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Celebrate 50 Winters at Penrose this Christmas

A close up of a paper star in a Christmas tree lit up by a bulb.
Christmas stars adorning the trees | © National Trust Images/Eleanor Dobson

This Christmas, we are celebrating 50 Winters at Penrose, and are inviting you to join us. Come down to The Stables Cafe and Secondhand Bookshop to help decorate The Stables with stars by creating a Christmassy craft to either take home or hang up at Penrose. From ponies to pies, wreaths to walks and stories spanning 50 years, we have something for everyone this winter.

Decorate The Stables with Stars

8th - 31st of December, 10am - 2pm

Come and help us decorate The Stables with stars. Based in the Penrose Secondhand Bookshop, repurpose some old, unloved, books which were destined for pulping. Be guided by volunteers, to create a Christmassy craft to either take home or hang up at Penrose.  

 

Carmenellis Pony Club

8th December 

We kick off the celebrations with Carmenellis Pony Club, who will be based at Penrose Stables Café at approximately 1pm, but you can also follow the ponies and hear their trap bells jingling from the Fairground car park from 11am. Please be aware this activity is weather dependent.  

 

50 Winters at Penrose Lecture

11th of December, 3pm, booking essential.  

Discover how Penrose has changed over 50 years while in the care of the National Trust. David Davies, who has worked on the estate for 49 years, will take you through the progress and challenges faced during the past half a century, in a lecture at The Stables Café. The Cafe will stay open late, and provide hot drinks, including mulled wine, and complementary mini minced pies, for those attending the lecture.

Children's Storytelling 

14th of December and 21st of December, 10.15am - 10.45am

Stroll down to the bookshop and grab a blanket for a seasonal storytelling session, read by one of our volunteers.

Penrose Social Walk 

17th of December, 10am - 12pm

Get closer to the nature of Penrose by joining a volunteer walk leader for the last Penrose Social Walk of the year. This walk will start at the Fairground car park at 10am, go off the accessible path, and then stop at The Stables Café to take part in the festivities, before heading back to the car park for around 12pm. 

Penrose Festive Wreath 

8th - 31st of December 

While you’re here, getting a hot pie and festive drink from the Stables Café, open 10am – 3pm, celebrate Penrose's 50th anniversary in the National Trust's care and capture a family photo framed in a giant wreath, made completely of plants from the Penrose Estate. 

Plant a Tree at Penrose

8th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 17th, 18th and 22nd of December, 10am - 12.30pm & 1pm - 3.30pm, booking essential. 

Come along for the day to help us plant as many trees as we can, to create a new woodland in Penrose, for generations to enjoy for the next 50 years and beyond. These events are family friendly, and we welcome everyone of any age to come and join in. You will be provided with all the tools necessary to plant a tree and our rangers and volunteer rangers will be on hand to show you how. 

A horse and trap, decorated for Christmas with green tinsel, in front of grey stone building with a small clock tower. There are four people dressed as Christmas elves, holding takeaway cups of hot drinks. The person at the forefront is holding the horse's bridle and smiling at a small terrier sat by their feet. .
Carmenellis Pony Club at Penrose Stables Cafe | © Media Memories-Photography

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