I remember, I remember Christmas! Father Christmas used to wear something much more closely resembling the eiderdown from my parents' bed than any of the red suits he seems to wear these days. Not for him the gaily wrapped presents decorated with ribbons and tinsel, he favoured brown wrapping paper or a copy of the "Evening News" and parcels tied with string. Nor did he use the manufactured Christmas stockings or sacks that we see today. He used to steal three of Mum's old lisle stockings and stuff them like the Christmas chicken. They always contained an apple, an orange, a small bar of Nestle's chocolate, a wafer and sometimes a few sweets. Yet we looked forward to these stockings with such great excitement, deliberating in which order we would tackle the treats. There were no presents at the foot of the bed. These were reserved for after breakfast and our parents tried not to look too concerned as they attempted to assess the measure of glee we displayed. One present from mum and dad, one from Aunt Lucy and one from Nan and Grandad. I remember still the joy of the toy chocolate slot machine and the tin clockwork cars imprinted "made in Birmingham". Then the quick bath and spruce up before we set off upon the one journey in the year that nothing less than broken legs would ever prevent. We would walk the couple of miles to Kilburn and call upon Dad's mum where with luck we would collect a couple of shillings each from our aunts and then to Uncle Ern & Aunt Nina who were always good for a lemonade and half-a-crown! Off to Uncle Bert's then to Aunt Emmie and we would finish the morning having seen all our cousins and be as much as ten shillings richer. This money was carefully saved in our Post Office Savings Bank money boxes cleverly designed so that the coins would go in but would not come out! Periodically the boxes would be taken to the post office, opened with a key and the value of the contents entered into our Savings Books. I still have mine somewhere but don't all rush, there is nothing left in it! If we did not go to my maternal grandparents for Christmas dinner then we would eat at home, just the five of us. Usually it was chicken, sometimes beef. I remember the ''spin' that my mother put on it. "Much nicer than turkey", "Goose is so greasy", "There is never any meat on a duck", or, if all else failed, "Well I would get something else but Charlie prefers chicken". Oh, yes, I learned how to put a spin on things when Alistair Campbell wasn't even a gleam in his father's eye! And then we would do the washing up for Mum, play a game of cards or a board game and if we were lucky, another walk and we would join one of our grandparents or Aunt Emmie for an evening party. No wireless, no television, just a jolly good time and a sing-song. You remember this one. Are you ready now? All together ... If it is not too early may I wish you all the Happiest Christmas and a New Year of Peace and Joy. Len