The Parish Magazine December 2024

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around the villages — 1 28 The Parish Magazine — December 2024 HOME AND Garden — 1 A FOOT IN THE GARDEN Now for something completely different By Ray Puddefoot Take a daylight walk around your village when the weather is clement. Admire the evergreens and berries of winter in the gardens you walk past. See how many plants still have flowers even at this time of year. If you are admiring a neighbour’s garden and they see you, give them a merry wave and a thumbs up. For sure, inspiration for your own garden is all around us! THE DEEP WINTER Take time to look up at the conifers in our parks and gardens. The full beat of pines, cedars, giant redwoods, yews, firs, spruce and cypress trees gracing our landscape can be admired in the winter. Our largest regularly seen broad leaved evergreen is the holm oak, probably followed by the bay tree after which we are looking at smaller garden sized trees. Keep your eyes peeled for trees with coloured bark such as birch, acers, cherry, eucalyptus and plane trees. FESTIVE FLOWERS It always surprises me how many flowers can been seen over the festive period. Roses can often be found while viburnums tinus and camelias might be flowering. Hazel, witch hazel, its relative chimonanthus and mahonia can also be in flower. At ground level snowdrops, hellebores and cyclamen are welcome winter flowers occasionally accompanied by native primroses. Shrubs with coloured bark such as the dogwoods in red ‘westonbirt’, yellow (flaviramia) and ‘midwinter fire’ glowing in the low winter sun. In sunnier drier spots heathers and heaths can also be in flower during December. Eleagnus ‘Limelight Ray Puddefoot Mid-Winter Tasks — Pruning and planting are traditional winter jobs especially enjoyable when the sun shines. — Prune apples, pears, soft fruit and woody shrubs and roses. With roses I always cut out one old stem as low as possible every year. — Plant trees, shrubs, winter bedding like bellis, pansy, violets and bulbs in the garden or pots. — Tidy borders and lawns. — Weed and mulch your borders. Protect less-hardy plants with generous amounts of mulch around the base. Ray's December Top Tips — Enjoy winter foliage — Plant winter bedding — Plant trees and shrubs — Weed, Mulch and Tidy — Plan for next year Fruits of Euonymus Elatus A serene winter garden Ray Puddefoot Prostockstudio, dreamstime.com 135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 28 13/11/2024 10:15:45
HOME AND Garden — 2 Robin facts and fiction By Sally Churches Robins are always high up the popularity list for most people in the UK. In a 2015 poll, 37% of British people chose the robin as their national bird. It was more than three times popular than the barn owl, but why are they on the front of so many Christmas cards? Hanna Pasichnyk, dreamstime.com It probably arises from the fact that postmen in Victorian Britain wore red jackets and were nicknamed ‘Robins’, so the robin featured on the Christmas card is an emblem of the postman delivering the card. In 1861 the postmen’s uniform was changed to blue, but red has remained as the traditional colour of the Royal Mail, reflected in its vans and post boxes. However, there are several legends that actually link the robin to the Christmas story. One of these is that Mother Mary was worried that baby Jesus would get cold as the embers were dying in the fire. The other animals didn’t help but a plain, brown coloured robin assisted by flapping his wings so the embers glowed again. He then picked up some dry sticks and tossed them into the fire. As he did so a flame suddenly burst forth and burned the little bird’s breast a bright red. Mary praised the robin for all he had done, saying ‘From now on, let your red breast be a blessed reminder of your noble deed. You will be known throughout the universe as the messenger of the Christ child, the true herald of Christmas… and you will be part of the message of Christmas until the end of time and will always be known as the Christmas Robin’. (Shortened version of that written by Henry Livingston Jr 1748-1828, proposed uncredited author of The Night Before Christmas). Did you know? . . . — Male and female robins are similar in colouration. — Nearly 75% of robins will die before they are a year old, but after that their life expectancy increases. — Male robins exhibit highly aggressive territorial behaviour, many ending in fatalities. — In the 15th century the bird became known as Robin redbreast, (rather than just redbreast), when it was popular to give human names to familiar species. — Some sports organisations are nicknamed ‘The Robins’, typically teams whose home colours predominantly use red. — Due to artificial lighting robins will often sing at night. — The robin has twice been declared Britain’s national bird, the first time in 1960 and the second in 2015, but it’s not yet been made official. — There is an increase in robin numbers during the winter months with migrants from Scandinavia, Russia and Europe joining resident birds when the winters become too cold and food scarce in those places. — National Robin Day in the UK is on Saturday 21 December. The Parish Magazine — December 2024 29 HISTORY Was it really? . . . . . . 1,750 YEARS AGO on 25 December 274 that the Roman Emperor Aurelian founded the cult of Sol Invictus as an official religion. He erected a temple and declared 25 December a national holiday, to be known as the Feast of the Unconquered Sun. In 336, after the conversion of the Emperor Constantine, 25 December began to be celebrated by the church in Rome as the birthday of God’s Son. . . . 500 YEARS AGO on 24 December 1524 that Vasco da Gama, Portuguese explorer, died of malaria. He was the first European to reach India by sea. . . . 200 YEARS AGO on 21 December 1824 James Parkinson, British surgeon and politician, died. In 1817, he became the first person to describe Parkinson’s disease. . . . 125 YEARS AGO, on 5 December 1899 that Henry Tate, British sugar merchant and philanthropist, died. He established the Tate Gallery in London. . . . ALSO 125 YEARS AGO on 16 December 1899, Noel Coward, British playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, was born. His plays include Hay Fever, Private Lives, and Blithe Spirit. . . . ALSO 125 YEARS AGO on 22 December 1899, Dwight L Moody, famous American evangelist, died. . . . 80 YEARS AGO from 16 December 1944 — 16 January 1945 that the Battle of the Bulge (Belgium) took place. German forces launched a surprise assault on the Allies in the Ardennes Forest. It was their last major counteroffensive operation of the war. . . . 75 YEARS AGO on 13 December 1949 Jerusalem became the capital of Israel, replacing Tel Aviv. . . . 60 YEARS AGO on 19 December 1964 that the first coordinated nationwide protests against the war in Vietnam were held in the USA. . . . ALSO 60 YEARS AGO on 31 December 1964, Donald Campbell broke the world water speed record. He became the only person to break both the land speed record and the water speed record in the same year. . . . 50 YEARS AGO on 5 December 1974, the last episode of the TV comedy series Monty Python’s Flying Circus was broadcast in the UK. It had begun in October 1969. . . . 40 YEARS A GO on 26 December 2004 the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami took place. A massive undersea earthquake caused a devastating tsunami that swamped coastal areas in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and East Africa. It killed more than 230,000 people in 14 countries. . . . ALSO 40 YEARS AGO on 31 December 1984 that the Bank of England stopped producing one pound notes. They remained legal tender until 1988. 135 DECEMBER 2O24.indd 29 13/11/2024 10:15:46
Page 1 and 2: The Parish Magazine Magazine Parish
Page 3 and 4: Serving the communities of Charvil,
Page 5 and 6: The Parish Magazine — December 20
Page 7 and 8: the parish noticeboard — 1 Advent
Page 9 and 10: Lights shining in the dark! Corinne
Page 11 and 12: the parish noticeboard — 4 SHARIN
Page 13 and 14: parish noticeboard — 5 Father who
Page 15 and 16: parish noticeboard — 6 Nothing is
Page 17 and 18: feature — 1 Three Christmas quest
Page 19 and 20: feature — 2 Christmas pudding and
Page 21 and 22: feature — 4 At the beginning of t
Page 23 and 24: CHILDREN'S is welcome to we celebra
Page 25 and 26: around the villages — 1 arounD th
Page 27: around the villages — 1 around th
Page 31 and 32: THE SCIENCES The Parish Magazine
Page 33 and 34: CHRISTMAS christmas quiz David Pick
Page 35 and 36: THE ARTS — 1 Rev Michael Burgess
Page 37 and 38: THE ARTS — 2 Book Reviews — 2 D
Page 39 and 40: PUZZLE PAGE — 2 CROSSWORD 1 2 3 4
Page 41 and 42: CHILDREN'S PAGE The Parish Magazine
Page 43 and 44: Please mention The Parish Magazine

The Parish Magazine December 2024

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