The German Christmas Shop

The Medieval Festival takes place on the two Sundays of the 2^nd and the 9^th of December.Entertainment throughout the town from 10am on both Sundays.Medieval Re-enactments ( Knights in Battle ) take place at 11:30, 13:00, and 14:30 approx. near the Skipton Town Hall.

Festive Gift Fair 2007 - Update

Please note that this year it will be held in a different hall to normal, HALL 9

Open 9:30 - 5:00 each day. We are on stand H12, we look forward to seeing you all again.
http://www.festivegiftfair.co.uk/

Festive Gift Fair 2007

Once again we will be attending the fair at Birmingham NEC 22 - 25 November and look forward to seeing you all again, please note that this year it will be held in a different hall to normal. Details of hall and stand number will be posted here shortly.

Wonder In Wood is situated in the historic market town of Skipton North Yorkshire, also known as the ‘Gateway to the Dales’. The High Street leads up to the church, behind which stands the impressive 900 year-old castle, and Skipton Woods.
The High Street, home to the famous market with its many varied stalls which is on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Skipton has many independent specialist shops, but also has branches of the larger national stores. Exploring the side streets and alleyways you will find individual shops, cafes and restaurants nestled in the town’s history and character. Skipton has ample parking with all car parks within a short stroll to the High Street, Castle and the Canal where boat trips are available.

Skipton has many attractions throughout the year including the famous Medieval Market in December, details of this and other events can be found on our A Great Day Out page.

Among the New Arrivals are Three fabulous Wise Men, The Three Musketeers, which were previously only available as a limited edition piece and a Bride and Groom ( know anyone getting married, this couple may make the ideal gift )

……….View

German Town’s Craftspeople Fight Chinese Imports

The Christmas market in the eastern German town of Seiffen has become a globalization battleground as local craftspeople try to protect traditional, handmade decorations from a store selling cheaper Asian imports.

Christmas angels and nativity figures may not be the first items that come to Germans’ minds when they think of globalization, but the small wooden figures that have been handmade in the Erz Mountains of eastern Germany for hundreds of years are being threatened by cheap imports from Asia, according to local business owners.

Seiffen’s businesses have come to rely on visitors to its Christmas market, and the town is filled with stores selling Christmas angels, lights, nutcrackers and tree ornaments  nearly all of which are made by hand in local workshops.

“We have thousands of visitors every day,” said Dieter Uhlmann, the director of the Erz Mountains Handicraft and Toy Manufactures Association. “On the weekends up to 30,000 people come in almost 200 buses. The town can barely handle it, but on the other hand it’s nice so many people are interested in the Erz Mountains’ folk art and that they come right to Seiffen to see it.”

However, locals say that even with all the visitors, there is no more room for Johannes Schulte to sell his goods. Schulte employed 300 workers in China to manufacture the wooden figurines, which he sells for about half the price of the handmade versions.

Click here for full DW News Story

You might think that German manufacturers of traditional Erzgebirge Christmas ornaments would be peaceable folks. But a businessman who imports cheap knock-offs from China has led the artisans to violence to protect their cottage industry. Erik Nebel reports on the battle for the Christmas decoration trade.

Click here  for full story

Volker Flath’s workshops are a hive of Christmas activity. In one corner, he turns out Christmas trees that are each just a few centimetres tall, while nearby a colleague works on a noisy lathe producing parts for a Christmas pyramid.

Elsewhere, an employee sits furiously painting hundreds of Santa Claus figures in minute detail.

It is like this every year for the woodcarvers of Seiffen, a village of just 2,000 people, which has around 100 producers of wooden toys and ornaments.

“We’ve got three generations working in our business,” says Mr Flath.

“My father still works here, I do, and my son is an apprentice. The training period lasts three years.”

Seiffen has been home to the woodcarving industry since the tin mines were exhausted in the 18th Century.

Now though, the tradition is coming under threat from cheap Chinese imitations.

click here for full story