[dotti34]

I was thinking how things have changed over the years. My mother did not believe in buying on credit so six months before Christmas she would join a club and pay in to this every week, maybe 6d a week - whatever she could afford. Then on Christmas Day I would find a pillow-case at the bottom of my bed and in it would be an orange, hazelnuts - that my dad had collected from the hedgerows, and maybe some Brazil nuts. There was always a book and also a present that I could use or play with. Very precious to me.

It was an exciting occasion and I guarantee that my pillow-case of goodies meant more to me than what all the fancy and expensive presents that children get these days mean to them.

My mother would also buy a bottle of wine, the only one bought all year, and this would be something very special for Christmas. A goose for Christmas lunch, and the goose grease saved for its many uses. Nothing wasted.

Christmas was not commercialised like it is today – would’ve been pointless because people did not have much money anyway.