Join us 11am-6:30pm on Sunday 1st December 2019 for Dimmingsdale’s Christmas Fete!
Explore our local artisan producers, who’ll be spending the day in our mini Christmas market, with a range of goods including food, drink & gifts in our Garden Chalets & Potting Shed. Sing along to carols with local musicians, get the family Christmas tree from Forestry England’s sustainable real Christmas tree sale. We’ll be serving our festive menu, special festive drinks, homemade cakes & light lunches (including Christmas Toasties!) throughout the day in our ice cave conservatory, traditional Christmas Snug & winter wonderland gardens. Complete your day with a winter stroll through Dimmingsdale, enjoying the spectacular scenery of the Churnet Valley from one of the established trails.
Activities & Traders:
- Lymestone Brewery, Stone
- Seed Chocolate- Single source, ethical chocolate
- Globe Foundation Zero Waste Christmas Shop
- Flying Teaspoons: Quirky Cards For Quirky Creature Lovers
- Liz Ash Designs- Handmade Christmas Decorations
- Forestry England- Home Grown Sustainable Christmas Trees
- Kenelm Youth Trust (Alton Castle & Soli House)- Musicians & Carol Singers
- SakuraCrafts by Gill
- Staffordshire Wildlife Trust
- Homemade Mulled Wine, Mulled Cider & Mice Pies from the Ramblers Retreat
- Festive Meals in our Snug & Conservatory (Booking Required)
- Christmas Toasties, Light Bites, Cakes & Drinks served in our woodland gardens
Getting to the Event:
Dimmingsdale Christmas Fete will be held at the Ramblers Retreat Country Tea Room, Dimmingsdale Lodge, Red Road, Dimmingsdale, Alton, Churnet Valley, Staffordshire, ST10 4BU.
Dimmingsdale car parks will be open for extended hours on Sunday 1st December for guests of the Dimmingsdale Christmas Fete only! As a sustainably managed site, Dimmingdale does have limited parking, we kindly ask all guests to our Christmas Fete to park considerately in the bays that our volunteers will have marked out, this allows us to maximise space available.
Once Dimmingsdale Car Parks are full, alternative approved parking is available at Oakamoor Park & Oakamoor Station; once parked just follow the Churnet Valley Greenway for a flat, gravelled, beautiful 15-minute stroll, leaving the Greenway at Earl’s Bridge to access Dimmingsdale & the Ramblers Retreat. (Sat Nav Postcode: ST10 3AG)
Overflow parking is also available at Oakamoor Cricket Club. Once parked just follow the Churnet Valley Greenway for a flat, gravelled, beautiful 15-minute stroll, leaving the Greenway at Earl’s Bridge to access Dimmingsdale & the Ramblers Retreat. (Sat Nav Postcode: ST10 3AG)
If you’re planning on visiting us as part of a winter stroll around the Churnet Valley, the Churnet Valley Greenway runs through Oakamoor, Dimmingsdale, Alton & Denstone, with each access point having its own car park. If parking outside of our approved parking (Dimmingsdale Car Parks 1 & 2, Oakamoor Park, Oakamoor Station & Oakamoor Cricket Club), please consider local residents, wildlife & the environment when parking your vehicle.
Key Details & FAQ Answers:
🎄 Our Christmas Fete will be running 11am-6:30pm, so you’ve got all day to browse our local traders, activities, soak up the atmosphere, enjoy a festive treat and explore Dimmingsdale in all it’s winter joy! Don’t worry about having to come at a set time, you can visit whenever you like.
🎄 The Dimmingsdale Christmas Fete is a small scale, intimate event which reflects Dimmingsdale’s & the Ramblers Retreat’s family foundations. We’ve specifically designed an event which is different, to reflect an intimate, family Christmas which we’ve been creating at our famous festive meals for the past 40 years. We’ve picked traders which best represent Staffordshire & Derbyshire, absolutely love what they do and have the best ethos! We, therefore, have a small selection, but there’s a great variety & we’re sure you won’t be disappointed.
🎄 Festive lunches are available to all parties who have booked prior to the day (We are now fully booked for three-course festive meals on Sunday 1st December). You don’t need to book for light bites, our festive toasties & sandwiches, homemade cakes, festive hot chocolates & coffees and not forgetting homemade mulled wine and mince pies! Seating is available for anyone who hasn’t booked a table in our conservatory & snug (on a first-come, first-served basis) as well as in our gardens & gazebos with plenty of blankets & twinkling fairy lights.
🎄 We select traders well in advance of the event (prior to announcement), based on ethos, sustainability, locality and their love of what they do. We, therefore, do not have any more space for our 2019 event!! If you’d like to be considered for another event, please fill out the enquiry form on our contact page.