What's On

Santa Experience @ Lightwater Valley

It’s not Christmas without a visit to Santa, so bring your little ones to Lightwater Valley’s Santa Experience for a truly magical time. Jump aboard the Polar Lightwater Express as it takes you on a wintertime train ride to Santa’s cabin, then enjoy a fireside story with Santa and his elves. There’ll be refreshments for everyone and of course a very special Christmas present, and even a little something for the adults! Enjoy our festive UV Puppet Show and all your favourite fairground rides. (Full theme park will not be open)

Saturday 5 & Sunday 6 December Saturday 12 & Sunday 13 December Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 December Monday 21 & Tuesday 22 December

Tickets £10 for an Adult, £12 for a Child.

Pre-booking is essential for this event on 01765 635321 or visit www.lightwatervalley.co.uk/santa

Lightwater Valley Theme Park, North Stainley, Ripon, North Yorkshire. HG4 3HT. W: www.lightwatervalley.co.uk/santa T: 01765 635321 E: leisure@lightwatervalley.co.uk

Jack and the Beanstalk

Pendle Productions in association with Ripon Leisure Centre bring you the spectacular musical pantomime "Jack and the Beanstalk" with fantastic costumes and bright colourful sets this production has to be a must on everyone's Christmas wish list! Only you can help conquer the giant to ensure everyone enjoys the magical pantomime ending. Tickets: Family (2+2) £25.00, Adult £8.00, Child £6.00 contact Ripon Leisure Centre (01765) 601353 riponleisurecentre@harrogate.gov.uk for more details

Light up a Life

Missing someone special this Christmas? Dedicating a light on our Christmas tree is a meaningful way to remember them.

The Light up a Life services are special community events offering local people a meaningful way to remember and celebrate the lives of people who are no longer with us. By dedicating a light on one of our Light up a Life Christmas trees you can also help Saint Michael’s to continue improving the lives of local people with terminal illness. The events are open to all. Venue Ripon Cathedral Time 3pm Cost Saint Michael’s makes no charge for your dedication, but if you can make a donation towards our vital work supporting local people with terminal illness and bereavement we would be extremely grateful. All donations will help Saint Michael’s ensure more local people get the care they need to live their last years, months and days with choice, respect and dignity. Donate Click here to dedicate a light Tel (01423) 878 192 Email events@saintmichaelshospice.org

Jennyruth Workshops Christmas Fair

Jennyruth Workshops, is holding a CHRISTMAS FAYRE OPEN AFTERNOON at Unit 5, Red House Farm, Bridge Hewick, Ripon, HG4 5AY on Friday 11th December from 1.30pm to 4.00pm. We will have a large range of Christmas items and handmade gifts for sale. There will be music and mince pies and hot drinks to enjoy as well as displays of work. The Ripon Walled Garden will be selling some of their products, such as wreaths, seasonal plants as well as planted containers & baskets. So, don’t miss it, it is always a fun event, with a great atmosphere and open to all. Enquiries: Tel. 01765 606620 or email info@jennyruth.co.uk

Jurassic Adventure Golf

Our new Jurassic Adventure Golf course is scheduled to open at May Half Term 2015. New for 2015 - join us for the ultimate golfing adventure at Lightwater Valley*. Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by sixty-five million years of evolution, have suddenly been thrown back into the mix together. Fierce Raptors, giant Triceratops and the mighty T-Rex all roam this hostile section of the theme park and golfing with dinosaurs has never been so much fun. With just a club and a small white ball for protection, swap your birdies for Pterodactyls and rise to the challenge of making Jurassic pars as you navigate your way through 18 holes of dense North Yorkshire undergrowth and water hazards inhabited by terrifying predators (the dinosaurs, not your playing partners). Whether you happen to be an expert golfer or have never held a putter before, try not to be distracted by the Stegosaurus in the crowd as months of gloating could be yours by sinking that winning putt on the 18th green. *An additional charge applies to play our new Jurassic Adventure Golf Course. This activity is not included with your theme park admission ticket. Lightwater Valley Theme Park, North Stainley, Ripon, North Yorkshire. HG4 3HT. W: www.lightwatervalley.co.uk T: 01765 635321 E: leisure@lightwatervalley.co.uk

Wonderful Women: Costumes for Royalty, Writers and Rebels

Explore the lives of some of the great women of the last 450 years, from royalty to writers and rebels, through an evocative showcase of costumes featured in blockbuster films at Harrogate’s Royal Pump Room Museum this autumn.

Costumes on show include an outfit worn by Helena Bonham Carter in the film The King’s Speech (2010), and a cerise pink silk taffeta evening worn by Madonna playing Eva Peron in Evita (1988).

Image shows Renee Zellwegger as Beatrix Potter in the 2006 film 'Miss Potter' - credit: Everett/REX Shutterstock.

Wonderful Women runs until 31 December 2015. Normal museum entrance prices apply, for more info visit www.harrogate.gov.uk/royalpumproommuseum or call 01423 556188.

Sonia Lawson: Paintings, Passions and Alarms

Paintings, Passions and Alarms is a major retrospective exhibition celebrating the creative work of painter Sonia Lawson RA. This ambitious show brings together paintings from the 1960’s to the present, including her homage to the Brontë family, inspired by a visit to Haworth Parsonage.

Sonia Lawson was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1982 and remains the only Academician to come from the Yorkshire Dales.

Paintings, Passions and Alarms is at the Mercer Gallery from 14 November 2015 to 7 February 2016. Opening times are 10am – 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday and 2 – 4pm on Sundays. Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays.

The Mercer Art Gallery, Swan Road, Harrogate, HG1 2SA www.harrogate.gov.uk/mercerartgallery