Festive days out – Christmas at Blackthorpe Barn

This time last week I was preparing to attend the launch of Christmas at Blackthorpe Barn in Suffolk. It was my first Suffolk-based event as a blogger (not much seems to go on around here!) so you can imagine how chuffed I was to be invited to a blogger event that didn’t require travelling to London! I picked out my favourite snowflake jumper and pulled on my cosy suede boots and headed off to Rougham to attend the event, hosted by the Suffolk Chamber of Commerce. We were greeted with plenty of spectacular foliage and decorations in the entrance hall and the glass of champagne went down a treat! With canapés doing the rounds and plenty of lovely folk to chat to, I was in my element. But it was the impending opening of the Christmas barn that I was really excited about. I booked myself onto a tour of the ancient barn and Santa’s grotto as soon as I arrived!

As someone who has visited Blackthorpe Barn as part of the Christmas traditions for many years now, I was almost giddy with excitement to be at the opening event. The Mayor of Bury St Edmunds cut the ribbon to open the event and I’m proud to say that I was one of the first people into the Christmas barn this year. It was lovely to see the barn perfectly decorated without a bauble out of place. No doubt this will all change as customers start buying decorations but it was a delight to behold nonetheless.

Each section of the Christmas shop provided inspiration for different looks and you really couldn’t help but be inspired. I snapped some photos of my favourites (including a colourful pom-pom tree – so me!) and there were so many instagrammable scenes that my phone soon ran out of storage space. Did I buy anything? Oh yes. I picked up a light-up flashing fairy light necklace for myself and I can’t wait to wear it all December long. Who am I kidding? I wore it on the way home..!

After an informative tour of the medieval threshing barn (which houses the British Craft Fair on weekends from the 12th November to the 11th December) we headed outside to take a tour of Santa’s Grotto. Like a kid in a sweet shop (or erm, a grotto) I skipped into the winter wonderland with sparkling eyes.

A gingerbread house, life size advent calendar and a snow-laden scene led me to Santa’s log cabin in the snowy woods. Each element of the building was perfectly placed, from the keys for the reindeer stables to Santa’s toy-making woodworking tools, and even ice skates hanging by the door. Through the eyes of a child it would be absolutely magical and I completely believed that I’d wandered into Father Christmas’ Lapland home.

Despite being possibly the only blogger at the event, it was lovely to meet so many other publishers, service providers and business people. I think I was probably one of the first to arrive and definitely one of the last to leave – which goes to show just how much fun I was having at the Christmas barn. The thing that I was most excited about was discovering a Christmas Caravan in the yard, which serves mulled wine and mince pies during the daytime. I’ll definitely be going back soon to investigate this!

The historic Blackthorpe Barn in Rougham is situated just off the A14 at junction 45, near Bury St Edmunds. If you’re going to the famous Christmas Market at Bury this year, make sure you stop off at the Christmas Barn on your way there. For more information and opening times check out www.blackthorpebarn.com.