October Half Term Fun

7. Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor
Join us for spooky activities and family fun with our haunted Half Term this October Best of all? From 21st October until 29 October, children get free entry to the house and grounds at Waddesdon!

Take part in a fact filled Trick or Treat Skeleton Trail. Join Zoolab for their Creepy Critters show learning about some spooky and gruesome animals and insects or just sit back and relax in the powerhouse with some classic family Halloween films or try your luck at a vintage game.
Adult ticket entry and parking fees apply book online at
Waddesdon.org.uk

8. Mead Open Farm - Freaky Fun Fest

Step right up for a Spooktacular family day out!
Take a seat in the Big Top for the new Freaky Flamenco Fiesta Circus and experience 3 spooky walkthrough attractions, including the all new Horrid High!

Also included in your ticket, visit our enchanting Pumpkin Patch and choose your free Pumpkin to take home, there’s fang-tastic new photo opportunities and live roaming characters to meet too! Then complete the new Monster Mash Mission, meeting new faces along the way. Book onine at meadopenfarm.co.uk

9. A Pumkin Far Away

Well not that far away but if you would like to venture a little further...

The PatchMK
The pumpkin patch at The Patch MK however is no ordinary pumpkin patch. Situated within the home grown pumpkins are a multitude of unique photo ops. You could relax on a chair inside the hand crafted giant pumpkin, fly away on the witches broom, snap that selfie on the devils throne, capture your perfect autumn shot on the beautifully decorated American truck the opportunities to capture those special moments are endless.
Tickets are from under £5 and sell out fast. The Patch MK, Mount Mill Farm, Stratford Road, Northants MK19 6DG
thepatchmk.co.uk/pumpkins/

10. Witchy Woods at Dunstable Downs

Trail: A witch in the woods

21 - 29 October | 10.30am - 3pm | £3 per trail and craft*

Our resident witch needs a helping hand to bring the magic back to her woodland home. Make your very own wand and join us on this mystical trail down to Chute Wood every day between 21 and 29 October.

Booking isn't required, simply turn up at the visitor centre between 10.30am and 3pm.

Spooky afternoon tea

23 - 27 October | 12pm - 3pm | £8.95 per child, £5.95 per adult*

Children are treated to scary sandwich, spooky sweet treat and spell-binding soft drink whilst adults can indulge alongside with terrific tea/coffee and slice of seasonal cake. Booking is required.

*Car parking charges apply, free for National Trust members.

For the Grown Ups. Why we carve Pumpkins, a delicious recipe and spooky takes

Jack O’ Lantern - Pumpkin carving is steeped in folklore

There are few people who don’t enjoy carving a Halloween lantern. Over the years it’s somehow become a tradition in our family to host a friendly pumpkin carving competition involving my sons and their teenage friends and quite a few of the parents! There are also hotdogs, sticky toffee pudding and wine, so something for everyone and all participants seems to enjoy the occasion, especially the judging. We have categories such as ‘best in show’, ‘ugliest, ‘most creative’ etc.

Ghoulish pumpkins are iconic of Halloween season. I’ve always thought of them as an American import but in fact the practice of decorating jack-o'-lanterns originated across a much smaller expanse of water, in Ireland, where large turnips and potatoes were the vegetables being carved. The name, Jack-o'-lantern, originates from an Irish folktale about a man named Stingy Jack. I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to hollow out a turnip (I have…it resulted in a trip to A&E), but I can only imagine the delight of Irish immigrants, newly arrived in America, home of the pumpkin, on discovering this easily carved gourd. No wonder it became an integral part of Halloween festivities.

In case you were wondering about Stingy Jack, well he rather rashly invited the Devil to have a drink with him, but true to his name, didn’t want to pay for the beverages, so he convinced the Devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. However as soon as the Devil did so, Jack popped the coin into his pocket next to a silver cross, which prevented the Devil from changing back into his original form.

Jack did eventually free the Devil, but only on the condition that he would not bother Jack for one year and that, should Jack die, he would not claim his soul. It seems the Devil didn’t learn his lesson and the following year Jack tricked him again, this time into climbing into a tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree’s bark so that the Devil could not come down until the Devil promised not to bother Jack for ten more years.

Jack thought he was being very clever, but it all backfired on him because when he did finally die God refused him entry into heaven while the Devil, keeping his word not to claim his soul, would not allow Jack into hell. He sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and is said to have been roaming the Earth his home-made lamp ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern,” and then, simply “Jack O’Lantern.”

By Kate McCarthy