Advent Calendar December 18th
Brrr! It’s cold outside. Jack Frost is the personification of winter weather and is responsible for nipping toes and noses and the beautiful fern-like patterns that appeared on the inside … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 17th
Expect the Unexpected On December 17th 1900 the Académie des Sciences in Paris announced that Madame Clara Goguet Guzman would award 100,000 francs to anyone who could prove that they … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 16
It Starts Today… Christmas officially starts today in the Philippines and many will get up very early to attend the Simbang Gabi. It’s a series of nine dawn Masses – … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 15th
Wrapping Presents Certain things are universal such as liking some kind of chocolate and one size does not fit all. And this…
Advent Calendar December 14th
You’re invited to a Regency Christmas this afternoon… …at The Regency Town House in Hove Come and shelter from the cold in this lovely 200 year old building. We’ve got … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 13
The Scandinavian Festival of Light Today is St. Lucia’s Day (St Lucy) and it marks the start of of the Christmas season in many parts of Scandinavia. One of the earliest … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 12
Holly – Seamus Heaney It rained when it should have snowed.When we went to gather holly the ditches were swimming, we were wetto the knees, our hands were all jags … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 10
Handmade Presents The future Queen Victoria wrote in her diary on Christmas Eve, 1832: Mamma gave me a lovely pink bag which she had worked with a little sachet likewise … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 9
The Christmas Panto and The Workhouse If you go to the Theatre Royal in Brighton look out for a gilt-framed illustrated letter displayed on the stairs leading to the Royal … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 8
When fire was a Christmas essential Bringing home the Yule Log You may do without beef and plum-pudding; even the absence of mince-pie may be tolerated…but a huge, heaped-up, over … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 7th
Christmas tree up this weekend? The Christmas tree we are familiar with is a German custom. A number of historical sources say that Queen Charlotte, the mother of the Prince … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 6th
It was Christmas Day in the workhouse Eventide. A Scene at the Westminster Union (workhouse) 1879. IT IS CHRISTMAS Day in the workhouse, and the cold, bare walls are brightWith … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 5th
New Clothes for Christmas After the simple lines of the the Regency empire dress, big sleeves became the height of fashion. Above are the 1829 cartoons by William Heath that … Continue reading
Advent Calendar December 4th
A Very Proper Snow Lady Two women make a highly detailed Snow Lady in West Berkshire. The photograph was published in The Strand Magazine in 1892. It was a fairly … Continue reading
BRIDGET WHELAN writer 