This site is based on material I have gathered  for the compilation of Christmas entertainment for local churches and the studio theatre we established in 1985. The latter venue came about when the church in the hamlet where we live, was closed as part of a church redundancy programme throughout England.

The Christmas poetry section contains many Christmas poems by poets past and present. Unfortunately I cannot include all of the best poems I know of because of copyright limitations. This is mainly due to me having insufficient time to go through the process of contacting the appropriate publishers and writers for authority. However, many of these are sincerely worried about their poems appearing on the Internet and do not perceive the benefit of world wide exposure. You will find all kinds of poetry here, related to all aspects of Christmastime. 

The history of Christmas is a mixture of historical facts and informed speculation. You will discover in this section of the  web-site a brief history of how the festival of Christmas came into being and interesting facts like Christmas Day not always being celebrated on December 25th. There is also the description of The Nativity according to Saint Luke and also Saint Mathew's account of King Herod's reaction when he was told about the birth of Jesus. On that same topic, there's an interesting argument about the very first Christmas and the date on which Jesus Christ was born.

I am sure you will enjoy the brief selection of Christmas related prose. It includes some of my favourite extracts from the works of Laurie Lee and Flora Thompson. Their memories of Christmas in the countryside where they lived are absolutely charming and always add to my enjoyment of Christmas, as I hope they will yours.

By Christmas music I mostly mean Christmas carols. These carols include many  favourites ranging from the boisterous "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and "The Twelve Days Of Christmas" to the calm of "Away In A Manger" and "Silent Night. I have provided the words of each Christmas Carol and the music is also played on each page (If you turn on your speakers!) though the quality is limited to keyboard level. Wherever possible I have included a brief history of how the carol came to be written. This is not a complete selection of all the Christmas carols you may know, but it seems to cover most of the ones you are most likely to hear.

Christmas traditions abound throughout the Western world, many of which have their origins in ancient folklore and pagan beliefs. There are Christmas cards, Christmas crackers, Christmas pudding, Christmas trees, Christmas wreaths, Christmas presents, Christmas turkey and many games to be played specifically at Christmas. Then there are mince pies, Christmas mummers, the Yule log, Mistletoe, Holly and Ivy, Santa Claus and many more. The Christmas Traditions section describes the origins of some of them.

The Christmas Stories section is a relatively new to Christmas Time. Christmas is traditionally a time for story telling. So, I thought it would be a good idea to try and collect some short stories that relate to Christmas. These stories will mainly be creations of the imagination, but they could be commentaries, observations, personal diaries or whatever. We'll have to see what comes along. Do let me know if you have any ideas on this topic.

If you take the Christmas Illustrations link from the Words & Music section, you will get to the GIFs & Backgrounds page. This eccentricity is merely to give visitors a better chance of getting to this section, whichever key search word they use. You'll find masses of still and animated graphics via these links, covering every conceivable Christmas object. There are Christmas trees, Christmas borders, Father Christmas (Santa Claus), Christmas bells, Christmas decorations, Christmas holly and ivy, Christmas boxes and much more, all for your entertainment and creativity. However, do not forget, that before copying any of the images from these web sites, you must make sure that they are not copyright and/or permission is given to download them.

I hope the items in the Christmas Quotations section, mostly from bygone days, will add to your personal store of Christmas wisdom. These include two countering quotes that for some reason always stick in my mind. "A green Christmas makes a fat churchyard" and "Ice that will bear a man before Christmas will not bear a goose after". I can almost hear some gnarled old countryman saying them.

I started the Christmas Comedy section two years ago and it's been difficult to find new material. My favourite is "Christmas Fruit Cake" which we regularly include in the Christmas Party Show we stage every year. With the right reader (Preferably an actor) this can be hilarious.

One particularly nice thing about Christmas is that most of us have the opportunity of enjoying food that we don't normally eat at any other time of year. It's not just the absence of Christmas delicacies throughout the rest of the year that makes them special, it is also the wonderful richness of the seasonal food. It is the one time of the year when most of us can reassure ourselves with those bold words "What the hell, it's only once a year". In this section you will find several well tested Christmas recipes used by my wife and collected from our friends, such as Christmas pudding, plum pudding, Christmas cake, brandy butter and figgy pudding. I am sure you will enjoy them very much.

This is not an e-commerce site, but I have spent a lot of time wandering around Amazon's virtual shop to identify items they stock that will make good value Christmas presents. I have done this so you don't have to. If you make a purchase through Christmas Time you pay the same price as you would by going direct and spending lots of your precious time searching for something suitable. If you choose the Christmas Time route I get a small commission and who knows, maybe I'll cover my ISP fee this year? You can shop at Amazon's UK store or in the USA. It's up to you. I have discovered a wide range of beautiful Christmas books, Classical and popular Christmas music, the latest releases of Christmas videos and DVDs as well as your old favourite Christmas films, Christmas toys and Christmas gifts especially for children, PC and video games and the latest computer software. It really is a very convenient way to shop. Amazon will even gift wrap any gift you buy and send it direct to the lucky recipient. Just think of all the time you could save, instead of dragging around town and braving the crowded stores, with no real idea of what you're looking for.

So, that's a brief overview of the topics covered by the Christmas Time web-site. I hope you enjoy your visit.

Kind regards.

Al'

P.S. I have put this bank of hyperlinks here just in case there is any particular section of the site that you wish to access directly from here.  A

~the true spirit of Christmas ~