22 November 2021

This year will be my first Christmas living in England since 1970. As a 9-year-old, as I was in 1970, my memory is of Christmas was a tree in the lounge and my brothers and I opening gifts while mum checked on the turkey in the oven, ready for lunch when my aunt and uncle would come and join us.

The next Christmas was 1971 and I was part of a new migrant family in Australia, specifically Adelaide, South Australia and as a family we were living in the migrant hostel and experiencing our very first Aussie summer. The Christmas tree was a communal one, shared with other migrant families and our presents were the only toys we had, as our belongings had not joined us in Adelaide when we got off the ship. For a 10-year-old, that first Christmas in Summertime, was the start of 50 years of being away from the climate that is associated with Christmas, the one that produces snow.

This year, my Christmas cards can depict snow scenes, reindeer, robins and people being rugged up against the cold and it is more accurate. No more trying to find Christmas cards to send to overseas friends that sort of look like Summer in Australia, depicting the heat, the beach, people in shorts, prawns on BBQs and Santa’s sleigh being pulled by 6 white kangaroos. Images that give the impression that Australia is a place where you have Christmas dinner on the beach and I am sure contribute to the reason people ask why would I want to move back to England when I lived in Australia as if it is an ideal place to live. I have been in England for 3 months and I am keeping a very open mind about my new home and not compare it with being “back home” in Australia.

Pre-COVID19, back home in Australia, when travel was a luxury available if you could afford it, visiting a Northern Hemisphere country at Christmas Time was on many a bucket list, including mine. The idea of a Christmas time holiday would often include time allocated to visit famous “Christmas Markets” in city squares. And just like the idea of Christmas dinner on the beach, the idea of the Christmas market was based a lot on photos in travel magazines of a city square somewhere in Europe.

When the advertising started happening here in Manchester that the Christmas market would be happening in the city, I couldn’t wait to go and have a look. I thought that things would probably be scaled back due to the virus, that maybe there would be limitations on the number of people who could access the stalls or that everyone entering the area would have to wear a mask. That didn’t seem to be the case in Manchester and when I also got to visit 3 markets in London and one in Sheffield, it wasn’t the case there either.

What surprised me about the market in Manchester, which is spread out around the streets of the city centre is that Christmas shopping isn’t what the market was about. Yes, there were a few hut shaped stalls selling goods, but most of the popular stalls were selling drinks or food and that was where the people were congregated.

We, my son-in-law and grandson and I, joined them. And despite the number of cases of Covid infection, masks were rarely seen. We drank hot chocolate in mugs specifically printed for the market and ate The Famous Yorkshire pudding wraps. Both were quite nice. The mugs were yours to keep, or you could return them to the stand where you got them and get your deposit back. We just kept one of them.

We walked alongside the huts that were selling items other than food but didn’t see anything tempting to buy. I don’t think that many of the people were buying items either. Being that it is cold now, it would make for very long days and nights for the store people, as they open at 10 and shut at 8pm.

When I travelled with my daughter to London, I was able to visit the markets at The Southbank walk beside the Thames River. There they also had these “Snow Globes” which could be hired for dinner. There were quite a few of them, but no one using them when I walked past them.

Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. Leicester Square had the added bonus of trees that were strung up with lights and they could control numbers entering as there was only one way into the enclosed area and one way out. Trafalgar Square had the stalls set up along the front of the National Art Gallery building, which is up behind the famous square with its fountain and statue of Nelson and the lions.

It was a very similar situation as, in Manchester, most of the people were visiting the food and alcohol stalls. Although, there did seem to be some interest in the stalls selling Christmas tree ornaments that could be personalised with family names. There were a few versions of that stall in the different locations.

I also got the chance to visit the Christmas Market in Sheffield. Again it was the small wooden stalls selling goods, which were attracting only passing interest, but it was the food, alcohol and the Ferris wheel that were of most interest.

Tthere are other Christmas events coming up once we hit December, including lighting shows and winter wonderland. There will also be for us a trip out to Dunham Massey estate for their Christmas wonderland.

I wonder if the Christmas markets will ever return to their pre-COVID19 format, whatever that was? From what I understand, the Manchester Christmas market used to be in one location, in front of the town hall. However, that is undergoing renovations which aren’t due to be completed until 2024, so they were spread out around the streets. I also wonder what the markets would be like this year in European cities.

Maybe when the world opens for more travel options, I might find out. But this year, I am just happy to be able to visit those of my new home in England.