A week ago, I spent my evening wandering around the Christmas Light Trail at Bolesworth Castle and enjoying a bottle of champagne with the bloke on "Champagne Island" toward the end of the trail. Bolesworth Castle is located in Cheshire, and it is a venue to hire for events and is also notable for its equestrian history and events. Bolesworth Castle Christmas Lights Trail caters to different audiences with champagne and a Christmas market, Santa and reindeer, a fairground, and various light displays. There are over 1.2 miles of trail covered in the Christmas Light Trail.
It was just starting to get dark when I arrived at Bolesworth Castle.
Before starting on the Christmas Light Trail, as it was still too bright, I decided to opt for some food. Unfortunately, the food kiosks (there were only three) were still setting up, which was a miss. I'd decided not to have lunch so that I could enjoy some food at one of the market stalls before the trail. There were only pizza and burgers, but unfortunately only the fries were cooked.
The light show (Arena Light at Laser Show) with the Christmas tree feature runs every half hour from 5:30 or 6:00. It features lasers and a light show that is tuned to music.
After the light show, I walked along to the start of the trail. The first feature was a field of cubes and trees that change colour to set Christmas music. There is a view of Bolesworth Castle, which has been lit up. The trees and the cubes changed colour and pattern depending on the music playing.
The first part of the trail led along to the "Enchanted Forest" with trees covered in lights.
The "Enchanted Forest" was my favourite part of the light trail because lights had been set up around the trees so that they could glow different colours.
At the entrance was a small herd of giraffs.
A little further along was a sparkling figure.
This led to a walkway with festoon lights.
The glowing deer reminded me of a famous book and film franchise.
I love how they managed to get different colours of light shooting amongst the trees.
An interactive tree was included on the trail, and the colours of the tree would change with a button push. The four buttons were named along with each season, and each had a different colour or pattern. Unfortunately, the spring one was broken, but the others worked. The summer one was the most interesting because it changed into multiple colours and played music.
The disco balls were up next, and below them were a family of frog minstrel sculptures. The disco lights had a strange effect.
I absolutely loved the colour of lights and the layering used here.
There were some other sculptures dotted around too, such as these hares.
I caught a glimpse of "Champagne Island", which was up on our list.
Before heading to "Champagne Island", I was able to check out Santa's reindeer. These reindeer are "reindeer-in-training" for Santa, and one of his sleighs is located inside. There were three adults and a child reindeer.
This led us to the sculpture trail, which was on the way to "Champagne Island", and we could see a variety of different sculptures around. Some of them were artistic figures. There were deer and horses and a giant pair of shoes. Most of the sculptures were of exotic animals.
Although the map with the event seems to suggest that you can walk around this sculpture trail in a loop, you actually cannot. So, you cannot get any closer to the bridge than the end of the sculptures (unless you have a "Champagne Island" ticket, but then you have to follow the trail as it does not loop around nearer to the river but simply goes over the rainbow bridge here.)
We approached "Champagne Island".
After crossing the rainbow bridge to the island, we were shown into our "bubble" where we had a heater, plenty of place to sit, pillows, blankets, and candles. We were given a bottle of champagne and then a platter with chocolates and a mince pie each. It was cosy inside.
The other side of the "island" was another bridge to cross. We should have come through this way, but we did not see it as it was dark, and no one guided us as they were meant to have done.
After the champagne, we walked back over the rainbow bridge so we could see the sculptures and the signage about the history of Bolesworth Castle as we rushed by them previously. I took some photographs on the bridge.
Near the reindeer area is a bar and toilets and a break point. We walked through, though, as we had had the champagne.
We walked through a lit-up archway or a light tunnel.
On the way back to the fairground rides, Christmas market, and ice skating, there were two final sculptures. One of them was a series of pine trees made of lights and miniature reindeer.
There were also these red tulips.
One of the Christmas markets had a lot of sculptures of primarily science fiction and fantasy characters, which I thought were really good.
I had a stop back at the market where I purchased some brownies and gin before heading out. It was a lovely evening.
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