Christmas Cracker!
The craft fair was in full swing by 3:30pm with the hall filled with eager parents and children looking for Christmas gifts on the fully stocked stalls. Children queued patiently for the grotto to see Santa in the hope that they were on his Nice list.
At 5:45pm the craft fair ended and Santa and his elves led the school choir through the twinkly woodland walk in the lantern parade to the Christmas tree where Santa was reunited with his sleigh.
This year, the Christmas tree lights had to be installed with the help of a cherry picker as it had grown somewhat over the last year. The multi-coloured lights were switched on by the Villager of the Year, David Gaygan. The tree shone bright and did not disappoint.
In a change to the billed singer due to illness, the wonderfully talented Claire Coupland sang Christmas carols for the villagers. Her beautiful voice belted out the most popular Christmas favourites. In addition, this year we were spoilt as we also had carols sung by the primary school Choir and the 24 children sang their hearts out, it was beautiful to see and hear.
Festive treats of mince pies, Christmas biscuits and sweets were enjoyed accompanied by a cup of mulled wine, cider and juice to warm everyone through.
It truly was a great start to the Christmas season and another nice community gathering for the village: this year’s turnout far exceeded last year’s.
Overall, the Christmas Cracker event was a resounding success. The money raised has been given to the primary school to put towards buying new playground equipment.