CHILDREN QUEUE UP TO EXPERIENCE THE HEART OF ENGLAND CO-OPERATIVE SOCIETY’S MAGICAL SLEIGH RIDE

Excited youngsters are once again queuing by the dozen to meet Father Christmas in Coventry’s very own Lapland-style grotto.

Christmas has come early for children and the young-at-heart who have poured through the doors to experience the magical sleigh ride, within the Heart of England Co-operative Society’s Rooms of Coventry store, in Coventry city centre.

The sleigh ride has mesmerised three generations of Coventry families for more than half a century.

More than just a ride, the attraction creates the full experience of visiting Santa in his winter wonderland. It gives children the impression they are being flown through the sky by Santa’s reindeer before landing to meet the big man himself in his famous grotto.

The sleigh ride is based on the first floor of the Corporation Street store and is a long-established favourite among the city’s youngsters. In past years it has even attracted festive fun-lovers from all over mainland Europe.

Bryan Wheatley, General Manager, Non Food and Travel, said: “This ride has proven so popular among Coventry’s children for decades and still continues to entertain to this day. Adults too are mesmerised by it as it takes them right back down memory lane.

“People who have experienced it at some point in their lives travel from all over to let their own children feel the same magic. Every year we get one couple from Germany – they started bringing their children and now they bring their grandchildren. You just can’t beat the magic.”

At the end of the ride the children meet with Santa and get the chance to tell him what they want for Christmas. There is also a letter box where they can post their Christmas wish-lists as a reminder.

The sleigh ride is open Monday to Saturday from 10am to 1pm and from 1.30pm to 4.30pm and on Sundays from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 4.30pm.

* You can also find Santa in the Society’s Abbey Street Department store in Nuneaton every weekend from now until Christmas. His grotto is open on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 4.30pm, and on Sundays from 10.30am to 1pm and from 1.30pm until 3.30pm.