Scene and Done

The Run Up to Christmas

December 2025

After a soggy stay in the Lake District, and after being away for three weeks, I was happy to be home in Hawes in our warm house with comfy chairs and excellent bathrooms.

The “run-up” to Christmas starts in November (and is ever earlier) in this country.  There is no American Thanksgiving holiday to provide a starting date, so retailers begin promoting their Christmas goods as early as possible, hoping to get people in a festive mood (and open their wallets).  Black Friday is a big day, with the same vast array of (mostly) junk and knockoffs, punctuated by the occasional genuine bargain that we find in America.  Depending on what you read, between a third and a half of people who purchase Black Friday “bargains”, regret it later.  No wonder retailers hope to get some Christmas income earlier, before folks have spent all their money.

Towns and villages put up festive lighting, and hold “switch on” street parties in early December.  Shops decorate their windows lavishly.  We are noticing a trend towards private homes with outdoor lights and decorations as well, with a few more each year.  Pubs and restaurants promote festive menus for the month, and grocery stores bring in all sorts of party specials.  Another tradition that we have not been aware of before now is Christmas “Tractor Runs”.  Yorkshire has a large farming community, and many of the small towns organize tractor runs.  Farmers decorate their tractors with lights and other Christmas decorations, and parade through the area after sunset.  The pictures and videos I have seen tell me that next year we must make a point of attending one of these amazing shows.

One of the small supermarket chains in our part of England, Booths, publishes a hard cover book full of stunning pictures of festive foods that you can order ahead or buy in store.  There are also a few interesting recipes.  Many supermarkets and local grocery stores bring in special appetizers, prepared vegetable dishes, and lavish desserts that can be pre-ordered and collected a few days before Christmas.

We have past experience with a Yorkshire turkey farm that feeds their turkeys on herbs.  The birds are delicious.   This year we decided to order the smallest size they offer, for delivery mid-month.  We put it into the freezer, and will be taking it with us to our accommodation in Dartmouth.  We know from experience that since covid, there are very few options for restaurant dinners on Christmas Day, so we decided to cook our usual festive meal on the big day instead of going out.

I spent time in the next couple of weeks making Christmas puddings and other food.  I like to leave home made Christmas puddings for our holiday let guests during the Christmas/New Years season.  I also planned a festive dinner party with friends and neighbours.  There would be eight of us.  I took a lot of time planning the menu and ordered racks of pork from the excellent grocery/butcher shop in Leyburn.  In anticipation of Sarah’s early December visit, I made soup and tried an experiment with pink chocolate mousse.

The first Christmas activity that I participated in was a Christmas Craft Fair at the auction house in Leyburn.  Large numbers of vendors set up and offer very high quality crafts, clothing, artworks, and even food.  I was invited to join our neighbours for the outing.  We looked around all the offerings, and then had lunch in the café.  I enjoyed the day out very much, although I was somewhat shocked at the rudeness of many of the shoppers.  Groups stood in the aisles and blocked the sales tables, and a surprising number of people (all women I might add) literally shoved me out of the way to get closer to the tables.  By the time I was ready for a coffee break I was thoroughly fed up and more than a little lacking in Christmas spirit towards my fellow man!  A pleasant lunch and good company helped to restore my equilibrium.

At last, December arrived, bringing Dick from his bachelor existence in Hilton Head, and starting our own festive preparations.

Dick flew to Manchester as usual, and rather than me driving down to collect him at the airport (which would have required a 6am start), he took the train from the airport to Oxenholme, in the Lake District.  This makes a much easier drive for me, just over an hour, and no motorways.  Unfortunately, the West Coast Line is notoriously unreliable, and, sure enough, a few minutes after Dick bought his ticket and texted me that the train was on time, it was cancelled.  By this time, I had already left home, so I did not see the text until I was already parked in one of the very few, much prized, limited-time parking spots outside the station.  Once I was made aware of the delay, I set off to find a place to have a coffee, and was happy to end up in the parking lot of a large Aldi.  Not our usual supermarket, but as I wandered around the aisles, I was pleased to discover that they carry Campbells soups.  I use them for cooking, and the English brands do not have the same taste and textures.

Eventually, Dick managed to get on a train that was stopping at Oxenholme, and he arrived at the station less than 2 hours later than his planned arrival.  He had a very long 23 hours, from being collected in Hilton Head to arrival at home in Hawes, and was happy to disappear for a long afternoon nap!

The next day was our Settle Bridge Club Christmas party.  This was the first one we were able to attend, and it was very enjoyable.  The meal (2-course lunch with 3 choices for each course) was excellent.  There were about 30 members in attendance, including a number who we have only met online in the past, so it was lovely to meet in person.  After lunch, the tables were separated, and a draw was made for partners for a 16-board friendly game of duplicate bridge.  Dick’s partner was delighted with the draw. She plays regularly on BBO, playing 5-card majors, and she managed to draw one of only 3 people present who can actually play that system.  My partner and I managed, as I adapted to a very basic version of Acol, but she is a conservative player, and I found her bidding somewhat challenging.  Regardless, we enjoyed the afternoon (but I will draw a line and will not reveal the final results of the duplicate game).

The next day we set off again for Oxenholme, to meet Sarah’s train (which fortunately was only a few minutes late) and begin our traditional Christmas lunch and shopping afternoon in Windermere and Ambleside.  We started in Lakeland, a small chain store, that in addition to very high quality kitchen and home goods, has an excellent café for lunch.  Our next stop was the Hayes Garden Centre in Ambleside.  They go all out for Christmas, with a huge main hall that is lavishly decorated and offers every possible Christmas decoration you could imagine.  We never come away empty handed.  Dick found an outdoor string of lights that is a flock of robins.  They sit on the outside dining table, looking as though they have just flown in and are pausing to admire the lights on the shed.  Clever wildlife experts among our readers may note that in fact, robins are both solitary and territorial, but I am sure that these fellows have been imbued with the Christmas spirit and are gathering for a party before going their separate ways in the New Year.

We brought our treasures home and settled down for a quiet evening.  The next day was the big push to decorate the house for the season.  Dick duly hauled out (and put together) the Christmas tree and the large tubs and boxes of decorations for Sarah and me to put up.  The tree looked beautiful, and I always enjoy setting up a “woodland” gathering on the sideboard.

Having discharged his sherpa duties, Dick retired to the study, with frequent naps in the bedroom, as he was coming down with a bad cold that he must have caught on his travels.  He tried very hard not to spread it, flitting around the house and avoiding Sarah and me as much as possible, even eating his meals in the study, but all to no avail.  In spite of extra vitamin C and my other sovereign remedies to ward off colds, I came down with it after Sarah left.  As always, it hit me harder than Dick, and I was tired and lethargic for days after the cold and cough were gone.

We had planned to participate in the Hawes Christmas Lights switch-on that evening.  The Hawes Silver Band plays Christmas carols in the market square, Santa arrives in a sleigh pulled by a beautifully decorated and lit up tractor, and the celebration finishes with a very nice display of fireworks.  Unfortunately, it was a wet day and evening, and after putting up decorations all day, Sarah and I were both feeling quite tired and disinclined to be outside in the rain, so we missed the show.  I saw some clips on social media later, and it went ahead, although the usual crowds were missing.

Hawes is looking very festive, even during the day.  The yarn bombers have outdone themselves this year.  In addition to the usual tiny caps on the fence posts beside the pavement (sidewalk), there is a life-sized Santa and reindeer with a large pile of presents and elves outside the market hall.  The post box has a topper with a nativity scene.  There are three, near life-sized (or perhaps they are life-sized, do we really know?) elves sitting on the parapet of the bridge, and another Santa is surfing down the waterfall on Gayle Beck.  There are lights strung across the roads, the market hall is lit up, and there are Christmas trees above the shops and a large tree at each end of the town.

Meanwhile, Sarah and I continued with our planned Christmas activities.  We had tickets for a Christmas concert and carol singing at the auction house in Leyburn, and had booked Sunday lunch in the bistro beforehand.

We both started with prawns Marie Rose (small shrimp in a tomato mayonnaise sauce for our American friends), served with crisp toast and sundried tomatoes.  Sarah had seabass, and I enjoyed an interesting cauliflower steak with cheese sauce.  The presence of a (very nice) Yorkshire pudding was a little odd, but we have noticed that these days Yorkshire pudding is offered with just about any main dish, and is considered non-optional for Sunday lunch, so I should not have been surprised.  Desserts were chocolate mousse for Sarah and sticky toffee pudding for me.

We were surprised that we did not have enough time to look around the auction rooms before it was time to queue for the concert.  For reasons that were more about acoustics than comfort of the audience, the seating was set up in the hallway.  There were no reserved seats, so everyone had to queue up.  We joined the line, and it soon began moving, as a gentleman checked tickets.  Then it slowed and came to a halt.  We had been told that programs were to be collected from a table on the left.  As we stood waiting, suddenly about 30 people rushed past those of us in line and poured into the hall, of course bagging all the best seats.  I stopped a woman and she told me the man who was checking tickets had said if they didn’t want a program, they should just go past.  However, nobody told the man at the program table, who was busy requiring every attendee to pay a “donation” of a pound and take a program.  When someone tried to pass, he rushed after them and told them the program (and donation) was not optional.  At this point, Sarah and I slid past the holdup and found seats, but by then we were in the back of the hall.

The concert was excellent, with the first part of the program being Christmas themed classical music.  After the interval, and a couple more pieces, the choir arrived and took their places and sang some carols.  At last, it was time for the audience participation.  The choirmaster did a great job of directing, and everyone sang with grand enthusiasm.  When it was time for Good King Wenceslas, the choirmaster asked the male/alto members of the audience to sing only the king’s parts, and the female/soprano members to sing the page’s lines.  To my vast surprise, it went off very well, with all the right voices singing their parts and nobody messing up.  Sarah and I both enjoyed the concert and the singing.  The only downside, and it was a big one, was the seating.  The orchestra and choir did not even have a raised platform, so all we could see was the tips of bows of the violins, and the tops of the musicians’ heads.  When everyone stood up for the last carol it was even worse!  I don’t know whether I would buy tickets again without asking careful questions about the seating arrangements.  I gather that concerts are normally held in the auction hall, with sectioned seating (at different price points) and a raised platform for the performers. I had planned to take pictures, but images of the backs of people’s heads was of little interest, so I didn’t bother.

The next day we had a quick wander around Hawes to look at the various shops, and in the afternoon, we enjoyed a Festive Afternoon Tea at the Creamery.  This is the Wensleydale cheese factory, where the Wensleydale cheese that you can buy in your local supermarket (even in America) is made.  This kind of cheese has been made in Wensleydale since the 12^th century.  Today the factory makes several other cheeses, and also adds interesting extras to the traditional Wensleydale, including cranberries, ginger, and apricots.

For December, the restaurant was offering a special afternoon tea, with a menu unlike any afternoon tea I have ever tried.  For the savoury part, there was a ramekin of beef bourguignon, a bacon wrapped sausage (a very traditional British Christmas treat), roast potatoes, and deep fried cheese balls.  For sweets, there were mince pies and ginger parkin (a dense, ginger cake).  Everything was very tasty, and quite filling!  We also had a good look round the gift shop and the cheese shop.  After a couple of years’ absence, there are now little pieces of cheese for tasting in the cheese shop, a welcome return, as it is hard to know what you might be buying if you can’t taste a new cheese first.

The next morning, Sarah left, and I collapsed into the cold that was Dick’s early Christmas present.  Various plans were cancelled, including afternoon (in person) bridge, and an evening at one of our favourite restaurants.  Dick was feeling better, and there was a break in the very wet weather for him to set up the outside Christmas lights.  Tommy came round to help, and the job was accomplished very quickly.  In fact, it took longer to drink the beer and chew the fat than to actually do the job!

By the weekend I was feeling better and we enjoyed a nice meal at the White Hart, that we consider the best of the four pubs in Hawes.  Dick booked us for the room with the fireplace, a small and characterful area that allows dogs.  Each table was occupied by a well-behaved dog (or dogs) and their owners.  There was a border collie, a boxer cross, two golden retrievers, and a Weimaraner, all very laid back and quiet.  One of the goldens thought (mistakenly) that Dick would be a soft touch.  He sat beside him and gave him those “I am starving” looks from soulful eyes.  Sadly for goldie, Dick has long been proof against those particular looks, and no treats slipped off his plate.  I tried really hard to get a picture, but every time I got the camera out, goldie turned away.

The menu has been updated to include some of the dishes and interpretations that seem to be fashionable here in UK, as I have been noticing on my various travels.  My chicken liver starter was spread on toast and served with brandied prunes on top and pickled radishes.  Dick tried a dish of prawns, chorizo and cannellini beans.  Instead of a main course, I had Iberico ham croquettes, which were served on chipotle and lime aoli with pieces of Manchego cheese.  As a starter it would have been enormous, but it was an excellent main course portion.  Dick loved his stout-braised short rib with winter vegetables.  Neither of us had room for dessert.

We enjoyed the walk back through the town, with all the Christmas lights, and were happy to see that Steppe Haugh is looking as festive as the rest of the town.  Several of our neighbours have put up outdoor lights this year, adding to the magical atmosphere.

By the weekend I was feeling well enough to start on the planned festive dinner party for the next week.  I made individual frozen cheesecakes with raspberries and blueberries, and parmesan toasts.  The glazed sausage bites were not so successful, so I added another starter to the plan, and made a smoked salmon mousse to put into little puff pastry cups.  Dick visited various shops in search of ingredients, with the upshot that we ended up with an incredible quantity of different kinds of cheese!  Next up was our traditional home-made eggnog.  Until you have tasted homemade, you have no idea what it is supposed to taste like, as the stuff you buy in the supermarket has no resemblance to the real thing.

While I planned and prepared for the dinner, Dick set up his Christmas gift to me.  It is a new, smart TV to replace the elderly small one in the kitchen, hence the early presentation and set up. 

Monday was the day for a big switch to full fibre for our internet and phone service.  I will draw a line under the many frustrations we have experienced over this service (some ongoing), and just say that the tech who came to do the installation was great.  The job took far longer than expected (as do most endeavours in this old, characterful and much altered house).  The tech had to call for a helper to run the line outside from the junction box, and eventually it was dark and the job was not finished.  He promised to return the next morning, to my great surprise, as I had assumed that another appointment would be made for weeks away!  He had another job first, but he duly arrived by noon the next day, and we finally had a new and faster broadband service.  Of course, then came the challenge of finding all the devices that are connected to the wi-fi and re-setting them for the new router.  Technology makes our lives interesting!

In the evening, we went to The Green Dragon Pub in Hardraw for dinner.  This is a 13^th century pub near to England’s highest waterfall, Hardraw Falls.  When we first moved here, the pub served meals and had a good reputation, but it stopped serving food shortly afterwards.  It has now changed hands and is open again, and judging by the number of occupied tables on a Monday night, it is doing very well.  The owners have restored and kept many of the old features, so it is a really atmospheric place with multiple cosy rooms.

I started with my favourite chicken live pate, served conventionally with toast.  Dick tried a very interesting dish with three tiny Yorkshire puddings, each set on a bed of mashed potato, and each one with a different filling.  Delicious gravy was served on the side.  It was a most unusual and innovative starter, and it was nice to see something unusual without calling on ingredients and/or fusion from other cuisines for a change.  I ordered scampi and chips for the main course, and Dick had beef stew.  There was not much room for dessert, but we wanted to try, so we ordered sticky toffee pudding, served to my great joy with proper hot custard!  It was a very nice meal, and we will certainly return.

Continuing the dinner preparations on Monday and Tuesday, I made a roasted garlic, leek and potato soup, and a dish of brussels sprouts in a smoked cheese bechamel sauce.  A pine nut, garlic, and Dijon crust was prepared for the pork racks.  I enjoyed setting the table for eight, getting out Mum’s special china, and folding the new Christmas napkins we found a couple of years ago in a boutique on our travels.  Dick headed to Leyburn to pick up the pork racks that had been ordered.  In the evening, we enjoyed our online bridge game, finishing fourth, and earning some master points.

The next day was the planned dinner party.  I was awake very early, but after coffee and breakfast, I felt somewhat unwell, so I went back to bed for a rest.  Things did not get any better, and by late morning we realized that we were going to have to cancel the dinner.  We hoped that everyone would be able to gather two days later, but sadly, at this very busy time, only one couple were free.  I slept for most of the day, and felt a little better by the evening.  I also took it very easy the next day.

We slightly re-jigged the menu, and Dick headed off down the road to the butcher to find a leg of lamb, while I reset the table for four of us.

We spent a very quiet day on Thursday, and did not attend our usual in-person bridge game in the afternoon.  Everything for the dinner that could be prepared ahead had already been done.

Friday morning, I started the final dinner preparations, with help from sous-chef Dick.  Our friends arrived by 5pm, and we began a very leisurely evening of food, drink, and chat.  The eggnog had turned out very well, and I had various small bites to accompany.  The soup was a delicious new recipe that I will certainly plan to include in future dinners.  The lamb took a little longer cooking time than expected, but there was plenty of wine while we waited.  For dessert we had some of my Christmas pudding, as well as tiny frozen cheesecakes.  As always, when we are entertaining, I completely forgot to take any pictures.

After a leisurely start on Saturday, and an interesting new recipe for a breakfast sausage and egg casserole, our friends left for home, and we began preparations to depart for our Christmas/New Year travels.  I made arrangements for the neighbours to pop in at noon on the day of the guest’s arrival to turn on the rest of the indoors Christmas lights and decorations that are not on timers.  We put our personal items into the storage cupboards (and put away the alcohol), and got suitcases packed and the multitude of bags of stuff that we like to take to self-catering accommodation were set by the door ready for loading into the vehicle.

In the morning, Dick packed the food (including the turkey) and loaded the car, and we were away shortly after 9am for our drive south and the start of our Christmas adventures.