All aboard the great Christmas express!

IT may have seemed a little early to some, but we kick-started our countdown to Christmas last weekend with a ride on East Lancashire Railway's Santa Special.

- RICHARD PARTINGTON

Bustling with families doing exactly the same, there was plenty to entertain my 15-year-old daughter, her 11-year-old brother and, anchoring the whole adventure, their three-year-old sister.

The fun started at Bury Bolton Street Station and as soon as you walk through the doors it's full-on festivities in the wonderfully decorated foyer-turned-winter-wonderland for the next few weeks.