Christmas at Chatsworth with Mr Toad

I was very lucky to grow up in the heart of the Peak District a few miles away from Chatsworth, we used to visit the gardens, farmyard and playground all the time as kids and we used to love to drive through the grounds and watch the Deer but until this weekend I had never stepped foot inside the house. Boy oh boy have I missed a treat!

I knew before we arrived that the house would be incredible, even more so because it’s Christmas but I was pretty blown away at just how beautiful it is! This year you can journey through scenes of the much loved Kenneth Grahame classic The Wind in the Willows, and share the adventures of Toad, Mole, Ratty and Badger as they celebrate Christmas at Toad Hall.

On the Wind in the Willows journey you will first come to Mole’s home where he is busily putting the finishing touches to his Christmas decorations and then you move on to the Wild Wood after Ratty and Mole have sailed along the river.

Next they come across a mouse choir at the church where they stop and rest from the storm and eventually they make it to Badger’s house where he welcomes them into his gorgeous cosy home and makes them a lovely cup of tea.

Upon arrival at Toad Hall, Toad proudly shows off his canary yellow horse caravan  and before long he has convinced them to join him on the open road 🙂 It’s not long before a motor car zooms past and scares the horse which overturns the caravan. Here begins Toad’s obsession with motor cars…

You can tip toe through Mole’s bedroom while he sleeps and watch Ratty take a bath, place a wish on one of the wishing trees, see poor Toady in prison and then dress as a washer woman to make his great escape.

While Toad is in Prison the Weasels take over Toad Hall and throw a huge party for Chief weasel’s birthday.

Once Toad escapes he gets together with his friends again and they force the weasels out of Toad Hall and all four friends live happily ever after 🙂

We had such a lovely afternoon walking around the house, looking at the decorations and following Toad and his adventures. We even got to sit in one of Toad’s motor cars 😉

Bugs wasn’t too happy about not being behind the steering wheel but apart from that he had a lovely time! We would highly recommend visiting Christmas at Chatsworth, it is well worth a visit. We even got time to have a wander around the gardens too! The gardens are amazing if you haven’t already been, the kids just love all the adventures they can have in there! Their favourite place being the Cascade, which they especially love in summer when they can have a paddle 🙂

I loved the Wind in the Willows when I was little and walking around ‘Toad Hall’ made me a little sad as I realised the kids had never heard this story before so I made sure I ordered it as soon as I got home so that I can read it with them this Christmas 🙂

To find out more about Christmas at Chatsworth head over to their website 🙂