AN OCCASION LIKE NOTHING ON EARTH

Christmas at Clearwell Caves 2020

**Update 6.00pm, 24th December 2020**

Thank you to everyone who supported us during this strange year! We wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

4th – 24th December 2020

As we have been busily creating our unique displays, our ideas have had to adapt to coincide with changing circumstances and government guidelines. This means we have made alterations to the event; the underground stalls and takeaway cafe are now relocated above ground, in our outside marquees; we have new scenes decorating the cavern where they used to be!

Things are a little different this year… you wander through a magical underground forest, spotting woodland animals preparing for their special Christmas Day! Caverns are filled with twinkling lights and beautiful displays, as you explore the caverns to find the animals amongst the trees. As your journey continues through the woodland, you will see Father Christmas with his helpers, ready to greet you as he warms himself by his fireplace. As you leave the Cave, children (2-12) each receive a special present from Father Christmas – a Christmas mug, designed by the event artist, containing a yummy hot chocolate stirrer and some beautifully designed stickers.  The perfect way to remember a hopefully unique Christmas! Outside, we have festive stalls, selling beautiful stocking fillers and decorations, as well as a takeaway café, selling tasty cakes and hot drinks.

We are very grateful to the Department of Culture and Heritage Fund, for their grant this year, helping towards setting up the event and without which it would not have been possible.

Bat Nav

Sound and interactive installations have been positioned through the caverns.

The project was inspired by the large colony of rare lesser horseshoe bats that roost in the Caves through winter; this is currently the largest lesser horseshoe bat colony hibernating in the UK. The installations highlight how both humans and bats use sound. Hopefully it will help visitors appreciate these often ignored, misunderstood and incredibly interesting, wild animals.

The central feature is a standing wave; a sound system plays a single pure note resonating around the cavern, where you are encouraged to move about and experience the space. Listen to the way the sound changes in relation to the cavern and your position within it. Moving, listening and understanding the way in which sound changes and its relationship to the rock, gives us a glimpse of the way that bats navigate, using only sound.

There are other sound installations in the caves, revealing complex bat voices, as well as archive recordings of iron miners, discussing their experiences, working underground in this mine, well over 70 years ago.