Santa Day – Great Success

Ethan Wood and his dad say hello to Santa
Santa and his elf helper Lynne Allen arrived in a motorised sleigh

Sunday 2nd December dawned cloudy and a bit damp, but mostly dry and mild. This was important because Santa Claus was coming to Heage Windmill and  duly arrived at 11.00 am on a motorised sledge, (kindly loaned by Amber Valley Rotary Club) to be greeted by a crowd of happy and excited youngsters.

Helped by the mill’s head Elf (Lynn Allen), Santa soon made himself comfortable in his grotto on the ground floor of the windmill.

Toby, with his daddy Jack Davies from Fritchley, met Santa on his way to the grotto.

The excited children were able to see Santa in turn (as result of a numbered ticket scheme which worked very well) and during his visit he saw over 130 children, each of whom received a specially

Inside Santa’s Grott with Phil and Karen Mulchinock and their daughters Rose and Daisy

wrapped present from Santa. As he rested afterwards he said ‘They were the best set of children I have seen this year!’

During the day over 500 visitors came to the mill and enjoyed the entertainments and refreshments available in the nearby marquee, and in the mill undercroft.

To pass the time waiting to see Santa, there were various games to play, raffles and food, including a very popular hot food van providing a range of food to suit all tastes.

They were also entertained by members of the Notts and Derby Rock Choir , suitably bedecked in Santa hats, who sang many seasonal songs.

Santa Day Great Success

Over 400 visitors came to the windmill to enjoy Santa Day last Sunday, December 3rd.

After a very cold week the day dawned cloudy but dry and relatively mild which pleased our Santa who was glad to get away from all that snow up in Lapland.

Santa arrived on a motorised sledge, (kindly loaned by Amber Valley Rotary Club) and was greeted by a crowd of happy and excited youngsters. He soon made himself comfortable in his grotto on the ground floor of the windmill and during his visit saw over 100 children, each of whom received a specially wrapped present from him.

All our visitors enjoyed the entertainments and refreshments available in the nearby marquee and on site, whilst they waited their turn to meet Father Christmas.

To pass the time while waiting, there were various games to play, raffles, Hug a Husky and food, including the very popular hot food van providing a range of things according to taste.

Angela Ward, Chair of the Friends of the Windmill said: ‘It’s been a great day.  Every one of our volunteers has worked hard to make it a success and, above all, the profits will all go to keeping the windmill working. It was also good to see so many people on site enjoying themselves.’

Santa Day – Great Success

santa-2016_-2It was probably the brightest, sunniest, but maybe coolest, time that Santa has visited the windmill on Sunday.

santa-z01A small crowd of admirers were waiting when he arrived on the Belper Rotary club motorised sledge.

They queued patiently to meet him inside the mill, which had been converted into a sparkling grotto.

Just over 100 children of all ages saw him and told him their needs – the youngest was only 2 weeks old- a record for the mill!

santa-line-up-2016-1Whilst waiting their turn, the guardians and children had a variety of activities to enjoy, including ‘hug a husky’ , a huge bric a brac stall and lots of good things to eat and drink.

Angela Ward (Chair of Friends of the windmill) said: ‘It’s been a great day and everyone seems to have enjoyed themselves’ . She went on to particularly thank the many mill volunteers who had turned out to operate the various events and to look after Santa.

santa-z05
The family from Nether Heage with Santa are Rose (Rudolf hat only) and Daisy Mulchinock with mum, dad and grandma