Batty about Xmas
Weather presenter loves this time of year so much he even has a grotto in his garden.. so getting to do Sean’s Festive Scotland was a dream come true
SEAN Batty has his very own Christmas grotto, five Christmas trees in the house and another in the front garden – while two of his favourite hobbies are making eggnog and crafting wreaths.
So he didn’t have to think for too long when STV producers asked him to make a programme all about the festive season in Scotland.
The telly weatherman, who first made the jump beyond meteorology earlier this year when he launched his road trip series Sean’s Scotland, travelled around the country meeting sprout and tree farmers, went snow-making at the Glencoe ski centre and even got to help out at the reindeer centre in the Cairngorms.
It’s the job of a lifetime for the 37-year-old and he admitted that at one point, surrounded by snow-covered reindeer, it almost became too much to process.
He said: “I thought we were just going up to to feed them but we also had to return several reindeer back to the hill after their Christmas training.
“If you see reindeer anywhere in England or Scotland, in a shopping mall or a parade in your town and village, it’s likely that the reindeer have come from the Aviemore centre because they take them all over the place.
“But they have to give them Christmas training to wear the harness so people can come and touch them.
“I did ask how they fly and I was told it was Santa’s secret, so unfortunately that wasn’t revealed to us.
“But after filming, the crew said to me I was very quiet and asked if I was OK.
“But it was just because I am so obsessed with Christmas, it was quite overwhelming to be making this programme and to be standing there in among these reindeer in the snow in Scotland on my own programme, it was like, jeez, this is for real.”
Paisley-born Sean and his crew roamed Scotland last month to make the show.
They went to tree farmers in Kinross and sprout farmers in Arbroath, as well as learning how to make fake snow at Glencoe’s ski resort.
It was one of the best moments of his life and a true labour of love for the man who loves this time of year more than any other.
He said: “I am still quite childish and for me, Christmas makes you feel younger again. I am an only child so
Christmas has always been dead special and I think a lot of it comes from my gran who used to decorate the house up to the nines.
“She’d have tinsel round every bit of furniture and cabinet, the old foil decorations that would go across the ceiling and the whole house would be covered.
“I love decorations so now I’ve got five Christmas trees in my own house and bought a 12ft Christmas tree for outside, a big potted one that was delivered in the back of a lorry.
“Christmas will be my family. My gran is now in a care home but mum and dad live in Ayrshire, so they’ll be coming to me.
“We will have our small family Christmas dinner and open our presents there and it’s just really nice, really small and just us and five christmas trees. I decorate the house so much and very few people actually get to see it.
“I also make fresh wreaths and garlands. I’ve got a wee log cabin in the garden and have it all decorated for Christmas, with Christmas music and lights and I build all the wreaths and garlands out there – I’m absolutely crazy for Christmas.”
As a keen crafter, he got to show his skills when he went to a massive tree farm in Kinross. Scotland is renowned for its spruce and fir-friendly climate and is the home of most of the UK’s Christmas tree industry.
Sean added: “I got to cut down a Christmas Tree and it turns out you just use a big pair of scissors.
“They are planning 10-15 years ahead and the big shops will come in and stick labels on the trees they want.”
He added: “I also think we did the Brussels sprouts justice – we used drone footage to get incredible footage of the fields of thousands and thousands of them and went into the factory where they sort the different sizes.
“They have an exclusive deal with Marks & Spencer, so if you’re eating M&S sprouts, they’ll be from that farm.”
Sean’s festive adventure is rounded off by a visit to the mountains. He added: “I am obsessed with snow so went to Glencoe to find out how they make snow.
“You can have years with a really bad run of seasons and financially that can cause a lot of problems, so we went to find out how they make artificial snow. It’s great for skiing on.
“The irony was going early in November when there was loads of snow and then get to December and it’s 13C, so we were really lucky at the point we went to film, because even though it was early November, we had snow for all piece we were doing and it did look really Christmassy.
“Had we gone a week later we would have been in a mudbath with the ∙ reindeer.”
Sean’s Festive Scotland is on STV at 7.30pm on Tuesday, December, 17.
I’ve got a wee log cabin in the garden decorated
SEAN BATTY ON HIS CHRISTMAS PREPARATIONS