A Yorkshire Christmas: How Amanda Owen, Kaiser Chiefs' Ricky Wilson, Helen Skelton and more celebrate the big day

Amanda Owen, the Yorkshire Shepherdess“Living on a farm, Christmas Day for us isn’t like Christmas Day for other people as all the jobs still need doing. We normally have one of our own cockerels for Christmas dinner but this year might be a bit different.

“We actually had Christmas dinner in November as I was giving a talk to the Turkey Growers association and they gave me a turkey and so we had that with all the trimmings. We might just have turkey, gravy and chips as that is what everyone really likes.

“As for presents, with nine children they don’t get a lot, just one present really and it is something they really want or need. But it will just be lovely to have all the family together at home again.”

Christine Talbot, TV presenter

“I love the run up to Christmas, probably more than the day itself actually. From late November I’m a sucker for the twinkly lights, hearing Wham played on a loop in shops, carol concerts and even those cheesy films on the Christmas channel.

“We always pay a visit to York, wandering through the Christmas markets and a hot mulled wine is a must. The day itself is usually a whirl of wrapping paper, cooking and loading and unloading the dishwasher in a rather overheated house – we always have my mum and close family here – and it ends with crashing out with a cuppa looking longingly at those holiday ads which always start on Christmas night.

“Boxing Day is my curl up on the sofa day, catching up with the telly with my mum and a box of Ferrero Rocher while everyone else is out at the football. That’s when I finally relax. Bliss.”

“Christmas this year is a looming date because I really want to be in my house for Christmas. We’re having some work done and I went around the other day and I saw the builder and I was in the kitchen and I joked, ‘This is where the Christmas tree is going to go’ and he went, ‘Next year?’ So that was a bit negative. I also need to get a sofa and I didn’t realise how long they take to arrive! So I’m a little scared this year as I’ve already invited the in-laws, but I don’t think we’ll even have a kitchen table.

“I’ll be on Henry the hoover, they’ll all be on deckchairs and we’ll eat off our knees.”

Felicity Cunliffe-Lister, proprietor of Swinton Estate

“Christmas celebrations start early at Swinton Park with our candlelit carol concert in early December, and on Christmas Eve we spend the day cutting holly and decorating trees in guest bedrooms, followed by carol singing. On Christmas Day we are at home with the family, there are usually about 12 of us. It is church for some of us in the morning, followed by opening presents and a long walk early afternoon to make the most of the day.

"We always have turkey and all the trimmings at about 4pm which takes us well into the evening by the time we have finished the Christmas pudding. On Boxing Day, we often meet friends for soup and turkey sandwiches in the Deer House and a walk on the estate.”

Peter Wright, veterinary surgeon“My brother and his wife come over, and my daughter and son and my grandson. Christmas is a family time to me and it’s a magical time. It isn’t about all the razzmatazz, I will go to church on Christmas Eve for the midnight service. It’s about being together and, being a Yorkshireman, I’ve got to say it’s about the Christmas dinner as well, and it’s our tradition that we always have Yorkshire puddings for Christmas dinner.

“We do it in the true, traditional way with the Yorkshire puddings first. It’s about much more than the presents and the commercial side of things and it always has been.”

Cleo Sylvestre, actor and singer

“This year I’ll be in a beautiful village in Kent where my son-in-law’s mother lives. There will be eight of us. My eldest daughter, her husband, his mother and their child, my son and his fiancée, my younger daughter and myself.

“My daughter and family are vegetarian so there will be plenty of delicious veg and she has ordered an organic capon for the rest of us. Formerly we would have either organic goose or duck and a capon, but I’m eating less meat.

“We are a foodie family and I make my own cake, marzipan, mincemeat and Christmas puddings. I make three puddings every three years. The one we’ll have this year is three years old and well pickled in brandy.

“When the kids were young, they loved stirring the pudding mixture and making a wish. The foodie theme was also continued with their stockings which were not traditional stockings but veg sacks.

“When I was younger, my Yorkshire-born mother used to make delicious pickled beef for Boxing Day and also roast a gammon which was washed down with one of her lethal home-made wines.

“The family are fond of playing the dictionary game and making up funny definitions to unfamiliar words and, like millions of other families, we enjoy a Boxing Day walk in the country. “

Graham Ibbeson, sculptor

“I was born in the mid-20th century and although Nintendo has now replaced Meccano, the essence of Christmas remains the same for me – a religious festival, a time to remember loved ones, and a celebration of Family. I have spent 53 of those Christmases with my wife, Carol.

“Christmas Eve will start with 11 of us round a breakfast table (our three children, their partners, and three grandchildren), then it’s all up to the Lamp Room Theatre for the 11am pantomime, and on to the pub in the afternoon with my eldest daughter and partner. Christmas morning the two of us will be travelling around exchanging presents, and early afternoon it’s Christmas dinner. We usually have it with one of the family, this year it’s my youngest daughter’s misfortune. Later in the afternoon all the family gather again, and unwind at our place until late evening. I absolutely love the atmosphere.

“My oldest Christmas memory is being at my Grandparents’ house, seeing Christmas through a child’s eyes. Now I’m a grandparent, I relish the joy, warmth, and love that radiates around our home on Christmas Day.”

Milly Johnson, author

“We are really boring – I like to do the same thing every year. I hated it when my kids stopped believing in Santa – they are 22 and 23 now – but I still go through the same ritual, everyone goes into the living room, sees the presents and I shout “He’s been!” I have got the same old tatty decorations on the tree that the kids made when they were at nursery and the same place settings and special Christmas plates that I’ve had for years, I really like that.

"One tradition for me is that I play Handel’s Messiah on my headphones and sing along loudly while I am making the Christmas dinner. At some point over the festive period I will watch my favourite film of all time The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant and Loretta Young and I’ll hijack the kids and make them watch Home Alone, the ultimate Christmas movie, with me. I never take photographs as I like to live in the moment and really appreciate the occasion and the people I have around me.”

Dave Nicholson and Rob Nicholson, farmers

Dave: “I will be having a quiet Christmas with my wife Anita, daughter Poppy and her new husband. We will deliver presents to the family first and have a late lunch.

“We have a buffet on Christmas Eve like a Christmas tapas and we watch a Christmas film and on Christmas Day Anita has a present on the dinner table for everyone.

“We tuck into the full works, turkey and all the trimmings and loads of vegetables covered in cheese.

“It’s my favourite day of the year and to me it really means family time and a real break from work.”

Rob: “We will be feeding the animals on Christmas morning and then having a family lunch in our Cannon Hall Farm restaurant, The White Bull , where we can all meet safely. It will be my mum and dad, my wife Julie, son Tom and his partner, my daughter Katie and her partner Rob and his parents and our granddaughter Nelly. I have never missed a Christmas with my mum and dad – last year we had Christmas together sitting outside while they sat on their porch. I also have a tradition of inviting family and friends that don’t have anywhere to go to join us for Christmas dinner. It’s the only day of the year when the farm is really quiet and it’s really special. So Christmas to me is about family and getting together and all of us working together on the day to get the dinner cooked and enjoying each other’s company.”

Helen Skelton, TV presenter

“Our traditions are the usual – presents, turkey, Only Fools and Horses, charades – and Buck’s Fizz for breakfast, if I can. I am trying to introduce new traditions to try and make the kids realise Christmas isn’t all about presents – for the last two years I have made them do something to make other people feel good – last year it was delivering little angels to strangers’ doorsteps made by the church. It’s family time. Magic and sparkle. I am all about the magic and smiles of Christmas.”