Last Wednesday Oskar and I were invited to the launch night of the Tunnel of Lights: This is Christmas at the Shipwreck Treasure Museum. We have been each year they have been open and can honestly say this year was bigger and even better than ever!
The sound of a brass band playing carols filled the air on arrival which set the scene beautifully for a magical festive evening.
A warm welcome awaited us inside where our journey began by discovering a magical wardrobe. Oskar carefully opened the large wardrobe doors, gingerly pushing aside the clothes to reveal a glistening secret stairwell that led us to the winter wonderland of Narnia.
In the depths of the tunnels beneath Charlestown (relics from the port’s mining history) we read the story of Narnia, discovering something special around every corner, including Mr Beaver’s snow covered home. We ventured through the twists and turn of the twinkling tunnels and a small opening at the end led us outside to a beautiful surprise, I won’t reveal too much but all I ‘ll say is, who knew it could snow in Charlestown in late November?
This immersive experience didn’t stop there, as we journeyed back along the illuminated tunnels, we discovered a room filled with Christmas crafts. Together we decorated brown paper using festive stamps, made lollipop stick decorations for the Christmas tree and Oskar wrote a letter to Father Christmas. We could have stayed here crafting for so much longer, but we knew there was so much more to see so continued our journey.
The festive displays are spectacular, the team have thrown Christmas perfectly at every inch of space within the centre to create this fantastically festive attraction. I won’t share all the surprises, but the glittering display of baubles is particularly impressive. Hidden amongst all the festive wonder is a mini–German Market where Doughboys of Charlestown were serving hot chocolate, candy canes, gingerbread men and many other festive sweet treats! They were all priced individually, but to give you an idea, a hot chocolate with the full works set us back a fiver.
Next up was Santa’s sleigh, and reindeer stables where you can then follow Santa’s footsteps to the North Pole to post your letter to the big man himself. We then found the final tunnel…this tunnel twists and turns with multicoloured lights from floor to ceiling, with a mirrored floor and multi coloured lights this really was the best way to finish this incredible experience.
Remember to stop by the pop up snow globe at the entrance for a family photo opportunity –step inside the giant snow filled globe and release you inner child for a few minutes by throwing snow around with your family. I completely forgot that the team were taking a photo as we were having so much fun – I’m still finding snow days later! This is an additional charge, but the take home photo gift is a lovely reminder of our very festive evening together.
We got back to the car and Oskar said, “That was so cool, I feel really Christmassy now Mum”.
Tickets are on sale now and the Tunnel of Lights will be open until 3rd January, this event sells out so don’t hang around to book your visit.
Tickets are from £8.50 for children and £12.50 for adults with under 5’s visiting for free.
