A White Christmas..... on the beach

We came back yesterday from our first ever Christmas away from home, down in snowy Devon.

We couldn't face a Christmas at home this year: we'd had my Mum over for Christmas lunch every year since we lost my Dad, Pete, back in 1995, and didn't want to look at an empty chair this year. So we packed up and headed for the lovely little town of Barnstaple, somewhere we'd never been before.....

We stayed at The Cedars, a small and cosy hotel with friendly, welcoming staff and beautiful surroundings.

Here's Sarah on Christmas morning, walking down to the frozen banks of the River Taw.....

And here's James, doing his best Elvis moves on the ice. Don't ask me why.

We needed this long walk along the river to work off our breakfast and build up an appetite for the huge Christmas lunch - five courses!

Later on Christmas Day we drove to nearby Woolacombe Bay for our first experience of snow on the beach - a very surreal sight!

We've been to Woolacombe many times before, during the Summer months. But sledging down the sand dunes was something else!

And after all this cold weather and clear skies, a beautiful sunset to end the day.

Finally, a couple of shots of the snowbound Devon hills, just above the fishing village of Ilfracombe.....