One of the joys of spending your holidays in the UK is rediscovering all that our countryside and coastlines have to offer. But there’s more than scenery and summertime fun. There’s the rich pageant of history and tradition - especially at Christmas. Wherever you have a UK holiday home, you’re sure to find some local traditions.
If your holiday home is in Norfolk
Let’s start with the Royal Christmas at Sandringham
Norfolk is home to some of the finest coastlines and countryside in the country. It’s also home to Tingdene Caldecott Hall Country Park featuring an array of holiday homes and facilities, as well as the Broads National Park and Waveney River Centre, a stunning setting for holiday lodges and the newly refurbished Waveney Inn.
And, of course, Norfolk is home to the Sandringham Estate, which has long been the home of the Royal Family’s Christmas celebrations. Occupied since the Elizabethan times, the estate was purchased by the Royals in 1862 for Edward VII and his future family, and the house was rebuilt between 1870 and 1900. It was the setting for the first Christmas broadcast in 1932 by Edward’s son and heir, George V, and the place of his death in 1936.
“Dear old Sandringham, the place I love better than anywhere else in the world”
The house was well loved by George VI, and then by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II - she would spend around 2 months each winter on the Sandringham Estate from Christmas, similarly to her predecessors. In 1957, she also broadcast her first televised Christmas message from Sandringham.
Today, King Charles and the Royal Family continue to spend Christmas in this sprawling Norfolk estate, continuing their traditions from afternoon tea to the German tradition of Heiligabend Bescherung - Christmas Eve presents.
Christmas as we know it in England is heavily influenced by the Royal Family, with many Victorian traditions like christmas tree decorating and gift giving hailing from their Germanic roots and encouraged by Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, Prince Albert.
If your holiday home is at Broadlands Park & MARINA in Suffolk…
find out about foliage and Frumenty
Tingdene Broadlands Park and Marina is the perfect spot for a Suffolk holiday home. A gateway to Suffolk’s treasures, including the lovely town of Southwold, it’s also ideally placed for exploring the Broads. And when it comes to Christmas, you can explore Suffolk’s history and traditions.
Frumenty was a sort of porridge enjoyed by many around the UK. In Suffolk, dishes of it would be left outside farmhouse doors for the ‘fairies’.
The Yule Log (no - not the cake! ) was always lit from the charred remains of the previous year’s log, which had been carefully set aside for twelve months. The new log would be decorated with willow and holly (they’ve copied that for the cake) and lit on Christmas Eve.
Holly it seems, like ivy and mistletoe, was a traditional decoration for homes; It had to be brought in by a man and it wasn’t allowed indoors until Christmas Eve. You’ll be decorating your home, and your holiday home, a bit easier than that nowadays.
“Of course, many of our Christmas customs, such as feasting, yule logs and evergreen decorations, belonged originally to the winter solstice, a celebration of the moment when the days begin to lengthen again and life returns to the natural world.”
Turkeys are a main staple for many Christmas dinners around the UK, but did you know that they’re not actually from Turkey! Native to the Americas, they were called Turkeys due to Europeans mistaking them for African Guinea Fowl, often referred to as Turkey Fowl. Turkeys were introduced to England during Tudor times - keep reading to find out more about that. Domestically raised in Norfolk and Suffolk, they were walked all the way to market in London over a period of months!
If Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire is your holiday home location…
Look out for the Haxey Hood
Tingdene Mablethorpe Park is well known as a superb holiday home location in Lincolnshire. People love its mix of modern caravans and traditional cedar chalets.
Lincolnshire is not without its Christmas traditions either. Take Haxey in North Lincolnshire for example. Every year, on the Twelfth Day of Christmas, there’s an event that dates back to the fourteenth century. It seems that back then, the Lady de Mowbray lost her silk hood when she was out riding near Haxey. Thirteen farmworkers chased the wayward garment across the fields and indeed one of them caught it. He was too shy to hand it back to the Lady and asked one of the others to do it. The Lady thought this was rather touching and she gave thirteen acres of land on the proviso that the chasing of the ‘Haxey Hood’ was re-enacted every year.
The promise has been kept, and they still do it! It’s changed a bit though - nowadays the chase starts in a scrum, known as The Sway. And they don’t chase a silk hood, they chase a leather tube. Plus, they don’t give it back to a Lady - they take it to the pub…it has to be one of four pubs and they keep it until the next year.
Redcar Beach is ideal for a holiday home
But dare you dip at Christmas?
Tingdene Redcar Beach is a holiday home location giving you all that’s best of Teesside’s seaside. On the subject of ‘seaside’, they’re big on Christmas dips in these parts. In a tradition going back fifty years or more where hundreds of people brave the very, very, cold waters of the sea on Boxing Day at Redcar, along the coast at Saltburn, and Whitby.
Just an hour or so away at the legendary seaside resort of Scarborough, there’s a rather more land based Christmas tradition, dating back to the nineteenth century. Teams of Fishermen and Firemen compete in a game that, to the uninitiated, looks like a mash up of football and rugby. The tradition started after a fishing boat was lost at sea, in a terrible storm in 1893. Today the game continues and proceeds are donated to the Fishermen and Firemen Charity Fund. But not before the losing team members are dragged down to the sea and dunked in the icy waves. So it sort of ends like the Boxing Day swim too.
You don’t have to get wet, but you can see all of these traditional pursuits before heading back to your Christmas holiday home, where it’s very warm. And dry. And cosy…
A holiday home on the Yorkshire Coast
Now we’re talking turkey
A holiday home at Tingdene South Shore gives you a get away set in eighteen acres of gorgeous North Yorkshire. You’re next door to the classic seaside resort of Bridlington. And if you want to talk Christmas traditions this is where you’ll find the big one.
Boynton Hall near Bridlington was rebuilt by William Strickland later in his life. Who he you ask? He was an adventurous chap who travelled to America in 1526, and supposedly whilst there he spoke with the natives and acquired six turkeys. He brought the birds home and built a big and successful turkey business and - you’ve guessed it - saw the turkey become a certain seasonal sensation.
So, if you’re having your Christmas turkey dinner at home, or in your holiday home - because you can - it’s might be because of William Strickland.
Having a UK holiday home is somewhere you can go to all year round, because it’s your special place. It’s always fun to find out more about the area you’ve chosen as your go to holiday location. And now you know some Christmas facts about some of the best locations in the UK.
Maybe the New Year is the year you’ll become a Tingdene holiday home owner. In the meantime - Happy Christmas!