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04
Dec 2023
Snow transforms Ripon into a winter wonderland
Residents woke up yesterday morning to find Ripon wrapped in a white blanket, as the first significant snowfall of the winter covered the city.
The Stray Ferret was on hand to capture images from the Millfield play area at Bondgate Green, as parents and children played, to Spa Gardens, where Mick Burns' striking Alice in Wonderland sculpture was transformed into Alice in Winterland.
Families braved the winter weather for some weekend fun at the Millfiled play area
Spa Gardens will become a focus of Christmas celebration from December15 to 17, when an array of illuminated decorations will light up the parkland area.
The free family-focused festive event, open from 2pm until 8pm on each of the three days, will offer entertainment and visual delights, with a number of displays, alongside Santa and his sleigh.
The wonderland sculpture which features Alice and other characters from her adventures, is a lasting reminder of the city's link to the world-famous books of Lewis Carroll (AKA Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) whose father was a canon at Ripon Cathedral and the author was a chorister.
The artwork, unveiled in 2013 and extended by Burns in 2014, was caught in the winter chill yesterday, but will be bathed in light for the wonderland event.
A wintry Ripon Cathedral, viewed from Minster Gardens
In Market Square, the city's Christmas tree and reindeer decoration, provided a fitting festive setting for Ripon Town Hall.
The stylish Georgian building (pictured) was built in 1799 as a townhouse for Mrs Elizabeth Allanson and assigned to the corporation in 1897 by her heir the first Marquess of Ripon, who served as the city's mayor for two consecutive terms from 1895.
The life and work of George Frederick Samuel Robinson, Ripon's most high profile politician, who also served as Viceroy and Governor-General of India from 1880 to 1884, is celebrated with a statue in his honour in Spa Gardens (pictured below)
Yesterday, his towering figure could be seen in the Narnia-like setting of the gardens, surrounded by evergreen trees coated in snow.
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