Christmas issue

COUNTRYSIDE ▯ HISTORY & HERITAGE ▯ CRAFT ▯ COOKERY ▯ GARDENING ▯ TRAVEL
www.landscapemagazine.co.uk
Life at nature’s pace
Christmas 2017
CHRISTMAS
WISHES
Creating pictures in scarlet
Vintage boxes full of stories
Golden flowers of Christmas scent
1

Contents
Christmas 2017
100
106
In the garden
In the kitchen
90
Craft
10 Scarlet houseplants
16 Shrub with scent of Christmas
22 Frozen bowl of beauty
58 A natural wreath
90 Mistletoe decorations
40 Cranberry loaf
42 Suppers for Christmas Eve
46 Orange stuffed turkey feast
52 Fire and ice dessert
56 Regional & Seasonal:
The Charles Bathurst Inn
35 Garland of robins
71 A ruler Christmas tree
72 Matchbox Advent calendar
82 Warming blanket to crochet
88 Buttoned-up bottle
96 A picture from fabric scraps
4

71
46
26
22
Country matters
History and heritage
Regulars
64 Boxes filled with stories
76 Capturing fronds of the sea
84 A passion for perfection
100 The Christmas wren
26 Panto fun and traditions
106 Historic city with festive spirit
116 Ringing in the carols
6 Readers’ letters
8 Our LandScape
25 In the garden
54 In the kitchen
62 Subscription offer
74 In the home
120 UK events
5

Synonymous with Christmas,
poinsettias bring a blaze
of colour to a seasonal
arrangement. Their hardy
bracts sit well with pine twigs,
cones and ivy (this page).
Crimson and red fuse in
glowing cyclamen petals
(opposite page).
10

PICTURE IN
SCARLET
Whether in pots or as cut flowers and
decorations, bright red houseplants create a
splash of festive colour in the home
11

FROM MIME
TO DAMES
AND HEROES
The traditional pantomime has a centurieslong
history behind it – oh yes it has!
A
BRIGHTLY DRESSED LINE of characters fills a
stage with colour and song as they reach the climax of a
show that has involved music, dance, comedy, heroes
and villains. Down in the auditorium, the captivated
audience has spent the last two hours cheering, booing, hissing,
clapping, singing and shouting with excitement.
For more than 40 years, members of the Burton Amateur Stage
Entertainers (BASE) in Staffordshire have been delighting local
audiences with their interpretations of much-loved pantomimes.
Their annual show is filled with comedy, slapstick, song and dance.
The hero and heroine are guaranteed a happy ending, while the
villain is destined to get his comeuppance. Together with amateur
and professional theatres across the country at Christmastime,
these actors are following in a quintessentially British tradition that
goes back for centuries.
A developing art
It is hard to pin down exactly what makes a traditional panto, as it
is constantly changing and evolving. Innovation and novelty have ›
26
Jack and the Beanstalk
was one of the first
pantomimes to be
developed. This 1930s
poster shows the classic
principal boy, played by a
girl (left).
The finale of Sleeping
Beauty performed by
Burton Amateur Stage
Entertainers (top right).
Children enjoying a show
(right); Mother Goose
and the panto dame at
Aberystwyth Arts Centre
(centre and far right).

flavour
Celebration of
Soft bread imbued with the taste of Christmas, savoury
suppers for the evening before the big day, a turkey with a
hidden delight and the perfect dessert for a feast
38

A WELCOME
WOVEN
IN NATURE
A traditional Christmas wreath
is simple to make using
materials from winter’s bounty
58

76

FRONDS OF FLUIDITY
Inspired by strands of seaweed, metalwork artist Sharon McSwiney
creates patterned and iridescent works of art

100

TINY SINGER
WITH REAL
PRESENCE
ON A BRIGHT, cold December
day, the early morning stillness is
broken by a small movement at
the base of the frost-tinged
shrubbery. Moments later, a tiny bird
appears. Plump and brown, a wren moves
along in sudden, jerky movements, hopping
from one spot to the next. All the while, it is
on the lookout for the insects it needs to
survive the winter.
As it emerges from the shade, it hops up
onto the rockery. Once in full view, the
subtleties of its patterned plumage can be
seen. In varying shades of brown, each
feather is edged with buff, black or grey.
The wren is Britain’s most common bird,
with almost eight million breeding pairs,
and yet can be overlooked as it feeds
unobtrusively.
No other garden bird, however, has its
distinctive stumpy shape. With its slender
bill and cocked tail, it is easy to identify,
even in silhouette. And at this time of year,
it is far more noticeable than during the
spring and summer months. The short
daylight hours of winter mean wrens must
search for food from dawn to dusk. ›
The wren’s distinctive song consists of a loud
rattling call and warbling sound.
With a loud voice and pugnacious attitude,
the wren is a popular inhabitant
of the garden, easily spotted in winter
101

ENFOLDED IN HISTORY
106

Within the walls of the ancient fortified city of Chester, the warm
sandstone buildings glow under winter skies at Christmastime
107

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