SANTA dropped in at Beamish Museum in fitting style yesterday (Saturday, November 15).

Father Christmas arrived in the County Durham outdoor museum’s 1900s Town in a reindeer-pulled sleigh on Saturday lunchtime.

He was visiting to switch on Beamish’s Christmas lights and officially start the museum’s countdown to December 25.

There was festive music from Dunston Silver Band, a procession of old vehicles and lots of costumes.

Santa is now in residence at a fireside grotto at Beamish’s Pockerley Waggonway, ready to meet children and hear what they would like to find under their tree on Christmas morning.