Christmas in England - the truth

[selenay]

So, in a little over a week I fly to England for Christmas, weather permitting. (No storms between here, Boston, and England, please)

The funniest thing about this process is everyone's impression of Christmas in England. I'm quite happy to say that I lived in the south of England and things are different up north and in Scotland. Everyone that I talk to (even people who have visited the UK) have this strange impression that Christmas where I lived is cold and snowy and pretty, rather like one of the Victorian paintings.

Er.

A hundred years ago, probably even sixty years ago, this wasn't too far from the truth. Now?

Not so much.

Christmas in my little corner of England is usually warm (5C+ - sometimes low teens) and the precipitation we get is in the form of rain. Bright, sunny Christmases aren't something that I really remember, although I'm sure we've had them. They're usually damp or raining. There's a lot of mud. Winter in my corner of England might get snow for one day in February, but that's it. Last year's snow was such a big deal purely because we don't normally get weather like that and the country isn't prepared.

I blame Hollywood.

Seriously, when is the last time you saw a festive movie set in London (it's always London or the surrounds - never Bognor or Cardiff or York or some other non-South East location) that didn't have convenient snow on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? As much as I enjoyed watching the move Holiday at the weekend, I kept cringing from all the exceedingly unlikely snow in Sussex. If it's a location that people where people can commute to London for work, there is unlikely to be snow on the ground in December.

I am not saying that Christmas isn't lovely over there. A crisp, cold, bright winter's morning can't be beaten and there are a lot of absolutely beautiful places that I'll be visiting. That Victorian Christmas that everyone is imagining me having, though, is about as probable as a Labour win in the next general election.

I'm thinking that, to counter-act all this crazy talk about beautiful snowy London, I'm going to take a photo journal while I'm away and try to upload to Flickr each evening. Sound good?

I've just jinxed it to snow from the moment I land, haven't I?

Comments

So where *does* it snow for Christmas in England?

[alyburns.livejournal.com]

I've just jinxed it to snow from the moment I land, haven't I?

*nods sagely* *G*

Re: So where *does* it snow for Christmas in England?

[selenay]

Snow + Christmas + England = does not compute :-D

I am going to regret this post on 25th December, I can tell.

[elenopa.livejournal.com]

This is the reason why the Doctor almost never gets real snow at Christmas.

[selenay]

It makes me happy that any snow he does get at Christmas is either when he's in Victorian times or as a result of a big explosion. Real snow in modern times would irritate me :-)

[evil_plotbunny]

London isn't the only place that gets this treatment. Sometimes NYC has snow at Christmas, but it's rarely enough to stick, let alone fall in beautiful drifts in Central Park.

[selenay]

I had no idea, really, that NYC doesn't have snowy Christmases. Hollywood has a lot to answer for.

[neadods.livejournal.com]

Hollywood has a lot to answer for.

Well, yes!

But no, NYC doesn't get a lot of snow either, and unless it's the middle of Central Park, whatever hits doesn't stay white for very long. Nobody ever does movies about slush on the streets...

[selenay]

Hollywood doesn't think that slush and mud is romantic. Thus we have these crazy myths that make people think I'm heading for some Victorian Christmas paradise.

[evil_plotbunny]

It does sometimes, but certainly not consistently. Usually January through March are our snowy times.

[dalethetimelord.livejournal.com]

coming over to Brighton for a cuppa whilst you're over, dear?

[selenay]

Probably not :-( My diary is getting filled up with things and I want to spend some time with the family. Damn.

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Don't blame Hollywood - blame Dickens. He's the one who started the cult of the cozy Christmas, obsessing about it all being a happy entertaining day in with a large family, and sending the very first Christmas greeting cards. Not to mention writing the definitive Christmas story.

[selenay]

Ooh, another thing that I can blame that bastard for! I lost so many hours that I'll never get back reading Great Expectations for GCSE. While I've quite enjoyed some of the recent adaptations of his stuff, you'll never get me to actually read the old windbag :-)

[paranoidangel]

An Australian friend of mine was once talking about wanting to come to England and see snow at Christmas and I had to point out that was very unlikely if she planned on staying around London :)

I have a whole load of CDs I need to copy to give to you while you're here :) And some that I've just ordered in the Big Finish sale that may or may not turn up in time.

[selenay]

Hee :-) Hollywood has a lot to answer for.

Yay CDs! I really need to start finding things that I can send on to you. I feel a bit guilty for always being the recipient!

The DW magazines you sent me a few months ago were then forwarded on to another big DW fan over here when I'd finished. So they've been well used :-D

[historyterry.livejournal.com]

Much as I'd like you to see snow on some of the lovely Victorian buildings in Manchester, you're far more likely to get the traditional sideways drizzle.

*bounces* See you in two weeks!

[selenay]

But drizzle ensures that I'll actually see you! Snow would shut down the entire rail network.

*bounces*

[sazandra.livejournal.com]

Grey and damp is normal Christmas weather as far as I'm concerned, difficult to remember the last time it didn't do that for the tail end of December in this neck of the woods. I've only known one white Christmas (1968) and I don't remember anything about it other than my aunt took me out to play in it and she was still wearing her (indoors) slippers - we also had snow two months after that Christmas, when my sister was born at home during a blizzard. [We were born it opposite extremes of weather, her during a blizzard, me during a heatwave.]

Trying to think of times of the year when we have had snow, certainly early December and February but we've gone years with little or no proper snowfall and lots of mild, wet winters - not like the cold, snowy winters we had while I was at school. There was one time we had great drifts of snow by our scale of things, the secondary school was open as many teachers lived in the village so it was open for those within walking distance within our village and those in a village that is only a mile or so away but those who came from most of the other villages in the catchment area couldn't get there as there were no school buses. I remember it getting to part way through the morning when a group of children from the next nearest village arrived having walked about three miles across country. Not surprisingly the teachers sent them home again after lunch so they had plenty of time to get back before it started getting dark.

[selenay]

I remember one year when it snowed a ton during my final year of middle school. While everyone who went to the school lived within walking distance, the teachers didn't so the school got shut :-) It was the last day before half-term and the teachers didn't want to get stranded!

So I went home, changed, and then went out with a bunch of friends and our parents for some quality sledging. Then we bought buns at the bakery and went to my house for a picnic on the living room floor. Awesome day.

But, yes, Christmas in the UK is drizzle and mud. It's traditional.

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Gosh, I remember that one as well!

[wadjet-theperv.livejournal.com]

Safe trip and a lovely visit hun x