Advent windows #4

Saltaire's Advent Windows #4

Here are two windows inspired by books. The first book is Jackie Morris's 'The Unwinding and other Dreamings'; not one I'm familiar with but it's a beautiful window and, no doubt, a lovely book. Jackie Morris, writer and illustrator, is perhaps more famous for the book 'The Lost Words', a collaboration with Robert McFarlane. It illustrated words like bluebell, conker, heron, acorn and kingfisher that were culled from the Oxford University Press Junior Dictionary to make room for more 'modern', urban words. 

(See, our Advent Windows are an education as well!) 

The second literary offering is more commonly associated with Christmas, being a depiction of 'The Snowman' by Raymond Briggs, made even more famous by the animated film that now gets reliably trotted out on TV at some point over the Christmas break. 

 

Advent windows #3

Saltaire's Advent Windows #3

Here are two more windows whose value is enhanced by the inevitable cars parked outside! The top one, depicting the Three Wise Men journeying through the starry desert night, happens to be one of my personal favourites this year. It's simple and yet full of impact - and I always love those iconic arched windows, found on many buildings throughout our village. 

Below is a continuation of a series by 'Veg on the Edge', our community gardening group. A variation on the well-known Christmas song 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree', here it starts with a parsnip. They're going to need a bigger window every year to complete this!  

Advent windows #2

Saltaire's Advent Windows #2

Tonight's window depicts a very familiar scene from our village itself: the famous cobbled street known as Albert Terrace (after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's consort), one of the oldest areas of the village, completed in 1854. It runs along the northern boundary of the residential area, parallel to the railway line. At the far end you can see the tall chimney of Salts Mill's boilerhouse. It looks like it might be snowing... lots of people long for a white Christmas (not me!) The couple look well wrapped up against the winter chill. And it wouldn't be Saltaire without a cat, would it? 

These days it also wouldn't be Saltaire without a car (or fifty!). The lone red car in the picture would, in real life, be joined by many more. Given how narrow our streets are, the parked cars do make it quite difficult sometimes to get a good photo of each illuminated window. I've have, however, learned that sometimes incorporating the cars into my photos makes for an interesting effect, as they reflect the lights for added value.

I always think it's particularly generous of the folks who live in the smaller terraced houses to host an Advent Window. It usually means their sitting room window is blocked and has no view of the outside world for much of the month. Given that they usually only have one window at the front and back downstairs, it must feel a bit claustrophobic. 

Advent windows #1

Saltaire's Advent Windows #1

Anyone who has followed my blog for a year or more will know that for the past eighteen years, the village of Saltaire has, every December, turned itself into a giant Advent Calendar. Village residents and businesses create beautiful, imaginative, illuminated scenes in their windows and one or two new windows are unveiled each night, from the 1st to the 24th of December. It has become a wonderful tradition and has led several other places, both in the UK and abroad, to adopt a similar ritual. 

I love to explore the trail round our dark streets, looking for the lights, photographing them and sharing my favourites here. 

We'll start with two windows in Saltaire's Methodist Church, created by Saltaire Art Group. Practised and professional, their displays always have real flair. This year's offerings combine bold silhouettes and gorgeous colours, both sure-fire winners for creating impact.

 

Haworth at night

Away from the bright, festive lights of Haworth's Main Street, the rest of the village looks almost as though it's unchanged from when the Brontë family lived here. (It's not unchanged, of course, but it is certainly atmospheric in the dark.) You can imagine Charlotte tripping home along the cobbled street from the schoolroom where the sisters taught (on the right above) to the Parsonage, the house at the top of the lane. (It has had an extra wing added since they lived there: the gable-ended bit on the right.)

The Parsonage looks out over the graveyard and the church, where Patrick Brontë was the minister. 

Church Street, still cobbled and very narrow, links the church and parsonage to the Main Street.

Festive Haworth

My extended family had a festive meal out in Haworth one evening, to coincide with the traditional Torchlight Procession. Haworth, the village where the literary Brontë family lived, is always atmospheric and especially so with the Christmas lights twinkling. 

The Torchlight Procession is a long-standing tradition, though these days seems rather watered-down. People process up the main street, carrying flaming torches, and stopping at intervals to sing Christmas carols. At one time people dressed up in Victorian era clothing and there were Morris Dancers as well as a brass band. There was a band and there were a few flaming torches, and lots of LED star wands, but I didn't really see any Victorian costume or dancers and even the carols were rather muted. The weather was pretty foul - wet and windy - so maybe that had an effect. 

The light shines...

I'm always glad that Christmas in the northern hemisphere comes at the darkest time of the year. The Christmas lights certainly help to brighten our gloomy nights. It gets dark here before 4pm at this point in December. 

The Christmas tree in front of the Victoria Hall looks much the same year after year and could arguably do with a few more embellishments! It's about all Saltaire can muster in terms of festive lights, though of course our annual Advent Windows are underway... more of which, later.

An illuminated star in my church's chancel promises the Light that is to come into our world. It's the herald of a lot more Christmas decoration to be arranged over the coming days, in the run up to our Christmas services. 

Meanwhile, this is my little acknowledgement of the season... It's the first actual Christmas tree I've had for near on thirty years, my previous sitting room being far too small for such frivolity. I always made do with a little wooden structure, made in Germany, on which hung various tiny toys, angels, snowmen. I wasn't sure I could be bothered to decorate this year, but my daughter put some pressure on me! (She loves Christmas and always has her tree up as soon as she can decently do so.) Anyway, in the end I'm quite pleased with this. There is something welcoming and heart-warming, too, to come home to my apartment block glowing with lights in people's windows and LEDs draped over the balcony railings. 

In our rather dark world, there's a lot of comfort in the light. 

'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.'  John 1:5

A little light fun

I was sitting reading at home when I noticed this pattern of reflected light on my wall. I'm not even sure what was creating it. Sunlight off a puddle perhaps? It seemed rather fun, so I took a photo and slightly changed the tone and colour with my processing software. You can imagine it might be all kinds of things.... let your imagination run riot. We have a 'Minimalist' competition at my camera club early next year. This could be a contender. 

More Christmas trees

More from St Paul's Church's Christmas Tree Festival: 

There were gingerbread men in abundance, appropriately enough, on the tree decorated by Shipley Area Gingerbread, an organisation that supports single-parent families. 

1st Shipley Guides, Shipley CE Primary School and Wellington House Nursing Home brought the generations together in a row of trees in the side aisle. 

The HALE Healthy Living Project Helps people to live healthier lives, in an area that has high health inequalities and low incomes. Shipley Area School Uniform Support, run by the Salvation Army, provides affordable recycled school uniforms for all our local schools, to support families with the often quite high cost of kitting out growing children. 

Most of the trees had beautiful hand made ornaments, like the rainbow circles on the tree above for the 1st Shipley Rainbows. They're a group for girls aged 5-7, before they are old enough to join Brownies and Guides. They work in a similar way, with 'badges' for learning new skills. The 1st Shipley Brownies (below) made good use of old socks! 

It's heart-warming to know just how many charitable and community groups operate in our area. These represent a huge number of volunteers, all putting in lots of time to encourage and support our young people and those with particular needs.

Christmas Tree Festival

Quite a few churches these days seem to hold Christmas Tree Festivals, and St Paul's Church in Shipley was open one evening for the viewing of trees sponsored by local clubs and charitable organisations. It was foul weather that day - snow in the morning and then heavy rain later - so I nearly didn't go, but in the end the effort was worth it.  There were about thirty trees on show and the atmosphere was warm, festive and friendly. Mulled wine and mince pies were offered, though I didn't indulge. 

The 'book tree' (above) was my favourite - offered by The Children's Society bookshop that featured in one of my posts last month.  The one prettily covered with blue and green fairy lights (below) was from The Activity Den, a community hub for wellbeing, health and fitness. 

Gingerbread men featured on the tree sponsored by our local CAP (Christians Against Poverty) debt centre.  I rather liked the autumnal branch cleverly decorated with sheet music folded into angels and garlands, a rather different 'take' on the theme.  It was sponsored by Shipley Recorders and Wycliffe Primary School Recorder Club - and I think it was a few of their members that were serenading the gathering from the choir stalls. 

Painting the Nativity

Our new vicar is wonderfully enthusiastic and encouraging, and the source of some great new ideas for 'being church' and community. She has decided we need a Christmas display outside church to attract people's attention and invite them in - a series of characters in the Nativity story, with new figures added as we go through Advent. So we held an Action Day when people came together to paint, and to start to decorate the church inside. Our wonderful team of flower arrangers have made Nativity scenes on each window sill (which I'll show at some point later). 

I offered to join the painting team and I was given a plywood piece shaped like a donkey. Well, that was a challenge and I rather surprised myself by painting what I think turned out to be quite a credible young donkey. One lady said she thought he looked friendly, so that was a positive.  

At least I didn't make an ass of myself! 😆

One of our more talented artists created a beautiful shimmering angel. 

I had a minor role completing Mary's face...

Someone managed to give Joseph a rather wonderful golden-toned undergarment... very clever, as there was no gold paint. 

There's a slightly cross-eyed shepherd - and, of course, some sheep, two of which I turned my brush to: 

I suspect our version of the Nativity bears little relation to the actual scene of Jesus' birth. I can't remember seeing any fluffy white sheep in the Holy Land when I visited some years ago. In fact, their sheep and goats were virtually indistinguishable from each other. (Isn't there a Bible story about that?) 

Anyway, we tried! There's something quite pleasing about the naivety of it. (Naivety of the Nativity? Well, yeah...) 

Kingdom Wrestling

Always up for a new experience, I went to a pro-wrestling event held in my church. It was organised by Kingdom Wrestling: 'the UK's first faith-based pro-wrestling charity, using sports entertainment to transform lives and communities'. They have just moved into a room in our extensive church halls, from where they run groups for children and young people, women's self-defence classes, adult wrestling training and a support group for mens' mental health. It's a way of connecting with and providing community for people who would never normally come into a church. 

It seems to be working! There were well over 100 people in the audience, a lot of families. Our vicar welcomed people with a short sermon and prayer, so the faith element is forefront. It was all very noisy, partisan and exciting! I used to watch wrestling on TV with my dad but that's years ago and I'd largely forgotten all about it. It's a kind of athletic, performance 'theatre'. Each wrestler is a 'character' and there are 'goodies' and 'baddies' and associated storylines. There were bouts between pairs and foursomes, the teams including a few enviably fit young women, and then an ongoing contest between about 20 different wrestlers, who kept swapping in and out of the ring. There's music and lights, and lots of parading around and high-fiving the kids. The wrestling itself looked fearsome but you could see that the holds, kicks, punches and slams were all carefully controlled so, although they writhed about dramatically, I think little harm was done beyond perhaps a few bruises. The body-slams from height made a tremendous thud and really made the ring bounce! It was certainly entertaining. (See HERE for a proper explanation of the sport.)

'Pray, Eat, Wrestle, Repeat' was the logo on the club T-shirts. The top photo features Gareth Angel (the club's main organiser and heavyweight wrestling champion) and Jimmy Jackson, with referee Katie Crosby. My second and third pictures are Leonie Rose (women's champion) and Kiara; last one is Jack Johnson and - ooh, not sure, Andy Poole possibly?

I wasn't sure whether it would be possible to take photos, so I didn't take my camera. As you can see, it was pretty dark so my phone was struggling and most of the action shots were far too blurred to be useable. (Not sure my camera would have coped either.) These are the best of a bad lot! There were two TV crews there (French and Japanese, apparently). It's been getting a lot of publicity lately, even mentioned on 'Have I Got News For You' (a satirical/comedy TV quiz show) last week. 

There's a short YouTube video that explains it all brilliantly, HERE, and is worth watching. 

I'm glad I went, as I was very curious to see what went on. I'd go again, though perhaps not regularly... but I'm assuredly not the target audience! 

Settle

Settle is an attractive small market town in Ribblesdale, in the south of the Yorkshire Dales. It was originally a local rural centre, served by packhorse trails and drovers' roads but started to grow in the 17th century when a turnpike road was constructed to benefit the local textile trade and connect the area with the more industrialised towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire. The coming of the railway opened up the possibilities still further and the town became a centre for cotton spinning. Nowadays, tourism is the main focus, as the town is quite near the famous Yorkshire Three Peaks and attracts walkers. 

It's an interesting place to rootle around, with old buildings and narrow streets, some still cobbled. It fascinates me how the rooflines go up and down, buildings obviously shoe-horned in at various points of its history. 

My friend wanted to get a few things in Booths supermarket (a rather superior store), so I waited in the car, enjoying the scenery around. The newish flats opposite the car park looked very attractive (I now have a vested interest in apartment buildings!). They are part of the McCarthy and Stone chain... rather expensive. There's a two bed apartment for sale there at the moment for over £300,000, with an eye-watering service charge of over £5000 a year plus ground rent plus a car parking charge! (You can, however, watch cricket from the roof terrace, as it's next to the local cricket ground.)