With now less than a month to go until Christmas, I'm sure many of you will be thinking about presents or how to avoid going shopping. Either way, Leighton Moss is the perfect place to come! If you are in the camp looking for present ideas, come and check out the beautiful Christmas range in our shop. We've got everything from Christmas cards, home wear, calendars, wrapping, crackers and kids gifts. For those keen on watching wildlife, or those who are just starting out, we've got a wide selection of books, DVDs and CDs to suit all needs. You can then relax and enjoy a warming bowl of tasty home-made soup, hot chocolate and a slice of cake in our café. Mmmmmm.
If you are in the camp that would rather avoid Christmas shopping then why not take a stroll round the reserve. With otters frequently appearing at Causeway and Lower hides, Cetti's warblers calling on the Causeway, around 10,000 starlings starting to come in at dusk near Lilian's hide, large numbers of ducks at Tim Jackson and Grisedale hides, bearded tits on the grit trays and much much more besides, you can escape from the Christmas chaos and get closer to nature here (don't forget your wellies for the flooded paths!)
Families can get involved in our self-led, festive Christmas trail, on every day throughout December - details here.
Whichever option you choose, you'll need to know about the slight change to our visitor centre opening hours. In December and January we close at 4.30 pm (5 pm the rest of the year). The nature reserve is open dawn to dusk. We are open every day except Christmas Day, when both the visitor centre and the nature reserve are closed.
Amended opening times over the Christmas period are as follows:
Christmas Eve - 9.30 am-3 pm
Christmas Day - visitor centre and reserve closed
Boxing Day - 10 am-4.30 pm
New Year’s Eve - 9.30 am-3 pm
New Year’s Day - 10 am-4.30 pm
Every other day in December and January is our normal winter opening hours (9.30 am-4.30 pm)
We ho ho hope to see you soon!