The rain was gonig to hold off for a couple of hours so Ella and I headed down o Media City in Salford to check out the Walking with the Snowman trail.
In celebration of 40 years of the classic christmas tale, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs, the trail is the first of its kind in the UK inspired by the story. There are 12 sculptures dotted around the area all painted by a professional artist and themed around the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.
There are also a number of smaller sculptures all decorated by local schools. The installation is created by the same company that provided Manchester with the Bee Trail earlier in the year and likewise they will all be auctioned off at the end with the charity they are supporting being Children in Need.
So we headed down to The Lowry Outlet grabbed an Activity Booklet which contained the map (see below) from the Information Desk and set about navigating our way around (spoiler the first is right next to the information desk).
The trail trail takes you around Media City, all around the Lowry, over the bridge to the Imperial War Museum and back over the bridge taking you to the BBC. My little one really enjoyed reading the map and I put her in complete charge of getting us around and she totally succeeded.
The snowmen have are really quite beautiful and each one representing the artist and the song in a totally original way. Each sculpture also has a plaque and a hidden letter for the children to write in the booklet and then guess the word at the end. If they enter it on the website they are in with a chance of winning a prize. My competive daughter took this very seriously.
The trail was not too long so even little legs will manage this and it should only take around an hour and a half tops and that includes waiting your turn for the obligatory photo.
There wa a great atmosphere around Media City was great with so many families singing the song along the way. It is a lovely addition to the area and a nice familiy activity.
Over the weekend of the 8th and 9th and also the 15th and 16th there are a few craft activities available to book onto at an additional cost at Penelope’s Cafe and there is also a Grotto, Makers Market as well as the usual shops and restaurants so if you have a few hours to spare then there is plenty going on to keep you entertained.
It is not on for long so give it a go
thetravellingwilbennetts 