Winter Review #1 Christmas ’09

Sorry I have been absent from the blogosphere (whatever that is) but I was snowed in.  In fact it has been so long I feel I ought to do one of those year in review type things you read in Sunday Supplements except of course this is more the winter in review.

Well it snowed more and was a little colder than we have been used to which in some ways is no bad thing.  Firstly, a cold winter always makes one appreciate spring when it comes – almost as if we deserve it this time. Secondly, I love snow.  I remember vividly the great excitement on the evening of Thursday 17^th when my wife and I peered out of the window at midnight at the swirling snow coating everything with a soft protective white blanket. Snow has the wonderful property of deadening sound. The bustle and hurley burley of modern life was muffled allowing a time, however brief, of introspection and reassessment of what is important in life.

The following morning, having risen early and fired up the computer I was able to deliver the good news to our kids that their last day of term was cancelled as the school was closed. Christmas had indeed come early and whilst I, like many fellow commuters, struggled in (2 ½ hours – thanks Southern) it couldn’t really dampen my excitement of the night before.

On Saturday, with the car and drive still under a blanket of snow, we decided to cancel plans for a last soulless, materialistic Christmas present buying dash into Redhill and instead walked into Reigate. The town was in full festive flow. I was reminded of the last snow we had had earlier in 2009 when, unable to get to work, a different atmosphere came about the town. People stood and chatted over steaming cartons of coffee. Kids played in the snow rather than glued to a screen. People smiled and seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. The only exception to the rule seemed to be Morrisons where a general sense of impatience and rudeness prevailed.

We were able to get most of the last minute presents we needed and have time for a coffee at Caffee Nero (along with the rest of the town it seemed). The coffee was good but upstairs was a bit of a mess. Most of the tables has dirty cups and cartons on them and the tables has been pushed together to accommodate larger groups. I mentioned this in an earlier post about Urban Kitchen in the park but why can’t we Brits keep tidy and ordered?

With the kids off for the day with their friends we realised we had a lunch t ourselves and decided to stop off at The Venture Inn. They have a lunch menu with most of the dishes priced around £5.60 including rice. The portions were perhaps a little small but still great value and the bonus of a pint of Adnams Broadside to boot. I had the Penang Curry which is slightly hot with a rich tongue coating sauce – delicious.

The scene was Christmas card perfect as we trudged to St Mary’s Church for the carols by candlelight that Sunday. The Churchyard was still blanketed in snow and the air was crisp under a clear starlit night sky. The Church was beautifully decked with candles, holly and flashes of red and gold. The carols were, in the main, traditional, the choir tuneful and well drilled, the sermon contemporary, relevant and supported by PowerPoint and video clips, enough to keep the interest of even the most surly and inattentive members of the congregation.  Mince pies and mulled wine were served in the slightly less festive surroundings of the Church Hall across the road but even that couldn’t dampen the delicious feeling of nostalgia brought about by the sight of a medieval Church with snow without and carols within.

As I mentioned before, so popular has this service become that they have had to provide two sittings (for the Kristingel service in Christmas Eve as well) and there were very few seats remaining in the chancel during the latter sitting when we were there. Perhaps the Christmas spirit does indeed live on in Reigate and what made me realise this more than ever was not the wonderful setting of the Church in the snow and carols by candlelight but the fact that the somewhat unseasonably named Easter Project provided over 60 Christmas dinners on Christmas day for the homeless, the lonely or anybody needing a reconnection to what Christmas really is all about.

As you may have gathered, I love Christmas, everything to do with it even the Christmas shopping if I have an idea of what I am looking for. The buying of the Christmas tree has become a bit of a tradition in our household. For many years I had bought our tree from a garden centre or even outside what was Safeways at the time always slightly narked at the exorbitant cost. That was until I was told about the Christmas tree farm in Newdigate.

Two weekends before Christmas we empty the car and head for the farm tucked away behind the Church and down a muddy track on the right behind a house. You are always welcomed by the farmer and his wife decked out in Santa hats and tinsel and festive good cheer and bonhomie. This feels like the real start of Christmas.  We scrupulously consider each tree for height shape and number of branches  before going back to here we started to review our short list as much to eke out this one special Christmas afternoon.

Returning home, the tree in place (always bigger than you thought) we put our collection of tree ornaments collected over 40 odd years, each with a special memory. For this reason alone I can’t see us ever succumbing to whatever minimalist mono-coloured combination happens to be in fashion.  Coloured lights still work as well, perhaps as I remember vividly the Christmases of my childhood and squinting at the coloured lights creating a quintessentially Christmas image in my mind.

A final dip into nostalgia before I leave Christmas well alone for another year – lunch. I don’t understand why people become bored of Turkey. It’s not as if we eat it regularly during the year. We also have a goose, ham and all the trimmings so there is always something to have regardless of your tastes.  We always try and get a fresh turkey locally and this year for the first time, after a recommendation, we went to Les Alan in Timperley gardens, Redhill. Not somewhere you perhaps would expect to find a great butcher but that’s exactly what it is. Friendly, knowledgeable service fro wahich we have returned a number of times. Not cheap but what butcher is these days as we have become used to cut priced supermarkets but I would rather support a good local business when I can.