On Wednesday night I had the opportunity to take my little girl to see Father Christmas on Constitution Hill and, as my husband said when we emerged, it is the best grotto any of us have ever been too!

Christmas at Y Consti at Aberystwyth Cliff Railway has to be seen to be believed. The transformation of the Aberystwyth landmark is incredible.

Beautiful lights decorate the outside, leading you up to the stunning bar and restaurant which, until this Sunday only, has been turned into the most beautiful market. You don’t have to visit the grotto to go to the market – just hop on the Cliff Railway and go in. There are stalls, food and drink to enjoy and it has been beautifully lit.

If you have managed to book a place to see Father Christmas you are in for an absolute treat. The elves take you to a lift to the North Pole and when the door opened I cried. Father Christmas was sat in a beautifully decorated room ready for Christmas, painting a toy to deliver on 25 December, warming himself by the fire and being utterly charming. He knew my little girl’s name, what she likes and dislikes and even spilled some secrets about her teachers when they were little waiting for him to deliver presents on Christmas Day.

The experience was utterly magical from start to finish and I wish we could go again, but I don’t want to deprive anyone else from booking a place. If there are slots available, grab one now. You won’t be disappointed! And if you miss out this year, write a letter to Father Christmas and ask him to come back next year!

The incredible experience has been created by Aberystwyth Cliff Railway, DeryncochCyf (Llinos Griffiths Gough and Jacob Gough) and Light Em Up (Joe Willcox), with a special touch of magic from Gareth Hughes.

Everyone working on the project is either from Aberystwyth or now based there. No-one ha been brought in from outside of the area and, where possible, local materials have been used to ensure as much of the money spent has gone back into the area.

We don’t want to give away too much of the magic, but recycled materials have been used where possible, items have been donated by Craft and the friendly faces you’ll see up Consti are almost all volunteers, working on the project purely for the love of Consti, Aberystwyth and Christmas. (Jon Davies has some very good friends!)

The collaborative team had their first meeting about the project in January, with plans evolving for it since May, and the team working on it pretty much full time since the start of October.

“It's definitely been a labour of love for all of us,” said Llinos.

“We wanted to create something a bit different for Aberystwyth, something that people would travel here to experience rather than having to travel elsewhere to see. Something we, as parents ourselves, would want to go to and feel the magic of Christmas with our children.

“Working in theatre and events, we spend so much time working away from home, often taking amazing things to big cities, but we really wanted to do something special for the people of Aberystwyth, it's our home and we love it here.

“It's also something Aberystwyth Cliff Railway has wanted to do for a long time, so we've been delighted to have the chance to collaborate with them on this. They're excited about what other possibilities there are now we've made this happen and it's been so well received.

“As far as we know, we are the only experience of this kind in Wales.

“There's an elevator in North Wales that takes you down underground into caves, but ours is the only one that takes you high up above the clouds into the sky and all the way to Santa's front door in the North Pole.

“As well as that, you also get to experience the magical train ride up, the fantastic Christmas market, festive food and drink and stunning Consti views - especially if you come after dark (which we highly recommend).”

Jac and Llinos have a little girl called Heledd, and Joe Willcox (lighting) has young children too, so they “really wanted to create something magical for them really”, Llinos added.

“It's always been about them for me personally. It's been amazing telling our kids that we've been working with Siôn Corn.

“Heledd even came up with the idea that the reason the elevator works is because it's built from magical wood made from trees sent from the North Pole by Santa. “Genius! Sometimes all you need is the imagination of 5 year old. She's also been helping out as an honorary elf on the weekends entertaining waiting visitors, showing them where to go and giving out Christmas stickers. She's loved being involved and is most definitely on the nice list.

She absolutely loves it up Consti now, and everyone there has been so utterly wonderful with her, She's really made herself at home there.

“Everyone there is so nice, it's crazy. They all just believed in what we were doing, Jon Davies especially. He's the one who approached us with the idea of the grotto initially and has been managing the project alongside DeryncochCyf. He also loves Christmas!

“The Consti team have been incredible and every single one has had a part in making this project happen.

“Jacob drew up the plans with me right at the start and has been instrumental in moving this all along.

“His expertise in organising events and even design has been so valuable. He’s been able to advise and guide us through his whole thing, even down to ticketing, and on the opening day when he personally helped liaise with the grotto visitors to make sure our opening day went well.

He’s also helped me in building props, designing and sourcing.

“Personally I think we make a pretty fine husband and wife design team.”

Over five kilometres of lighting has been used to decorate Consti (300m in the cafe alone).

“I think you'll agree it's stunning up there and Light Em Up has done an amazing job,” said Llinos.

“You can see the searchlights for miles! Joe even had to get special permission to use them. Brilliant!

“The 'face in the hole' board was designed and hand painted by local student and artist Olivia Finley, who also assisted in the design and making process of the elevator and grotto.

“The stunning hand drawn windows in the café were designed and drawn by Elen Smith, a teaching assistant by day at Ysgol Gymraeg.

“Our incredible Santa speaks Welsh and English and has also been signing with children. He really is an amazing man.”

The grotto and the market will close on Sunday night. Please go if you can. It really is the most wonderful way to celebrate Christmas, and you can pick up some last minute gifts!

Visit https://aberystwythcliffrailway.co.uk/alpha for more information.