York Association of the National Trust
YANT Holidays 2022
Holidays Organiser: holidays@yant.org.uk
Thursford Christmas Show
9 - 10 December 2022
1 Night from £319.00
Join us on a pre-Christmas treat to Norfolk, which combines the Thursford Christmas Spectacular with a day by the seaside and the Cromer Pier Christmas Show.
We depart by coach from York to Thursford in time for the matinée performance of the Christmas Spectacular , the largest Christmas show of its kind in the country. Following the show, we continue to our comfortable accommodation at the 3-star Cliftonville Hotel in Cromer where dinner is served in the evening. The next morning you are free to explore Cromer at leisure before we enjoy a lunch of fish and chips in a local restaurant then take our seats at the Cromer Pier Christmas Show which is held in the historic Pavilion Theatre, one of only five end of pier theatres in the UK.
Following this we will return to our original pick-up point in York.
Included in the price
- One night dinner bed and breakfast at the comfortable Cliftonville Hotel, Cromer
- Comfortable coaching throughout
- Ticket for the Thursford Christmas Spectacular & Cromer Pier Christmas Show
- Fish and Chips Lunch in Cromer
- Porterage and gratuities
- No single room supplement (for the first nine single rooms booked)
Not included (per person)
- Supplement for twin/double room for single occupancy £50.00
THURSFORD CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR
On Friday 9th December sixteen YANT members set off by Coach to Norfolk, primarily to see the Thursford Christmas spectacular. We stopped for refreshments on the way down and continued to Thursford to see the matinee performance of the show which had been presented there for 45 years. On the information about the show it says that “Entertainment does not get much better than this extravaganza of non-stop singing, dancing, music, humour and variety”. It has a cast of 130 professional singers, dancers and musicians and is the largest Christmas Show in Britain. The show is housed in a steam engine museum with mechanical organs and fairground carousels which we could look round. There were shops to look at before the performance and places to eat. When we came out of the show it was dark and Christmas lights were twinkling on the trees.
The show is different every year with wonderful costumes and a Wurlitzer Organ playing for some of the numbers. It ended with a choir walking into the show with candles and singing Christmas hymns and right at the end some white doves flew over the audience to a dovecote.
After the Thursford show we carried on to Cromer on the Norfolk Coast for an overnight stay at the comfortable Cliftonville Hotel which looked out onto the sea. Cromer is a traditional seaside resort with a lovely beach. On our free morning we looked round the town. Some of us visited the Parish church of St Peter and St Paul. A church warden told us some of the history of the church and explained about the lovely stained glass windows. These commemorated various members of the Lifeboat crews and other features of the town and there was also a lovely window by Edward Burn Jones which was based on a design by William Morris. A lunch of delicious fish and chips had been arranged for us in a café overlooking the harbour. Cromer Crabs and lobsters are a source of income for the fishermen.
We then walked down the Pier for the End of the Pier Christmas Show. The gales of 1953 had damaged the pier and pavilion and it was repaired and opened again in 1955. In WW2 the pier was nearly blown up by the government to prevent it being used as a landing strip for enemy invaders. The show was given by professionals including musicians, singers, speciality acts, dancers, a magician and more. All were very good and there was a hi-tec screen at the back of the stage that was used for projecting the scenery on and worked very well.
After the show we joined our coach for the trip home. Thanks to our coach driver Nico and to Peter Drew for keeping us in order and looking after us during the trip.
Janet Mawer
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