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The world’s first and oldest Christmas grotto opened in Lewis’s department store in Liverpool 140 years ago.
Sadly, Lewis’s Santa stopped asking local children what they’d like for Christmas when the store closed in 2010.
But Helen Tabern in Garswood, Merseyside, remembers them from her festive childhood visits to the city.
She says: “Every year my mum used to take me on the train to Liverpool to visit the Christmas grottos in the big shops. There was the big famous one at Lewis’s, and also Owen Owen’s and C&A. They were absolutely marvellous and completely free of charge.
“I remember TJ Hughes had a dancing water display one year – coloured fountains – just gorgeous.
“After we’d seen them all, we would have a knickerbocker glory in Lewis’s basement.
“It was a magical day out.”
Which lost shops and vintage Santa grottos do you miss? Email them to siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk