Lives in a Landscape - Christmas at Sandringham

As the Royal Family sit down to their festive dinner on the Queen's Norfolk estate, Alan Dein invites Radio 4 listeners to spend Christmas at a rather different Sandringham - the Sandringham Hotel in Weston super Mare.

Alan joins the seafront hotel's 'Turkey & Tinsel' celebrations as three coachloads of revellers - mostly retired people - head south to celebrate Christmas in November.

"We're not the bees' knees, we're not the finest hotel in Weston super Mare..." says Ken Perrett, the hotel's owner. And it's true - the hotel is a little rough around the edges. Yet Ken must be getting something right - nearly a hundred people have checked in for five days of early festivities.

Amidst the laughter, turkey and tinsel, a bittersweet story emerges - as Alan discovers many are here celebrating without the ones they love.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Published on Wednesday, 25th December 2013.

Available Podcasts from Lives in a Landscape

Subscribe to Lives in a Landscape

We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Lives in a Landscape webpage.