Weather Alerts Lead to Postponement of Country Park Events

The manager of a National Trust property in Nottinghamshire, which had to postpone its festive fayre, conveyed the message, “Christmas isn’t cancelled”. This weekend’s Christmas Fayre, National Trust 10k Run, and second-hand bike sale at Clumber Park have been cancelled. Rob Holder stated that this decision was “the last thing we wanted to do,” explaining that the combination of frozen ground and anticipated heavy rainfall on Saturday would render the fields designated for overflow parking unsafe. However, he highlighted that the fayre and bike sale have been rescheduled for December 7 and 8, and the park itself will remain accessible throughout this weekend. Clumber Park, home to a significant stately residence, stands as the most frequented attraction in the region, having welcomed 644,088 visitors in 2023, as reported by the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions. Mr. Holder commented, “As a charity we rely heavily on visitor business to support our conservation work across the Grade I listed park and garden.” He added, “So restricting access and reducing our offer at such a busy time is the last thing we want to do.” Following periods of substantial snowfall and freezing temperatures, Storm Bert is expected to bring considerable rainfall on Saturday, and Clumber Park typically utilizes grass areas for parking during large-scale events. Mr. Holder remarked, “That is not a good mix, especially when you add in thousands of cars and tens of thousands of visitors.” He concluded, “But the safety of our visitors is front and centre, so there really is no other option.” A limited amount of hard-standing parking will still be accessible this weekend, and staff highlighted that several other events are scheduled leading up to Christmas. The official switch-on of the Newark Christmas lights, originally planned for Sunday, has also been called off because of the weather conditions, although the indoor artisan market will proceed as planned. Organizers announced that the planned market and stage events will now occur on December 8. Furthermore, the Worksop lights switch-on has been rescheduled from Saturday to the subsequent Wednesday.