Tag Archives: Carols

Christmas in Kingston

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HISTORIC KINGSTON OFFERS FANTASTIC FESTIVITIES FOR CHRISTMAS

The historic town of Kingston upon Thames will be alive with festive activities and events this Christmas kicking off with a Tudor-style market, which pops up in the town’s Market Place from 7th November to 24th December.

Christmas light switch on

On 15th November Cinderella and Santa Claus himself will be switching on the Christmas lights at 6pm with activities for all the family to enjoy from 3pm. The Rose Theatre’s Christmas production this year is Cinderella. Shoppers can meet characters from the show, see a live ice carving of Cinderella’s Glass Slipper and have a photo taken in a giant Cinderella themed snow globe. There will also be the chance to see real reindeer, choirs and brass bands plus a street dance show for all the family at the Rose Theatre called “Locked In”.

Santa Claus

Children can visit Santa for free in his grotto in Bentalls, with the option to receive a Christmas Present for £2.95. Check bentalls.co.uk for opening times.  They can also post their letter to Santa in special letter boxes in the Eden Walk shopping centre.  Santa will answer every letter, with the best three winning a prize, closing date for entries is 7th December.

Kingston Spotlight – competition for performers

A wide selection of Kingston performers ranging from musicians to mime acts, poets to acrobats and dancers to clowns will be performing in Kingston’s town centre over the festive season adding a bit of sparkle to the town’s shopping experience.  Each Thursday evening and over the weekend (starting on 17th November), these acts will compete to be named Talent of the Week. Members of the public can vote for their Talent of the Week in Kingston’s spotlight competition, throughout the Spotlight period.

Christmas pocket guide

Shoppers can pick up their Christmas Pocket Guide on the Christmas lights switch on night and from local businesses. The guide offers lots of information on Christmas in Kingston as well as the chance to win Free Parking in the town for a year, six months or a month at the NCP Cattle Market. Also up for grabs is a Christmas break at the historic small hotel Chase Lodge with tickets to see Cinderalla at Rose Theatre. Other prizes on offer include: £100 worth of Bentalls voucher, a Hotel Chocolat Hamper worth £50, a two course meal for two at Pizza Express, and a Tartan Travel Rug courtesy of the Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

Arts, crafts and carols

Shoppers will have plenty of opportunities to buy different Christmas gifts.  In the town’s Market House, Kingston Artist Open Studios (KAOS) will be selling the work of local artists, sculptors, ceramicists and crafts people from 26th November – 8th December. Fusion Arts, another Kingston based collaboration of artists, will be selling their wares in Market House from 11th December – 21st December and on 22nd December visitors can shop at the Thames Market, an arts and crafts market.

The Royal Kingston Craft Fair operated by Eden Crafts will pop up on All Saints Lawn from the 15th November to 24th December offering a great range of unusual and unique Christmas gifts.

On 23rd December the Freshly Made Market comes to town. Freshly Made is a collective of urban artists, musicians and jewellery makers who will be selling underground urban products. In addition, Kingston’s daily Ancient Market offers a wide choice of gifts for more information visit: www.kingstonfirst.co.uk/touristinfo

All Saints Church will be holding Christmas concerts and carol services on 2nd, 8th, 18th, 22nd, 24th.  December.

Variety of shops

Kingston’s town centre is just 25 minutes from central London and easily accessible for locals and visitors. The town’s shops will be open every night until 9pm from 3rd December and Christmas shoppers will find something for all tastes and budgets, within a very compact area, a good proportion of which is pedestrianised.  The shopping experience ranges from designer brands and high street fashion in large retail areas such as the Eden Walk Shopping Centre and the Bentall Centre, to independent boutiques that appeal to those in search of special and unique gifts.

Old London Road, which is having its Christmas party on 1st December, is the place to go for unusual purchases and is marked by Kingston’s famous falling over phone boxes (officially named ‘Out of Order’ by artist David Mach). Here shoppers can rummage through antique and vintage items at the Kingston Antiques Centre, or hunt for stylish accessories and up-cycled furnishings at 37 London Road, recently featured on BBC2’s “Mary Queen of Shops”.  Friends and relatives of music lovers will be spoilt for choice at Hands Music in the town’s Market Place which offers instruments, music, accessories and more, while nearby Banquet Records on Eden Street is ideal for muso’s seeking new and cutting edge releases.

Parking in Kingston

Visitors to Chessington World of Adventures can take advantage of a free park and ride running from the theme park to Kingston from 10th November to the 5th January.  Also from 3rd December there is also free parking in the Bentall Centre from Monday to Friday and in John Lewis every night both from 6pm.

Accommodation in Kingston

Shoppers can enjoy a night’s stay at boutique property Chase Lodge Hotel, from just £125 per night, for two people on a bed & breakfast basis. To book call 0208 943 1862 or consult www.chaselodgehotel.com. A former magistrates house, Chase Lodge has 12 rooms, all unique and with free Wi-Fi.

The White Hart Hotel offers luxury accommodation at an affordable price. Double and Twin rooms start from around £120. To book call 020 8977 1786 or consult www.whiteharthoteluk.co.uk.

A Very Grim Fairy tale

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“Is it a good song? Well of course it is- don’t be stupid!”

That was me and me having our annual Christmas argument about a song that is both rousing and poetically written, and that takes a different look at a holiday that’s normally so delicious, wobbly and sugar-coated it could pass for an M&S crème brulee.

I realize that the story of the less fortunate is one we all love at this time of year and it’s been wrung dry by every Christmas movie from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ to ‘Groundhog Day’ but I don’t want it in my Christmas playlist and I certainly don’t want it voted the best festive song of all time.

Firstly, I’m English. It’s no big deal and I’m not going to shave my head about it but I really don’t want a song by an Irish group about two dossers living in New York to dominate my cozy little English Crimbletime.

Why should I care what the hell the boys in the NYPD Choir are singing about? The fact is that most ‘Irish-Americans’, in spite of dropping the word ‘Irish’ into half of all sentences, couldn’t find Europe on an atlas, let alone Ireland. They probably couldn’t find Galway Bay on a map of fucking Galway but they carry on, Peter Griffins to a man, and the Pogues expect me, thousands of miles away in England, to give a shit.

“Well at least the Pogues are genuinely Irish!” I hear me say… Yeah, great. I’ve only seen Shane Mcgowan perform twice- both on TV, and both times he was wasted, but that’s punk for you. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of punk in the right place but I don’t want to have the ‘Vs’ flicked at me by a man with a henge for a mouth when I’m tucking into my third kilo of dinner and preparing for Morecombe and Wise. Besides which, I didn’t ask for anything ‘Irish’ in the first place. If I want an Irish Christmas I’ll just go there- same applies to New Bloody York.

My Christmas is here, in England, with Cliff singing ‘follow the Mazda’ and Slade doing what they do best.

And let’s not forget the carols. The only time I even entertain the tiniest element of religion is for Christmas carols. Admittedly I have to blur the religious references when I catch myself singing them, but I’d still rather sit around the table singing, ‘Oh come grab a face full’ and ‘Born is the kid from Dingly Dell’ than turning to my wife’s gran and calling her ‘an old slut on junk’.

It’s bad enough being conned into singing an anti-war message by John Lennon when you think you’re just wishing everyone a merry Christmas. You lean over to plant a hopeful wet one on the cheek of Andrea from accounts as she passes below the mistletoe and find yourself whispering, ‘the war is over’ in her ear like an extra from ‘Allo Allo’!

The whole song just depresses me. I know it’s romantic and I get the sentiment- I really do, but I don’t want to marvel at how the spirit of Christmas can flicker even in the harshest of lives- not now, not at Christmas.

I appreciate that this makes me a soulless, shallow buffoon but hey, I’m on holiday so bah humbug and pass me the iPod. I’ve a hankering for Bing and just enough room left for a little crème brulee.

Merry Christmas.