with all proceeds going to the hospital’s charity. Not only will the chosen designs feature on Christmas cards – the winner will also receive a special prize.

Entries must be submitted by Friday 13th November 2020. The winners will be chosen by the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Angie Smithson, and Charity Director, Ken Godber.

How to enter

Please email your scanned entries to crhft.communications@nhs.net or alternatively you can post to:

Communications Office
Chesterfield Royal Hospital
Calow
Chesterfield
S44 5BL

Please remember to include an entry slip with your design (either included in the email or pop it in the envelope with your design.)

The entry slip can be found on the hospital’s website here or you can find a PDF version here.

Find out more about the competition here.

If you have any more questions or ​​​​queries please contact Zoe or Lois, on crhft.communications@nhs.net or call on 01246 513875.

Chesterfield Royal Hospital

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Plans confirmed for popular Crooked Spire annual events

It has been confirmed that plans are underway for this year’s Well Dressing display and the popular Christmas Tree Festival, both of which take place at Chesterfield’s Crooked Spire Church.

Reverend Patrick Coleman said: “I can share the wonderful news that we are definitely planning to hold both the Well Dressing and the Christmas Tree Festival this year. There will need to be careful access control for viewing of the Well Dressing, and we are planning a free online booking system for the Christmas Tree Festival, so that in both cases we can make sure that hygiene and distancing measures are kept in place.”

He added: “At present, singing is still completely forbidden, so no announcements on Carol Services just yet. These events will certainly feel a little different but we owe it to all the people who value the Crooked Spire, and its presence and contribution to the town’s life, to try and make a go of these things even under present conditions.”

The Well Dressing is planned from August 29th to September 6th, with details of this year’s theme yet to be announced.

Well dressing is an ancient custom unique to Derbyshire. Chesterfield began well dressing in 1864 when the Town Pump in Market Place was decorated after a very dry summer. The custom died out, but was revived in 1991 when a well was dressed as part of an exhibition about Derbyshire traditions.

A well dressing takes up to 7 days of work, by a whole team of people, to finish. It will only last about a week before the clay dries and cracks and the flowers fade, then it’s taken down and the boards stored away – until next year.

The Festival of Christmas Trees is due to take place between for 14th and 29th November, with further details to be confirmed closer to the time.

The Cooked Spire is the largest church in Derbyshire and each year it is filled to overflowing with more than 100 Christmas trees decorated by local people, groups and shops, from WIs to scout and guide groups, from schools to high street stores, from accountants to Chesterfield Museum and many more besides.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Geeks Headquarters host national Pokemon tournament

Independent retailer, Geeks Headquarters (GHQ), hosted a national Pokemon tournament at their Chesterfield store on Sunday 15th December.

There were 48 competitiors for the store’s Pokemon “Cosmic Eclipse” League Cup. The winners were:

Junior Division: Thomas Lambert
Senior Division: Callum Wun
Master Division: Luke Parks

League Cups are the next Premier Events on the competitive Pokémon TCG ladder, right above League Challenges. They not only provide players with the opportunity to earn a greater amount of Championship Points, but they also offer players the chance to win exclusive Champion-stamped playmats and Promo cards that can’t be earned anywhere else.

Taking place on the same day was the Yu-Gi-Oh! Christmas Charity tournament, where rather than paying entry with money, entry was paid with tinned food for the Chesterfield Foodbank. The event was sponsored by Konami, who donated all the prizes for free.

A total of 28 players entered the tournament and 152 tins of canned food were donated. The overall winner was Luke Bowkis.

Geeks Headquarters is a unique retail store that specialises in a wide range of gaming products, such as boardgames, trading card games, miniature games and roleplaying games, with an eye for collectibles and comics. They also produce unique custom made 3d printed items as additional service for our customers.

Since it opened in 2015, the shop has thrived thanks to a large gaming community of all ages, based locally and in the surrounding areas. The events and tournaments hosted by GHQ have attracted a big crowd of gamers from all the midlands and even further.

The Geeks Headquarters Christmas Party takes place on Sunday 22nd December, find out more here.

Find out more about Geeks Headquarters here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Christmas, Leisure, Visiting

Spireites donate winter coats to the homeless

The Spireites have donated a quantity of winter coats to Pathways of Chesterfield, a service for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness in Chesterfield and North East Derbyshire.

Commenting on the donation, Kit Man Jason Baker explained: “I thought it would be nice if the coats could be put to good use and help people in the local community. ”

“I spoke to Keith Jackson from the Chesterfield FC Community Trust who contacted Pathways and arranged for the coats to be handed over to them. The work being done by the organisation is very important and it’s pleasing to know that the club can help them in this way.”

Matilda Towndrow, Volunteer & Activities Co-ordinator at Pathways, said: “The coats will be nice and warm for the winter and it’s really nice and generous of the club to donate them.”

“Often, homeless people can feel pushed out by other members of society, but people do have a genuine interest in homeless people.”

Pathways aim to prevent homelessness. Their mission is to eradicate rough sleeping in our community and to support those without a permanent home to obtain and maintain one. To find out more about Pathways, please visit www.pathwaysofchesterfield.co.uk.

Photo credit: Tina Jenner

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Home

Magnolia Barbering to serve alcoholic drinks following recent expansion

Magnolia Barbering, based at Chesterfield Market Hall, are the first barbershop in Chesterfield to serve alcohol on the premises.

The barbershop is now able to offer their customers a selection of draught beers, bottles and cans as well as soft drinks and tea or coffee. The shop has also been extended, taking over the empty retail unit next door to expand their premises.

In 2014, owner Ollie Ward had a vision of bringing a different style of barbershop into Chesterfield town centre. Alongside Andy Lakin, Magnolia Barbering was created and the shop has since gone from strength to strength. Three years ago, PJ Farrand and trainee Dan “Massive” Newman joined the team. Dan is now a fully qualified barber and works full time. Earlier this year Alex Bennett joined the Magnolia Barbering team.

The expansion has also allowed the business to employ three more staff members, KJ Nash, Rossco McKay and Sam Hague, each bringing their unique talents to the team. Now the barbershop boasts an experienced team of 8, all with vast amounts of industry knowledge and a range of skills.

Andy Lakin said: “We would like to welcome clients old and new to Magnolia and are really looking forward to what the future holds.”

Magnolia Barbering can be found on the corner of Chesterfield’s Market Hall, next to the Market Square.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards, Chesterfield Retail Awards, Christmas, Development, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Chesterfield business using augmented reality to support homeless charity

Chesterfield-based technology company, Oasis Studio, are aiming to raise £1,000 for homeless charity Centrepoint, through their augmented ‘Mini Santa’ reality app.

Oasis created a festive, augmented reality animation to raise money and awareness for Centrepoint, a charity who give young homeless people a future. The animation plays from a smartphone or tablet, triggered from 3D pop-up card, which has been delivered to their clients and connections. However, a digital version is available for the general public to experience their Mini Santa animation.

According to Centrepoint, 103,000 young people asked for help with homelessness in 2018, and as digital media company Oasis Studio operate in both the education sector and property industry, they wanted to help change this.

Tom Swallow, Development Manager of The Bolsterstone Group and receiver of one of the Oasis Christmas cards, said: “The card produced by Oasis Studio demonstrates the innovative approach they take to all projects to produce a high quality product. The clever use of technology highlights how AR is becoming simpler to use and an increasingly important marketing tool with so many applications. The support for Centrepoint adds a great touch and is a very worthy charity!”

Augmented reality is a technology that places a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, usually accessed through a smartphone or tablet.

Oasis Studio always aim to do something spectacular for Christmas, and this year set the ambitious target of creating something that is digital, whilst also containing a tangible element, as well as telling a story.

Founder of Oasis Studio, Paul Deakin, explained: “We are a forward-thinking studio with large ambitions, and this translates into everything we do. We set our target high because of this, and I encourage everyone to try our app for themselves, and help us to raise our £1,000 target for a very worthy cause.”

The Mini Santa Christmas card was completely made in-house by Oasis, from the printing of the 3D pop-up card, to the laser cutting, to the augmented reality, to the animation.

Download the Mini Santa App here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Christmas, Home, Leisure, Made in Chesterfield

Go behind the scenes of Chatsworth at Christmas with a Channel Four TV Special

Billed as must-see TV, watch the hour long ‘Christmas at Chatsworth House’ airing on Channel Four on Thursday 12 December at 9pm.

Chatsworth welcomed the national broadcaster to come and spend several weeks filming behind the scenes at the Derbyshire stately home as it pulls out all the stops to put on its annual festive season enjoyed by more than 100,000 visitors each year.

Taking a look behind the scenes of the historic Derbyshire house that provided the iconic backdrop for Pride and Prejudice, Christmas At Chatsworth House follows this unique British institution as it prepares for its most important weeks of the year and gets ready to open its doors to its Christmas visitors.

In just five days housekeepers, designers, gardeners and foresters transform Chatsworth with traditional and nostalgic Christmas displays. The house alone is decorated with over 30 Christmas trees, 60,000 baubles and a million fairy lights.

This year’s theme, A Land Far, Far Away, is a global experience with the grand rooms of the house dressed in homage to countries that have influenced generations of the Cavendish family. The Chatsworth team has delved into the collection to find a treasure trove of memorabilia from around the world. Morocco, India, Netherlands, Italy, China, Japan, and America all feature in what is described as ‘one of the most ambitious Christmas seasons staged by Chatsworth’.

ITN Production’s Executive Producer, Will Smith, said: “Viewers will be amazed at the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes to transform Chatsworth House at Christmas and make it such a magical and enchanting time for visitors. This one-off documentary will provide a compelling insight into the sheer scale of getting the house ready so that guests can participate in the festive fun and have a Christmas to remember.”

Chatsworth’s Head of Visitor Experience, Sally Ambrose, said: “Christmas at Chatsworth has become one of the biggest events of the year for the estate, so we were delighted to welcome a national broadcaster to come and have a peek behind the scenes and feature some of our wonderful staff who make this such a special experience for thousands of visitors each year.”

Chatsworth Christmas runs up until 5 January 2020. Tickets for House and Garden are priced at £25 per adult and £15 per child (aged between 3-16). Family tickets are also available.

Click here to find out more about Christmas at Chatsworth House.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Celebrate Chesterfield, Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards, Chesterfield Retail Awards, Christmas, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Chesterfield Centre will open on Christmas day to support LGBT+ community

Derbyshire LGBT+ is opening its doors for the first time this Christmas Day between 12 noon and 4pm, for members of the LGBT+ community that are feeling lonely or have challenges around housing.

LGBT+ young people in particular are more likely to find themselves homeless, having likely experienced family rejection, abuse or violence. This information is supported by a recent online poll of 2,109 people by YouGov on behalf of the LGBT+ youth homelessness charity akt (formerly know as the Albert Kennedy Trust), where results show that a quarter of adults in the UK would not feel proud to have an LGBT+ child.

Whilst homelessness is more prevalent in amongst LGBT+ youth, older LGBT+ people are more vulnerable to loneliness at this time of year as they are more likely to be single, live alone, and have lower levels of contact with relatives.

Chief Executive of Derbyshire LGBT+, Ian Robson has been working within the charitable sector for fifteen years: “Members of the LGBT+ community – particularly older and younger people are significantly more isolated over the winter months, with darker nights and colder weather, which can leave people feeling lower than usual. Christmas can add to the feeling of loneliness and there are things that people can do for any of their friends and neighbours to reduce the impact. A simple greetings card through the letter box is a nice gesture, however if someone is feeling more hospitable adding an extra seat at the dinner table goes an awful long way.”

“This year we are reaching out by opening our Chesterfield centre to anyone from the LGBT+ community whether they are in need of some company or are facing challenges around housing. We have volunteers on hand to give people a warm welcome, and we will be able to provide food and drink, and hopefully have some fun. We have limited availability, so we do ask that people get in touch by email, telephone or by dropping in to the centre before the 19th  December.”

Martin Carter, Chair of Derby Pride, said: “We have been working with Derbyshire LGBT+ for many years and the services they provided are needed now, more than ever. Offering this kind of support to the LGBT+ community at what can be a challenging time of year is a reflection of the ongoing support they provide to the community.”

For further information about Christmas Day and any other services you can contact Derbyshire LGBT+ at info@derbyshirelgbt.org.uk or 01332 207 704.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas

Be ‘Ginspired’ with Chesterfield’s newest independent retailer

A new independent drinks retailer, Ginspired, has opened in Chesterfield’s Market Hall, specialising in gin, rum, whisky and other spirits.

Ginspired will focus on high quality spirits with over 200 unique and interesting bottles to choose from, as well as a wide range of gift items for Christmas and other special occasions. In store tasting events will also be a regular occurrence and staff will be on hand to provide friendly helpful advice.

Co-Owners Matt and Darren have worked in the drinks industry for 10 years before using their passion and experience to open Ginspired, showcasing a fantastic collection of gin, rum, whisky, vodka, bourbon, liqueurs, mead, cognac and more.

Co-Owner Matt said: “Our name is taken from Chesterfield’s famous Crooked Spire and our passion for Gin. We hope Ginspired will compliment and support the already vibrant beer and gin scene, with some great pubs, bars and producers well established in Chesterfield.”

He added: “We strongly believe in supporting small independent local businesses and our primary focus will be on products from Derbyshire and the surrounding area where possible.”

Ginspired is now open within Chesterfield’s Market Hall.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Business, Celebrate Chesterfield, Chesterfield Food and Drink Awards, Chesterfield Retail Awards, Christmas, Development, Featured, Home, Leisure, Visiting

Win a personalised Christmas message from Santa

Chesterfield Borough Council has teamed up with Santa Claus to create a Christmas competition for residents in which the winners will receive a personalised video message from Santa.

The competition encourages residents to recycle this Christmas by creating recyclable decorations.

Chesterfield residents can enter the competition by:

  • Taking a photo of their Christmas decoration
  • Sending it through as a direct message to Chesterfield Borough Council on Facebook
  • Explaining how they made the decoration in the message
  • Telling the council in the direct message the names of the children Santa should include in the video.

Ian Waller, Assistant Director for Health and Wellbeing at Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “This competition is a great opportunity for residents to have fun with recycling.”

“A personalised video message from Santa is a lovely surprise gift, so we are encouraging as many children and young people as possible to get involved.”

“We look forward to seeing how creative people can get with recycling.”

Residents can tailor their personalised message and tell Chesterfield Borough Council what Santa should include in the message.

The competition is open for entries from Monday 25 November. All entries are being judged on Monday 16 December and the winners of the competition will receive their personalised video on Monday 23 December.

To find out more about the competition, head to Chesterfield Borough Council’s competition page here, where all of the terms and conditions can be found.

Children can also meet Santa in his Grotto at Chesterfield Market Hall. A visit to Santa including a present is £5. For more information click here.

Posted in About Chesterfield, Christmas, Home