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As a kid born and raised in Southern California, the idea of autumn leaves and winter snow were novelties. Though just a three-hour drive from my family’s town, the wooded San Bernardino Mountains felt like another world, so much so that when a mountain guide once asked 10-year-old me where I was from, I told him “California,” as if we’d left the state entirely.

Cascading ponderosa pines and Douglas fir trees sweep the Transverse Ranges toward Big Bear Lake, which sits in a valley that the Indigenous Yuhaaviatam called Yuhaaviat, Place of the Pines. Big Bear’s tourism story starts in the 1860s, when a short-lived gold rush in Holcomb Valley left behind roads, cabins and a frontier myth that later drew tourists. In 1884, a dam built for irrigation flooded the valley and created the alpine lake that still defines the region.

Angelenos have been making the drive to Big Bear for more than a century, chasing cooler air in summer and snow in winter. As early as 1912, day-trippers and film crews in Model-Ts wound up the mountain roads, using Big Bear’s forests as both a quick escape and a Hollywood back lot.

By the 1920s Pine Knot, now known as Big Bear Village, was filled with lodges and storefronts to greet Los Angeles motorists escaping summer heat. The region’s first ski lift arrived in 1938, while post-World War II highways, film shoots, and the Hollywood set turned the once-remote valley into a four-season resort through the 1960s. To this day, Big Bear maintains its small-town feel with a population of just 5,000 even though it sees more than 7 million visitors a year.

For my parents, who loved to ski, Big Bear was more affordable and closer than Tahoe (meaning less time in the car with two squirmy kids) and had just enough amenities to keep us warm, fed and happy. Over the years, locals have held tight to its character, resisting abject luxury development while defending the habitats of local wildlife. Thanks to those efforts, the place still carries a bit of Howard Johnson-era Americana charm.

Whether traveling solo or with friends and family, a weekend in Big Bear makes for a quaint but restorative winter getaway, whether or not you hit the slopes. Pack your sweaters and boots and be careful taking the curves of Highway 18.

A GROUP of office workers were left shocked when they learned their colleague is a former child star, and had a role in an iconic festive film.

The actor now keeps a low profile working as a Logistics Manager for the upcoming 2026 Commonwealth Games, which will take place in Glasgow. But do you recognise him?

Joe Lane appeared in 2009 hit Nativity!, which featured Martin Freeman, Jason Watkins and Ashley Jensen.

He portrayed schoolboy Edward in the film, which is centred around a heartbroken primary school teacher’s journey to make his class’s nativity play reach Hollywood, and win his ex-girlfriend back in the process.

In a TikTok shared by Joe’s colleagues, the former actor was left red-faced when they figured out his famous past.

The clip showed Joe, dressed in a Christmas jumper and a festive headband, as he is shaken by his colleagues.

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It then cuts to clips of him in the movie, before his colleagues recreate a hilarious moment by his character Edward.

Joe’s starring moment in the film saw him take to the microphone during the final Nativity performance and impersonate fart sounds with his armpit.

The former child star had his head in his hands when his co-workers cornered him at his desk and re-enacted the funny moment in the TikTok video.

“When you find out your colleague was in the nativity films,” read the video, with the caption adding: “The most exciting office development this week”.

The film was cast by producers holding open calls for local kids in Coventry, with the aim to use non-professional actors for an authentic feel.

After appearing in the first movie, Joe appears to have steered away from continuing an acting career.

He went on to become a semi-professional rugby player, before moving into logistics for sporting events.

Coventry-born Joe is now living in Glasgow after spending time in Australia and London.

It appears he has been keen to keep his famous past under wraps in the workplace.

One TikTok user commented on the video to reveal that they had previously worked with Joe, and had no clue of the connection.

“I worked with Joe at Coventry Rfc and unless I was out of the loop he kept this very well hidden!” they said.

Another commenter joked “So he didn’t become shrek??”, referencing the scene in Nativity! where character Mr. Poppy told Edward, “You could be Shrek”.

A number of the children who appeared in Nativity! returned to their normal lives following the movie, and despite its massive success, have gone into regular jobs.

Cadi Mullane, who played Crystal – one of the main children in the film – previously detailed what filming was like in a TikTok video.

She said: “I was part of an agency called Stagecoach, they were looking for kids who were really chatty, who could dance a little bit and sing a little bit. Apparently that was me.

“There was about seven auditions. But I’m from Wales so I had to keep travelling up to London which was a bit annoying, but it was OK because I really wanted to be in a film.

“They looked at how well we could sing and how well we got on with the other kids, cause that was important, obviously.”

Cadi went on to recall how the movie filmed throughout the summer, with no scripts for the children.

She said: “It was filmed in Coventry but obviously I’m not from Coventry so we all stayed in a hotel together. It was like The Suite Life Of Zach and Cody, honestly.

“There was no scripts. Everything was improvised, except from some bits. We basically just spoke loads of rubbish, and then we were asked to say it again on camera.”