Getting into the Christmas Spirit

Our house with festive lights and mistletoe on the front door

Yes, yes - I know. 

The long-promised post on the house has not yet come to fruition. There are a number of reasons for that, but I hope to finally publish something over the Christmas or New Year period.

In the meantime, I thought I would share some images of the lead-up to Christmas here in Ledbury, and the wider Herefordshire / Worcestershire region.

The mistletoe was a gift from a friend who, handily, has a tree in her garden that tipped over
in a storm... meaning the mistletoe can be reached without an industrial crane!

Our first festive event was the excellent Traditional Christmas Market in the grounds of Great Malvern Priory, only a 15-minute drive from home. I am pleased to report this was a very stylish market - a tat-free zone, with lots of high quality artisans selling delicious food and drink, handcrafted items and festive decorations. Unfortunately it was *very* wet and although we braved the stalls clad in rain jackets and armed with umbrellas, after an hour we decided we'd had enough. The Priory gave us some respite - it had been decorated, there were choirs performing, lots of activities for children and they even had a café set up. But due to the inclement weather outside, it was rammed, so not particularly conducive to lingering.

Still, we very much look forward to next year's market which - fingers crossed - might be blessed with better weather conditions.

We arrived at the Traditional Christmas Market at Great Malvern Priory just as it started to rain

Christmas carols with a difference:
the Worcester Ukele Club doing the honours at the Traditional Christmas Market, Great Malvern Priory

Now, on to Ledbury.

Man, this town loves a festival! Since we moved here in July there have been numerous large events where the main street is closed off to accommodate food vans, tractor parades, rides for the kiddies and musical performances. There must have been at least one each month, and of course Christmas is no exception.

Along with thousands of other locals, a few weeks ago we attended the Christmas Lights Switch-On. By way of entertainment there were a brass band accompanied by carol singers, Morris dancers and a local youth rock band. And of course the magical moment when the Town Crier (who attends the same 06:30 strength training circuit class that we do on a Wednesday morning) did the countdown and - * hey presto! *Ledbury was lit up, generating a spontaneous cheer from the crowd. What a joyful moment, and an interesting modern phenomenon. I can understand that in 'olden days' it was quite exciting when large-scale electric lighting was activated, but it's somehow pleasing that such a simple thing can elicit celebration, even in jaded old 2025.

One of the many food vans offering seasonal treats to the revellers of Ledbury,
at the Christmas Lights Switch-On

A member of Ledbury's canine residents, rugged up in his Christmas pudding festive jumper ♥️

Morris dancers shootin' the breeze before their next performance
at the Ledbury Christmas Lights Switch-On

Big crowds enjoying the festivities at Ledbury's Christmas Lights Switch-On
(this is the main street)

Just by luck we happened to be standing right underneath the fake snow blower
at Ledbury's Market Hall when it was switched on!

The Market Hall and Christmas tree do provide festive cheer on these cold, dark and long evenings

A couple of weeks later Ledbury hosted its special Christmas Late Night Shopping event. Stores across the town had decorated their windows and were serving mulled wine, Prosecco, mince pies and other treats to the hardy customers who braved what was, sadly, another windy and very wet evening. You've got to feel for the retailers as numbers were definitely down. The poor carollers were up an alley, huddled under the shelter of a canopy!

They woz robbed!
One of the local opticians has the best decorated window in Ledbury, but it was only a runner-up in the shopfront decoration competition.
(the winning window was rubbish... they must have paid off the judges, ha-ha)

The brass band stoically playing on under the shelter of the Ledbury Market Hall,
with the wind and rain all around them!

The Chocolate Box only opened its doors in November.
It stocks high-end (and very pricey!) chocolate and I hope it survives the current difficult financial environment

Black-and-white buildings in Church Lane, decorated for Christmas

More black-and-white splendour and festive decoration in Ledbury - the Feathers Hotel

At the top end of Ledbury's high street - we love the upper windows, each illuminated with a single star

This house is just opposite the top of our street.
They (and their neighbours) have done an elegant job of Christmas decorating!

In between the Christmas Lights Switch-On and the Late Night Shopping we very much enjoyed a wine tasting evening in the historic St Katherine's hall, once part of St Katherine's Hospital which was founded in 1232 by Bishop Hugh Foliot. The hall itself was built around 1330-40. This event was hosted by Hay's Wines, a superb specialist wine and spirits store just across the high street from the hall. What fun! Hard to beat an evening where a couple of hundred people lurch from table to table, enthusiastically sampling everything from fizz, white, rosé and red to dessert wine and port... and getting gradually more tipsy! Representatives from individual vineyards and wine wholesalers were available to advise on tipples from Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, the USA, the UK and even lesser known wine regions such as Georgia (former Soviet Union republic). There were spittoons provided but I only saw one person use one - and just the once, ha-ha!

Our festive season activities have not been confined to the local area. In early December we nipped over to the north-western side of Herefordshire to visit two National Trust properties near Leominster, about 50 minutes' drive from Ledbury but only 10-15 minutes' drive from each other.

We were fortunate to have one of those gorgeous, sunny-but-frosty winter days requiring hats, gloves and scarves, and Croft Castle was a sight to behold against a cerulean blue sky. We did a tour of the house, in which some of the rooms were decorated for Christmas in the Victorian style. Although there's been a building on the site from around 1085 when the estate was established by the Croft family and baronets, the current building dates from the 1660s. We also visited the lovely church, which actually pre-dates the house by several centuries.

Croft Castle and St Michael's and All Angels Church, on a gloriously sunny winter's day

The dining room of Croft Castle, decorated for Christmas in Victorian style 

The western side of Croft Castle, near Leominster

The bell tower of St Michael and All Angels Church (13th century)
- Croft Castle, near Leominster

The light-filled interior of St Michael and All Angels church with its ornate tiled floor
- Croft Castle

Berrington Hall was less impressive! Ugh - what a spectacularly ugly building in red sandstone, which Wikipedia rather kindly describes as having 'a somewhat austere exterior' but with 'delicate interiors.' We'll have to take their word for the latter, and that of the National Trust, because unfortunately we'd just missed the last of the guided house tours when we arrived. 

Pictured below are some of the Berrington Hall yew balls, which were relocated from another spot earlier this year and which immediately started to fail, due to the shock of transplanting combined with the driest spring and hottest summer on record. Still, the National Trust gardeners have made the best of a bad lot by decorating the brown Christmas pudding shaped balls as... giant Christmas puddings!

Berrington Hall, near Leominster, in all its 'austere' splendour - not to my taste!

Fine views from the exterior of National Trust property Berrington Hall
near Leominster, Herefordshire

A trail of destruction at Berrington Hall!
Ancient yew balls that were relocated earlier this year - the shock of the relocation,
combined with the driest spring and hottest summer on record, meant they have all but died...

...but at least somebody had the clever idea of dressing them up as giant Christmas puddings!

Another view of Berrington Hall (and another one of those damaged yew balls), near Leominster

Today we've jaunted over to the Oxfordshire part of The Cotswolds to meet up with dear friends Roy and Tracey for a pre-Christmas lunch. I don't think we'd been to Burford for possibly ten years or so, and gosh how nice it was to be reminded that it is a very charming town. We had an hour to wander up and down the high street and its surrounds before our booking, and I spent no small portion of that time ooh-ing and aah-ing at beautifully decorated windows and gorgeous Christmas wreath-clad front doors of cute cottages. That golden Cotswolds stone takes some beating when it comes to architecture.

A very pleasing wreath on a lovely Cotswold cottage in Burford
- The Vicarage

The Church of St John the Baptist in Burford, Oxfordshire

These Burford people really know how to decorate a front entrance!
And just look at that Arts & Crafts wall lantern... *swoon*

One of Burford's lovely gift stores along its high street

A long avenue of pollarded trees and golden Cotswolds stone cottages
- Burford high street

Our lunch venue - the cosy and welcoming The Angel pub in Burford

Festive splendour around the specials board in the bar area of The Angel in Burford, Oxfordshire

We have invited about ten of our neighbours to Christmas drinks on the 22nd of December and we're looking forward to having more than just the usual quick doorstep conversation. The people in the street are a friendly bunch but when we see each other, one of us is always just about to head off somewhere, or we are halfway up a ladder cutting back a shrub etc. We have fingers crossed for our sitting room ceiling, a big chunk of which fell onto the floor a few weeks ago, followed by a steady ingress of rain. The leak has been repaired, but the 125-year-old lath-and-plaster ceiling is being completely replaced the week prior to our little soirée, and we have doubts that we'll manage to get it painted before the New Year...

As for Christmas itself, we'll be spending it in a small cottage in the picturesque Lake District village of Troutbeck, which is not far from Windermere. We have Christmas Eve dinner booked at the local pub, with hopes that it won't rain *every* day (it's a very wet part of the country), though if it's cold enough for the rain to turn into snow we'll be happy indeed.

And finally, a few more random festive shots...

One of Great Malvern's nicest gift stores has a whole basement level
dedicated to Christmas decorations!

Impressive decorations from this coffee place in nearby Hereford

'The Vegan Yorkie'
- lunch with former London work colleagues Julianne and Sam, at the Malbury Café, just 5 mins from home.
It's essentially a giant Yorkshire pudding filled with roast vegetables and vegan sausages! ♥️

15th century local pub The Prince of Wales, looking splendid for Christmas

Well, hopefully these images have helped to get you in the Christmas spirit, particularly those of you in Australia who are already suffering through extreme heat and bushfires. Here's hoping there is some relief in sight for you.

Wishing my readers a Christmas that brings you joy, whether that's a big family gathering or a quiet little celebration like ours. And particular thanks to friends and family abroad who send cards and gifts each year. It reminds us that, though we are very far away, we have people who love us scattered across the world.

Winter sunrise through the mist in Ledbury
(taken from a moving car on the way home from our obscenely early weights-circuit class)

Until next time,

- Maree  xo

Breaking the silence (what we've been up to in the past six months)

 

A spooky view of Frensham Heights School
during our one properly cold week of winter (December 2023)

Well, the blog posts have been few and far between in the past six months - in fact, there hasn't been a single one during that period.

The reason is that I've barely travelled anywhere since our very brief trip to Stavanger in August 2023. Although we love her to bits, since we took her into our home a couple of years ago our cat Daisy May has really impacted on our ability to go away together. Also, I returned to the paid workforce in October, following a career break of about six months, and although that was only supposed to be a temp job for about a month, they kept asking me to stay on longer. I've actually just decided to leave that job, so once more I am at leisure until the next paid gig.

Despite having not been able to travel, we have kept very busy in a number of other ways. In the past six months we seem to have crammed in about two years' worth of plays, concerts, exhibitions and film events. 

Wowsers. This film is just extraordinary.

There have been some cracking films released during 2023 / early 2024, and I heartily recommend the following to you, if you haven't had a chance to see them yet:

• Past Lives: Ooh, what a lovely, gentle film from Korean-Canadian director Celine Song. A tale of two friends exploring what might have been, had they not been separated as children. Just beautiful.
  
  
• The Eternal Daughter: Starring one of my favourite actors, the always wonderful Tilda Swinton, this latest collaboration between Tilda and director Joanna Hogg (they work so well together - ref. The Souvenir) is a spooky, emotive journey through a mother-daughter relationship, with Tilda playing both roles. Set in a fog-enveloped, rambling and deserted country mansion, this has echoes of gothic horror.
  
  
• Poor Things: Holy cow, what a bold piece of filmmaking from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos! This is unlike anything I've ever seen before, and with my eclectic taste in film, that's saying something. Quite a lot of nudity and a number of sex scenes, but they are 'essential to the plot' and the performance from Emma Stone is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking.
  
  
• Anatomy of a Fall: From French director Justine Triet, and starring the superb Sandra Hüller (German actress starring in two highly nominated films in the past year, the other one being The Zone of Interest). This is an intense exploration of the death of the lead character's husband, set in the beautiful French alps and mostly in English but with some French.
  
  
• Wicked Little Letters: Not for those of you easily offended by foul language! Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley are sooooo good in this tale set in a small West Sussex village in the 1920s. Absolutely hilarious, but if swearing upsets you, please do avoid (again - essential to the plot; the whole film is about anonymous letters filled with foul language).
  
  
• And, of course, Perfect Days: The latest offering from my favourite director, Wim Wenders. This beautiful film has his signature all over it - it's a quiet, slow-moving journey into the daily life of a toilet cleaner in Tokyo. See further below for details on our viewing of this one at the Curzon in Soho.
  
  

Wim Wenders' most successful film for some years.
It's been nominated for, and won, quite a few awards across the globe

Back in October I joined my friend Roy in attending the Howard Jones 40th anniversary concert at the London Palladium. Some of you will probably know that Roy and I were originally introduced to each other as pen-pals in 1990 (pre internet/email!) by none other than Howard's mother, Thelma Jones. She ran his fan club for decades and some of the luckier members were the recipients of her incredible kindness. Having discovered we had many compatible musical and other interests, Roy and I have been best friends ever since, through thick and thin. 

The evening was quite emotional for me and many others as we relived the songs that shaped our teenage and early adult years, and beyond. It was spine-tingling when the capacity audience sang along, all of whom appeared to know every word of every song. Howard, a vegetarian since his teens and fully vegan for the past five years, is the person responsible for me becoming a vegetarian in the mid 1980s. I'd thought about it since my teenage years but my love of Howard's music, some of which addressed issues like factory farming, and the example of him as a warm, thoughtful and caring person, were the catalysts.

And yes, it really has been *forty years* since HoJo's first single New Song was released and those fabulous haircuts inspired a million imitations. Do you feel old?

Outside the London Palladium, venue for HoJo's 40th anniversary concert

Howard Jones and his band - 40th anniversary concert at the London Palladium

Howard Jones, 40 years on: still rocking great clothes and hair!

The glorious interior of the London Palladium

Just before Christmas Kevin and I nipped into London to see an exhibition related to the Accidentally Wes Anderson phenomenon, in a small gallery in South Kensington. As regular readers will know from previous Tunnels of Green posts, I am a huge fan of idiosyncratic film director Wes Anderson. I'm not alone in this, and a number of years ago two people started an Instagram account where they posted photos of locations and items that echo Wes's style. Lo and behold, travellers from all across the globe started sending them similar photos. The Instagram account exploded, then came a book published a couple of years ago, and now the exhibition. Why do we love these images? They're nostalgic and exotic, and hint at a world that is now lost to us. At least, that's how I feel.

Entrance to the Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibition in South Kensington, London

One of my favourite Accidentally Wes Anderson images.
This was taken at the Seehof Herrsching, a hotel along the Ammersee lake in Upper Bavaria, Germany

One of the most well-recognised images from the Accidentally Wes Anderson collection:
Hotel Belvédère along the Furka Pass in Switzerland.
The hotel appeared in the James Bond film Goldfinger, but despite its fame, sadly closed in 2016.

Hotel room keys from the Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibition in London

Rorbu cabin in Lofoten, Norway:
one of the beautiful images from the Accidentally Wes Anderson exhibition in London

Whilst in London we took the opportunity to look at the city's Christmas lights, though we didn't bother heading to Regent Street as the decorations there have been the same for quite a number of years. London around Christmas time is absolutely thronged with people, as the photos below show.

Covent Garden's Christmas tree

Festive decorations inside the Apple Market at Covent Garden.
As you can see, it was rammed with Christmas shoppers!

A more unconventional take on Christmas decorations in Carnaby Street, London.
Once again... the hordes!

The skyline of London just before Christmas, viewed eastwards along the Thames from Waterloo Bridge 

In Trafalgar Square, London:
Every Christmas Norway gifts to the UK a spruce, in gratitude for the support provided during WW2

Our own Christmas celebrations were once again a fairly modest affair, given that we are unable to travel to Norway. We enjoyed one of the best meals of our lives on Christmas Eve at a gastro-pub in nearby Guildford, The March Hare. For a number of years we'd passed by The March Hare on our way to visit Guildford Castle, or on regular shopping trips there (Guildford is only about 20 minutes away from home by car), and I'd always comment 'Ooh, that looks like a lovely pub.' And indeed it was. We were blown away by the vegan and vegetarian options, the cosy interior design and by the professionalism of the staff on a very, VERY busy afternoon. The food was so impressive - utter perfection from the first cocktail through to the double espressos at the end of our three-course meal, as was the service.

On Christmas Day we had a late and leisurely breakfast and afterwards went for a long walk in the deserted, chilly streets. During the afternoon we lit many candles, opened a half-bottle of champagne and cooked up a feast whilst listening to my Christmas playlist. This was followed by a very good Italian red we had put by for a special occasion. It wasn't quite Norway, but it was relaxing and enjoyable.

Venue for our Christmas Eve dinner:
 The March Hare in Guildford, right next-door to Guildford Castle

The cosy interior of The March Hare in Guildford - before the hordes descended!

Kevin and his very artistically presented dessert at The March Hare

One of the best desserts of my life - a magnificent pistachio soufflé, light as a cloud,
served with super-chocolatey vegan ice cream

Every year I bake Christmas goodies to give to friends and neighbours.
This year I made chocolate-dipped hazelnut crescents (an Italian recipe)
and dark chocolate shortbread hearts half-dipped in more dark chocolate and
sprinkled with freeze-dried raspberry pieces
Even if I do say so myself, these were goooooood 😋

Perhaps the biggest highlight of the past few months was not only getting to see my favourite director Wim Wenders' latest film Perfect Days actually in a cinema (not easily achieved in the UK - to see foreign/arthouse cinema you usually have to schlepp in to a major city, which of course we did), but afterwards the director and the star of the film, Koji Yashuko, joined the audience for a Q&A session. I can't tell you how excited I was to be in the same room as Wim Wenders, the man whose film Wings of Desire changed my life back in 1988, and whose body of work was the subject of many essays as part of my Film Studies subjects at university.

The Curzon in Soho:
Venue for the screening of Wim Wenders' latest film Perfect Days,
followed by a Q&A session with the director himself

Wim Wenders (right) with the film's star Koji Yashuko (middle), and his translator

This image appears at the end of Wim Wenders' film Perfect Days.
'Komorebi' - what a fabulous word

We've had a dose of stargazing in our own little town of Farnham. Hugh Bonneville, star of Downton Abbey, the Paddington movies and a whole swathe of other film, TV and theatre productions, was interviewed in front of a live audience in our town's lovely and historic St Andrew's Church, as part of the Farnham Literary Festival. Hugh has recently published his memoirs (Playing Under the Piano) and kept the audience entertained with anecdotes from his childhood and career. I am a massive Downton Abbey fan, so I wasn't going to miss this event which was only a ten-minute drive from home.

Venue for An Evening With Hugh Bonneville:
St Andrew's Church in Farnham

Not a great shot, but it's Hugh Bonneville, glass of red wine in hand and very relaxed,
regaling us with anecdotes from his memoir, Playing Under the Piano

Hugh Bonneville getting ready to sign copies of his memoir, Playing Under the Piano,
at St Andrew's Church in Farnham

Just a couple of weeks ago we joined good friends Roy and Tracey at the fabulous art deco Savoy Theatre in London for one of the season's hottest tickets, a production of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. Some of you will be old enough to remember the 1971 film of this play, starring Walter Matthau plus Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant, respectively, in three vignettes set in Suite 719 of New York's Plaza Hotel. In the production we attended at the Savoy, real life husband and wife Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker played the three sets of couples and, oh boy, they were fantastic! Sarah Jessica, in particular, I think surprised the critics with her excellent comedic talent which was very physical. That gal has funny bones!

Plaza Suite was the most expensive afternoon/evening we've ever had (I kid you not) but it really was memorable and hugely entertaining.

Façade of the Savoy Hotel, adjacent the Savoy Theatre, London

Entrance to the Savoy Hotel in London 

Seating inside the Savoy Theatre - art deco glory!

Surely the most expensive theatre bar in London...
downstairs in the Savoy Theatre

We've already had our first visitors from abroad for 2024, the adult daughter of close friends who live on the New South Wales south coast, accompanied by her own teenage daughter. They stayed a few days with us in February and as usual we enjoyed showing them around the local area, including a trip to Jane Austen's House in nearby Chawton, which was a big hit. 

We will be catching up with close friends from Canberra in the next couple of weeks, probably in either historic Castle Combe or London, and at this stage we're expecting at least another two or three sets of friends to stay with us between April and June. Not quite the frantic programme of 2023 but as always we are keenly looking forward to seeing our friends here in Blighty.

I probably should mention that early in the New Year I celebrated a 'significant' birthday, and of course I share my birthday with Daisy May, who turned 18 years old. I really was overwhelmed by the good wishes from friends and family across the globe, and as the day itself happened to occur on a Friday, about ten of us enjoyed an incredibly convivial evening at my favourite vegetarian/vegan restaurant, The Gate in Hammersmith. Our group was there for close to five hours but it only felt like two or three. Fab cocktails, the superb food we know to expect from The Gate, excellent wine and fantastic company - it was a really special evening for me.

Getting ready to leave for my 60th birthday dinner in London
[PS  I hated my hair. My usual hairdresser is on maternity leave and on the morning of my birthday
her replacement gave me the worst styling job I've had in decades.
I have now changed salons!!! 😡] 

Just a few of the floral bouquets and gifts I received for my 60th birthday.

As usual, Roy wins the prize for the most unique and appropriate birthday card!

The lovely Daisy May, who turned 18 years old the same day I turned 60

In the midst of this social whirl we've been trying to buy a house in Wiltshire, Somerset or Gloucestershire, and it's coming up to two years since we began this quest. It's not that we're being incredibly picky; we have made offers on two properties, but other buyers offered more money, and in the past year the property market has really slowed due to a number of factors, with many vendors deciding to hold off listing their properties while they wait for the market to recover. Things are starting to move a bit now as we head into spring, so fingers crossed the right property will present itself soon. The most difficult part of the search is that we have a 4-5 hour round trip to view usually a solitary property.

It has been a disappointingly very mild and wet winter here in the south-east of the UK, with only one week of properly cold weather at the beginning of December, absolutely NO snow, and only a couple of days of frost in February. Kevin actually got the mower out and had to cut the grass this week. With hardly a frost since December the lawn was 15cm high and vibrant green. Just incredible at the end of winter.

During the one and only week we had *proper* cold weather this past winter, 
we decided to start growing our own stalagmites 🤣
A slow drip from our garden hose created this little beauty overnight

So... hopefully that has filled in some of the gaps of the past 6-7 months, despite there not being any trips abroad to exotic locations. 

However, in fact I've just returned from four days in Stockholm, so expect another blog post about that sometime soon.

Though I'm less excited about spring than most people (because it means no more cold weather), 
springtime here in Surrey is pretty special.

Until next time,

- Maree  xo