Christmas is fast approaching – only 15 days to go now till the big day.
The other day I went to Belton House, near Grantham, to see a Christmas light trail that was in the grounds.
Known as “Christmas at Belton” the Trail is 1 mile in length with lots of different lights along the way.
Booking tickets
Before you go you have to book a time slot and your tickets online. There are a limited number of parking spaces so you need to book a space too if you need one.
There are a number of different timeslots available from 4:20 PM until 8 PM. I chose to go at 6 PM on Sunday.
I was delighted to see that free carer’s tickets were an option to buy online. You can also buy blue badge parking online.
This is how accessible tickets should be sold – easily and online! Well done Belton!
The Trail
I visited Belton with my carer, my cousin, and her boyfriend on an absolutely freezing evening.
The trail began in the stable yard and to get there we had to walk along a path and some cobbled roads from the accessible parking spaces. The stable yard itself is cobbled which is a bumpy ride to drive over.
There was a queue at the start of the trail but as a wheelchair user I was able to go ahead.
The trail had pretty good accessibility with paths throughout. There was some bumpiness with small stones on the path and a bit of mud along the way though. It says on their website that the trail is designed so that it can be viewed entirely from the paths (which is true), so they have thought about the accessibility of it which is good.
Some of the paths were lit but some of them were not so it was a bit difficult sometimes seeing where the path ended and the grass began. But (at the risk of sounding a bit pretentious) I guess there needs to be some darkness in order for you to appreciate the light.
The lights were pretty to look at which ranged from fields of illuminated flowers, trees with strings of light wrapped around them which flickered in time to festive music, and a great tunnel of lights.
My favourite bits of the trail was an area where a number of lights were flashing and blinking in coordination with a piece of classical music for a five-minute display.
The tunnel of light was very impressive. This consisted of 100,000 pea lights and made for some good photos.
In another area, as we walked between some trees there were a number of green lasers pointing in all directions so it looked like we were surrounded by dancing green fireflies. It was quite disorientating but it looked really cool.
Elsewhere as we walked along a path 12 illuminated wicker sculptures were placed along the way. Each one was a different design and represented one of the 12 days of Christmas.
By this point, I was already freezing cold and was kind of looking forward to the end of the walk for the opportunity to get it somewhere warm even though I was enjoying seeing the lights.
There was a fire pit on the trail where you could buy a marshmallow to toast but there seemed to be a lot of people crowded around the pit, unsurprisingly, so I didn’t manage to get near it.
The whole of Belton House itself was illuminated in light which made it stand out against the night. This was an enjoyable walk and it’s a nice festive thing to do. The accessibility is good but just make sure you wrap up warm. Even though I had my coat, hat and gloves on I was absolutely frozen afterwards.
The Trail is open until 30 December.
Cobbles I think I will pass Alex I noted the slightly slumped posture after bouncing along ? Great too see a quad not being put off by freezing cold conditions. Hope wheelchair came out unscathed I have done untold damage to mine in Bristol on nights out when the casters have been caught in cobbles. Happy Christmas buddy.
Yes I think I was a bit stumped but that may have been due to my puffer jacket. If I go again I’m definitely taking my thermal leg cover as I underestimated how cold it was! No damage to the casters thankfully on this occasion. But when I went to Rome in the summer the casters on my manual chair broke. Rome is a nightmare for cobblestones! Happy Christmas to you too bud
Hello from across the pond, and I’m also a new subscriber to your blog. The Belton House Christmas lights look absolutely amazing, especially some of those unique and beautiful colors on the trees. My family and I went through a similar display that’s at a local race track just east of Columbus, Ohio. They made a 2 mile long course throughout the parking lot area where people can drive thru the display and tunnels of lights without leaving their vehicles. The lights are also set to a local radio station which makes it feel even more festive for everyone. The Columbus Zoo also has nice one that I would like to see again someday, but its not a drive thru event like the race track, so my family would have to use a ton of blankets to help keep me warm. Anyway, I hope you have a Merry Christmas, and I look forward to future posts from you.
Hi Stacy, thank you for subscribing! That drive-through light display does sound great as you can stay in the warm. I’ve not seen one of those over here yet though but I would like to try that. Hope you have a Merry Christmas too!
Hi Alex! Thank you for sharing your journey with us. I am also a quadriplegic since 2013. I am looking for some new places to go in the area where I live in North Carolina. There are plenty of accessible places, I just need to do my homework! Take care of yourself and keep sharing this good stuff.
Hi Terri! Thanks for joining me on my journey. I also want to get out exploring more places in my local area. I’m going to try and visit at least one interesting Place every week. That’s one of my New Year’s resolutions. Take care