An hour's escape from Trevor the Turkey, chestnut stuffing, cranberry sauce and various vegetables. I jumped in the car and drove to Whirlow Brook Park. It's on the south western edge of the city and was once the private estate of a Sheffield steel magnate. It's only five minutes from our house.
The park is dominated by Whirlow Brook Hall, erected in 1906 in a stolid Elizabethan style. Nowadays it is a conference centre and wedding venue but of course it was once a luxurious private residence.
Many's the time I have gone there for a stroll, to read a book or feed the ducks. It's never busy in the park and so it's a nice place to go whenever you need a little peace. Today the temperature was so mild that I didn't even bother with a coat.
Then it was back home for the Christmas feast with our grown up kids and Frances's boyfriend Stewart and Shirley's sister Carolyn and her oldest son Edward. Crackers and Christmas hats and memories.
Memories of all those other Christmas feasts going back in time - to when our parents were alive, to childhood and black and white television and Nana and Jock and Paul. Christmas is not just a celebration but an annual marking place in time. Where you measure personal history, look ahead and look back.
Merry Christmas to you and your family, YP. You're so right about it being a marking place in time. Nostalgia seems to go with the day for me. A cousin shared a photo on Facebook last night that makes me tear up...it's of me, my mom, and my beloved (long departed) grandmother on a Christmas Eve long ago. It's good to remember family and friends who have passed on and then to look ahead to the future. xx
ReplyDeleteCan it be that it was all so simple then
DeleteOr has time rewritten every line?
Merry Christmas Jennifer.
Whirlow looks like a splendid place for a walk, or a wedding!
ReplyDeleteI (and the whole extended family) went to my sisters place for the day. It took five hours to have three courses. I'm currently trying to decide whether I like the relaxed timing or would prefer to condense it into a shorter period.....
Merry Christmas, YP
Five hours for three courses? You must eat like caterpillars - in slow motion - unless of course you had extra large plates piled ten inches high. Happy Boxing Day Kylie!
DeleteI spent my Christmas Day very quietly....just me and my two furry rascals.
ReplyDeleteI cooked myself a delicious lunch, and then spent the afternoon digesting it while watching "The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall"...not for the first time...but no matter how often I watch "The Phantom", I never tire of it.
My day was spent leisurely, quietly and alone except for my two little mates (who didn't leave my side; constantly companionable)...but it was how I wanted it to be. I had a few sad moments caused by thoughts of my loved ones no longer here; but that's what Christmas Day can do to one, isn't it?
And that's it for another year!!
If I had been travelling through Tamborine Mountain I would have called in with a nice bottle of chilled sauvignon blanc... buy you'd have probably told me to sling my hook!
DeleteI enjoy the looking back. To kids Christmas was wonderful. Your weather is much better than mine. High of minus 20 c today.
ReplyDeleteI hope that Santa brought you something nice Red - like a new pair of binoculars or maybe a razor! (Only kidding)
DeleteThe best part of Christmas is the coming together of family and loved ones. It sounds like yours was a good one.
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