Tucked away right outside the city of Bristol in Southwest England, right by Wales, sits the lovely little village of Clifton. Clifton is mostly know for its famous suspension bridge (Clifton Suspension Bridge), and its unique little shops along the cobble stone paths.
The first time I heard about this adorable village was in a book called Three Amazing Things About You by the very talented Jill Mansell. In the book, one of the main characters lives in Clifton. So, being the book nerd that I am, I knew I had to visit Hallie's (main character from the book) beloved Clifton while I was staying in Bristol.
Clifton was only about a 20-30 minute walk from Bristol city center. Although walking up Constitution Hill to get there almost killed me. That is one steep hill my friends. But as always, the view was absolutely worth the half hour walk uphill. I initially intended to just visit Clifton to go to the Suspension Bridge and take in all the views of the city and the Avon Gorge, but as I was strolling through the village, I passed a small park with a very large Christmas tree in it. I went into the park and saw that the village was having the tree lighting celebration the next night. And if you know me personally, you know that Christmas is my favorite time of year (I start celebrating in August...), so I was so excited to come back and celebrate with Clifton the next night.
On the day of the tree lighting, I walked back into Clifton about 2 hours before the ceremony began. I made the walk back up Constitution Hill and started to explore the little shops all along the cobble stone lanes. The streets were all decorated with bright lights of red and green as the people of Clifton started to get ready for the Christmas season. After about an hour of getting absurdly lost, I came across a little cafe called Bar Chocolat on The Mall. They had one of the best hot chocolates that I have ever had! I got my dark hot chocolate and headed out to the park where the Christmas celebration would soon begin.
The celebration was being held at The Mall Garden and was run by the lovely people of Christ Church. Before the Christmas carols began, the Christ Church Choir handed out carol books to everyone who entered the small park. There were about 500 people who were all crammed inside the gates of The Mall Garden, surrounding the 50ft. Christmas tree. It was a tight fit, but once the choir started singing the Christmas carols, everyone joined in in song and did not have a care in the world. The streets of Clifton Village were being filled by hundreds of voices singing Silent Night, The First Noel, Angels We Have Heard On High, and so many more!
After about an hour or so of singing, the head of Christ Church and The Lord Mayor came up to the stage to get ready to turn on the lights of the tree. They called two adorable little kids up to the stage to press the big red button that would officially start the Christmas season in the village. The countdown began and everyone in the crowd counted along. And when we got to 0, the children pressed down on the button and the tree came to life with a gorgeous display of lights! Everyone shouted "Happy Christmas" and cheered as we kicked off the festive, joyful Christmas season together in Clifton.
I absolutely loved being a part of this celebration and ringing in Christmas with a lovely community of people from Clifton Village. This is one of the many reasons that I adore traveling. You get to become part of something special and important, even if just for a few hours, that will bring cheer to many people who visit the village. Thank you Clifton Village and all its people for starting our Christmas's off right with lots of joy and happiness!
