Green New Year’s resolutions

We strive to be as green as we possibly can, and we are committed to providing unique sustainable holiday accommodation in Dorset. This means that recycling, reducing waste, supporting local enterprise and businesses, and buying and using organic and locally sourced products, is very much a part of our life at Chesil Beach Lodge.

If you’re resolving to have a greener 2011, here are few suggestions to help you make your Green New Year resolutions:

• Drive your car less – walk when you can, or ride a bike. It’s not only good for the planet, but also ideal if your other New Year resolutions include getting fitter or losing weight J


• Avoid air travel when you can. Travelling by train is more environmentally friendly;


• Grow your own vegetables (also an excellent way to keep fit);


• Compost your kitchen and garden waste;


• Plant a tree;


• Set aside a ‘wild’ area of your garden, and garden organically;


• Use ‘a bag for life’ and reduce your use of plastic bags and unnecessary packaging;


• Buy organic and local produce;


• Recycle and reuse as much as possible – e.g. mobile phones, clothes, paper, plastic bottles and glass;


• Swap clothes with a friend, or a group of friends;


• Save water – don’t run taps unnecessarily and make sure there are no dripping taps or leaks (here are lots more tips on saving water at home from WaterWise);


• Save energy e.g. use energy saving light bulbs and appliances, don’t leave appliances on standby and turn off lights when you leave a room, and make sure your home is well insulated;


• Use environmentally friendly cleaning products;


• Use recycled paper products;


• Sign up for paperless / online bills and bank statements;


• Stop receiving junk mail (the Mailing Preference Service has some useful information and advice on how to do this);


• Book sustainable holidays J


• Open a bank account with an ethical bank.

Contact us to find out more about our eco-friendly bed and breakfast and self-catering accommodation in Dorset. A warm welcome awaits you at Chesil Beach Lodge so make your holiday in 2011 a sustainable one.

Christmas holiday activities for children

Staying with this month’s theme of Christmassy things to do and see in Dorset, we thought we’d suggest just a few of the many exciting and fun things for keeping your children happy and occupied over the Christmas holidays.

Lulworth Castle comes to life this Christmas with its Christmas Castle Fun activities. From the 19th to 31st December your children can enjoy storytime by the fireside, magic shows, quizzes, Castle games and things to make and take home. Children go free with a voucher which can be downloaded from their web site. The castle is closed on 24th and 25th December.

Learn all about teddy bears, and how they’re made at The Fascinating Story Of Teddy Bears at 2.30pm on 18th December at the Lyme Regis Museum, Bridge Street, Lyme Regis,

For the morning of 18th December the streets of Bridport around Bucky Doo Square become Bethlehem, complete with a live outdoor nativity, drama and songs. Apparently there will also be a llama or two.

The Lyme Regis Museum Christmas Family Fun Day on the 29th December has lots of creative Christmas activities for all the family. Drop in between 11am and 3pm and get creative with museum curator Mary Godwin.

Pantomimes

Cinderella at the Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth, from the 4th December to the 2nd January.

Peter Pan at The Lighthouse, Poole, from the 10th December to the 9th January.

Peter Pan at The Pavilion, Weymouth from the 14th December to the 3rd January.

Further afield: Aladdin at the Salisbury Playhouse from 8th December to 8th January

At Chesil Beach Lodge we have delightful self-catering family friendly accommodation that’s perfect for your family holiday. To book family friendly sustainable accommodation in Dorset please contact us as soon as possible: we very much look forward to welcoming you and your family here.

Christmas Shopping in Dorset

Dorset is full of interesting and exciting shops and markets for your Christmas shopping; and if you’re on the hunt for places to buy unusual and locally sourced Christmas gifts and supplies, here are a few suggestions to inspire you:

Inspired by traditional German markets, the Bournemouth Christmas Market is decorated with Christmas lights, decorations and animated figures, and has approximately 50 festive alpine chalets offering authentic seasonal gifts and traditional food from across the UK, as well as from further afield inEurope. Attractions include a Victorian carousel, carol singing and a beer garden selling mulled wines. The market is open from 28th November to 21st December, 10am to 6pm (Sunday 11am to 5pm).

The Lyme Regis Christmas Market is open from the 10th to 12th December, at Town Mill, Mill Lane. Lots of choice for a unique quality handmade gift, including pottery, wood, glass, textiles, jewellery, paintings, photography, prints, and metalwork. The market is open on Friday 10th 5-9pm (with mulled wine and mince pies), Saturday 11th 10am-5pm and Sunday 12th 10am-4pm.

Or how about the Affordable Art for Christmas exhibition, at Town Mill, Lyme Regis? They have original prints and paintings, in a variety of media, by members of Morcombelake Art Group. The exhibition runs from the 4th December to the 4th January.

The Dorset Art & Craft Show has over 50 exhibitors with unique arts and crafts for sale. The show is on Saturday 12th December, at The Corn Exchange, Dorchester from 10am - 4pm. Admission is free.

The Bridport Feast of Christmas sounds wonderful: local food producers and small specialist food businesses with lots of delicious foods made and sourced locally, all at the Arts Centre in Bridport on Saturday 18th December, 9am to 1pm.

If you’re visiting Dorset for Christmas or New Year, don’t forget to book bed and breakfast accommodation in Dorset or self catering accommodation in Dorset as soon as possible.

What’s on in Dorset: December

Hello from an unusually cold and wintry West Dorset!

A blanket of snow on the countryside really is a delight to see, but we hope it hasn’t caused you too much trouble with your work, travel and daily life.

We’re looking forward to Christmas very much and, as you would expect, Dorset has lots of events to help you get into the festive spirit, from the traditionally seasonal, to the more unusual, and here’s our pick of what’s on in December:

The Sherborne Christmas Tree Festival, in Cheap Street Church, takes place from the 4th to the 12th of December. You can see Christmas trees decorated and exhibited by organizations from around Sherborne. The church is open daily from 10am – 4.30pm and there is a carol service on Sunday 12th at 6.30pm. Entrance is free, but donations are invited for the Sherborne & District Disabled Ambulance, and the Zambian School Project.

On the 7th December (weather permitting), there’s the wonderfully evocative sounding Christmas Carol Special steam train from London to Sherborne, with the Steam Dreams

company. A journey through snow covered countryside in a steam train decorated for Christmas, followed by a carol service in Sherborne Abbey, sounds perfect. Tickets are from £65 for adults and from £55 for children.

From the 7th to 15th December there will be 65 illuminated and decorated trees to see at the 13th Annual Bridport Christmas Tree Festival, in United Church, East Street. The church is open weekdays from 10am (Sunday 2pm) and admission is free.

Bridport’s Late Night Shopping evening is on the 8th December, from 6pm. Most shops will be open so there will be lots of opportunities to purchase Christmas gifts and supplies from them, and from the many craft, food and charity stalls and the Farmers’ Market. Santa will also be making an appearance in his ‘Santa’s Grotto’ and there’ll be music and entertainment from the St. Swithuns Band and the Symondsbury Mummers.

For all you amateur sleuths out there, how about an evening of murder and mayhem with the Murder in the Museum evening ‘The Slayer of Casterbridge’, at the County Museum, Dorchester on the 10th December? Tickets are £20 and include a buffet meal. There will also be a bar. Telephone 01305 262735.

At the glorious Sherborne Abbey on 13th December, is the Abbey’s gift to the town, The Sherborne Christmas, a family concert with the Sherborne Abbey Choir, the Sherborne Town Band, the Sherborne Young Singers and The Gryphon School Choir. The concert starts at 7.30pm. Admission is free.

If you’ve been inspired by the fabulous dancing on Strictly Come Dancing, or you’re already a dream on the dance floor, there’s the Christmas Ballroom Dance at the Marine Theatre, Church Street, Lyme Regis, on the 15th December from 7.30pm to 11pm. Dances include Ballroom, Latin and Popular Sequence. Please bring a plate of food for an American Supper (there will also be a licensed bar). Reserve your table and book your tickets at the Theatre Office 01297 442394.From the 17th to 22nd December, Monkton Wyld Court has a residential Winter Work Week

(£75). Monkton Wyld Court is a centre for sustainable living near Dorset's Jurassic Coast that provides workshops and family weeks for learning skills for sustainable living, including: beekeeping; permaculture; eco-building; green technologies; sustainable land use and environmental crafts. For Winter Work Week they are: “inviting friends and supporters to join us in sprucing up the house this December. Chores will include sanding floors, preparing and eco-painting walls, stenciling in bedrooms, making new lampshades and baking goodies for the impending yuletide. We also expect a bonfire or two, a winter's walk to the seashore, and with any luck a good bit of caroling. If you love Monkton and aren't afraid of a little hard graft, do come down and help us apply a little Christmas TLC.”

Are you brave enough for a winter dip in the sea?! How about The Christmas Day Harbour Swim across Weymouth Harbour, or The West Bay Wallow charity fancy dress swim at midday on Boxing Day, from East Beach, Bridport? Brrr!!!

And to end 2010 and welcome in the New Year in style, there’s The Great Big New Year's Eve Dance with The River Coly Jazz Band, on 31st December 8pm to 1am at The Marine Theatre, Lyme Regis. Tickets are £12.50.

At this time of year, our cosy Chesil and Fossil self-catering apartments with their wood burners, plus central heating, really come into their own. All of our self-catering and bed and breakfast accommodation is cosy and luxurious, with everything you need for a relaxing holiday, plus spectacular sea views from every room. We are open all winter, right through Christmas and New Year, so to book bed and breakfast and self-catering accommodation in Dorset, please contact us.