Castel Matters, Issue 22 - Winter 2019 / Spring 2020

CASTEL
Meet Your
Douzeniers &
Deputies
Castel Douzeniers
2.
carols is Jethro Tull’s
Christmas Song or anything
from that album. His music
featured heavily in my youth
and if you can’t be nostalgic
at Christmas when can you?
Do you have a family
tradition that you carry out
over Christmas?
We asked three of Castel’s
Douzeniers four questions. Here are
the responses from David Chester,
Rhiannon Cook and John Cook.
1.
12
DC:
RC:
JC:
What is your favourite
Christmas song?
A pleasant, evocative
orchestral piece entitled
‘Sleighride’.
I love the traditional Christmas
Carols sung by a choir. At
school I sang in our Madrigal
choir and my favourite carol
is ‘In the Bleak Mid-Winter’.
I find the beautiful poem by
Christina Rossetti set to the
music of Gustav Holst very
emotional as I imagine Mary
cuddling her new-born. Every
mum will identify with that
special moment.
My favourite Christmas song
in addition to the traditional
DC:
RC:
JC:
The Guernsey Cheshire Home
Boxing Day Dip at Cobo
is a firm family tradition. I
personally instigated the first
Dip in 2000 and organised it
for some 17 years.
We keep one small gift on
a small Christmas tree to
be opened at the end of
Christmas Day. There can
be an anticlimactic feeling
at the end of the day as the
festivities draw to a close but
we keep one final surprise!
It is quite a challenge for me
to find something tiny for
the tree - especially for the
male members of my family.
Jewellery is always a good bet
for us females! Hint, hint!
I share with Rhiannon the
family tradition of the small
personal tree presents kept
until later on Christmas day to
open after the other festivities
have subsided.