Christmas & What It Means To Me

 

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Christmas Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. Sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives, getting the Christmas tree out of the loft and decorating it every year (including a star on the top), brightens up the house in our darkest month

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Christmas is one of my favourite times of year. Sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives, getting the Christmas tree out of the loft and decorating it every year (including a star on the top), brightens up the house in our darkest month of the year. As a Christian though, what I like most about Christmas is going to Church during Advent and (Covid allowing) going for Midnight Mass at my local Methodist Church. Singing Carols & Christmas songs probably makes Christmas for me - I sing in a local choir, and every year we have a concert (Covid permitting) to raise money for a children's charity -Action For Children https://www.actionforchildren.org.uk/. In 2019 we raised over £1500 from donations.

Christmas traditionally starts on December 25th in most countries and lasts for 12 days. It does not finish on Boxing Day so I make a point of playing Christmas songs for the duration of the festival & taking decorations down on 12th night. However, other Christian denominations may celebrate Christmas at different times of year-  (For Oriental Orthodox Christians Christmas starts on January 7th, Armenian Apostolic Church January 6th & Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem January 19th).

As a Christian I do get annoyed that Christmas is flogged to death by retail and the mantra is to spend, spend, spend. Christmas for many can mean new debt in the New Year. You don't have to spend a fortune, and let's be honest, how much will end up going to the tip or Charity shop within 12 months? How about a contribution to a charity or actually buying something that will be long lasting? What Christmas means to me is thinking of others especially those far less fortunate than us. Spending time with family & friends is something that money can't buy. I never tire of the story of the Nativity, how a star appeared and guided three/four Kings to a stable in Bethlehem to pay homage to Baby Jesus in a stable. Above all, what Christmas means to me is Peace & Goodwill to all men & women - regardless of belief, race, gender, age etc.

 

Some Christmas Factoids

 

December 25th was originally chosen for Christmas in Ancient Rome, this date was originally used to celebrate the unconquered sun (Saturnalia Festival

 

In Scandinavia, Yule was celebrated from December 21st- the Winter Solstice. The largest logs would be brought into the home which would burn up to 12 days, they feasted during this time. The Norse belief was that each spark from the fire would bear a new calf or piglet in the new year.

 

Winter feasts were traditional in pagan times, celebrating the end of winter as cattle were slaughtered so they did not need feeding in winter and alcohol had finished fermenting.

 

From 1644 when Britain was a Republic, Christmas was banned until 1660, to help rid England of 'decadence'. Ba Humbug eh?

 

Father Christmas was first seen in England in the Fifteenth Century, his popularity declined until Victorian times when Christmas became centred around children, and Father Christmas became a bringer of presents.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading this,

 

Merry Christmas From Me Everyone!

Arthur Wharton -The World's First Professional Black Footballer

  Image found at:https://abrempongradiogh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/sport-4.bmp, accessed 7.10.2021.

I was inspired by the story of Arthur Wharton, the world's first black professional footballer and thought I would share the story for Black History Month.

Arthur 'Kwame' Wharton  was born in Jamestown, Ghana in 1865, in 1883 he moved to Darlington to train as a Missionary at Cleveland College. He became a professional footballer at the town's football club, playing mostly in goal but also played on the wing. Arthur became known as a goalkeeper with the 'prodigious punch'.He moved onto other clubs in his career including Preston North End, Rotherham & Newcastle & District which later became Newcastle United. In a match between Rotherham & Sheffield Wednesday, he was in goal, and to save a shot, he jumped to the crossbar catching the ball between his legs, causing the three opposition players to collide in a heap in the net.

 

 Not only was Arthur adept on a football pitch, he was a professional athlete, cyclist, cricketer & rugby player. He was the first Official Fastest Man, running 100 yards in 10 seconds straight on 3rd July 1886 at Stamford Bridge, London. ...'He was called “invincible” by one 19th-century newspaper, and a man who, even in the ideological context of Victorian Britain, refused to accept racism lying down. While waiting for an athletics race in his early 20s, he overheard two other competitors calling him the n-word'. “Allow me to give you to understand,” he later recalled telling the pair, “I not only run but do a little boxing when required.” They piped down. He won the race. (Sourced from The Independent Online, found at: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/arthur-wharton-darlington-first-black-professional-footballer-b1286187.html accessed 8.10.2021).

After his sporting career he moved to Edlington, Doncaster in 1915 & worked as a haulage hand at Yorkshire Main Colliery. Arthur Wharton joined the Home Guard in The Great War |(date unknown). Sadly Arthur died penniless in 1930 in the Springwell Sanitarium, Balby and was buried in an unmarked grave at Edlington Cemetery. In May 1997, Arthur’s grave was given a headstone after a campaign by anti-racism organisation Football Unites Racism Divides for recognition of his achievements.

This may be considered a very short sporting career by today's standards, but there was no Sky TV, Premiership league or a million pound salary in those days. Football was in it's infancy and hard times were common, particularly in the economic climate of the late 20's and early 30's. Although Arthur Wharton died penniless, his story of overcoming racial barriers in sport have given us a an inspirational legacy that is everlasting, inspiring the likes of Marcus Rashford & Usain Bolt. Statues of Wharton are all over the world, from his native Ghana to the F.A Offices of London. My favourite Memorial to Arthur Wharton is in Darlington on the side of a house - a two story mural.

 

Sources

There are loads of websites with information on Arthur Wharton including these:

 

Arthur Wharton: The First Black Footballer, found at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/tyne/roots/2003/10/arthur_wharton.shtml

Arthur Wharton Foundation:, found at: https://arthurwhartonfoundation.org/

Great Lives, A Talk Featuring Viv Anderson talking about Arthur Wharton, you can listen here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sg13b

 

There Are 12 Days Of Christmas...

There are 12 days of Christmas, we all know the Carol. So why do you not hear Christmas songs on the radio or see the videos on TV after Christmas? Ba Humbug is what I say!
I will try and put Christmas themed content on the blog until January 5th. Merry Christmas Everyone!


https://youtu.be/A6iamZpEzMw

Why Do People Go Shopping On Boxing Day?

Boxing Day Sales Why Do We Need Them?

Christmas. We all eat drink & are merry. Boxing Day on 26th December, is when all supermarkets & shops open & we pile in buying everything in sight. Why? Why can't retail workers have a day off like everyone else? Nowadays companies like Tesco do not pay a decent overtime rate, usually they demand you go in if you are on a flexible contract. Hardly any shoppers turn up at supermarkets anyway so what's the point? So please be like me and BOYCOTT SHOPPING ON SUNDAYS & BANK HOLIDAYS. Remember the people working probably aren't doing it out of choice & they would rather be home with their families.

NB found this petition link in a Birmingham Mail article to stop Boxing Day Opening, please sign it:https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/petition-stop-shops-opening-boxing-17288455

Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE 

The Olde Curiosity Blog: Letters To Father Christmas? Here Is The Official ...

Mariah Carey at Christmas

Please have a look at a post from last year, get  those letters out to Father Christmas and who knows what may be under the tree on Christmas morning?



The Olde Curiosity Blog: Letters To Father Christmas? Here Is The Official ...: Father Christmas, found at: https://thegraphicsfairy.com/100-free-christmas-images/ It's that time of year when children are ask...

Christmas in #WW2, 1941

 

 Some more old footage from Youtube, this time Christmas in World War 2. Nowadays we have more than enough, Christmas has become overly commercialised with companies just out to make a profit. Due to hardship in wartime, the majority of people gave & received very little. How would people cope now, especially children if they received just a few small, often handmade presents? Not very well I'd think.

Edith Cavell #WW1 Heroic Nurse In The Great War

Edith Cavell with her pet dogs

Today is the birthday of the famous Nurse Edith Cavell, who was born on 4th December 1865, in Swardston, Norfolk. Her early years were idyllic, summers spent painting and drawing flowers in the summer and ice skating in the winter. She decided to become a nurse after successfully nursing her father through illness.She trained at the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel 1896 , completing her training in 1898. Edith worked in Shoreditch, Kings Cross & Manchester before leaving Britain for Belgium. She was Matron of Belgium's first training hospital & school for nurses. 

When war broke out Edith Cavell was in Norwich visiting family, instead of staying in Britain in relative safety, she felt it her duty to return to Brussels to treat the wounded. Often criticised for treating German & Austrian wounded, she also treated Allied soldiers in her care. helping over 200 soldiers escape to neutral Holland. Edith Cavell was shot on 12th October 1915 after being found guilty of treason, at a trial on the 7th October. Her death caused an outrage (although legal under international law), and her name was used as a recruitment symbol for the rest of the war.

More info here: Imperial War Museum, https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/who-was-edith-cavell
                         
                          Cavell Nurses Trust, https://www.cavellnursestrust.org/edith-cavell

Boyes Anti Tank Rifle #WW2

Stumbled across this excellent cartoon film, made with Disney, about the Boyes anti-tank rifle, used by Allied forces early in Second World War.

How To Make A Posset...

Ellen played by Helen Fraser serving a posset in BBC adaptation The Box Of Delights

Re. The Box Of Delights I stumbled on someone's blogpost on how to make a posset. If you have trouble sleeping its worth a try http://hypnogoria.blogspot.com/2011/12/box-of-delights-how-to-make-posset.html

Inspector in The Box of Delights, BBC, played by Charles Pemberton

But you young folks in this generation, you don't know what a posset is. Well a posset," said the Inspector, "is a jorum of hot milk; and in that hot milk, Master Kay, you put a hegg, and you put a spoonful of treacle, and you put a grating of nutmeg, and you stir 'em well up, and you get into bed and then you take 'em down hot. And a posset like that, taken overnight will make a new man of you!