Looking Back: A very happy Christmas with a peaceful and affordable New Year!!!

Mother made her Christmas cake and pudding in October. We helped to stir the pudding mixture and drop a sixpence into it. It was considered lucky if it was in our portion, as long as we didn’t swallow it!

‘Not until Christmas’ referred to the sweets, nuts and biscuits which had been collected over many weeks.

It was a very expensive time for mother as there was the obligatory tips to the milkman, postman and binmen.

We made paper chains to decorate the house and collected holly.

Father painted the edges of the holly leaves to look like snow! Fir cones were also a prize find to paint with glitter and hang on the tree with the familiar baubles.

The 50s were a time of innocence. We believed in Father Christmas, and trustingly sent a list of our Christmas present requests up the chimney from the open fire.

On Christmas Eve we put a pillowcase at the bottom of our beds for Santa to fill, keeping our eyes closed tightly so that we wouldn’t see him come before we went to sleep. When we woke up, we crawled to the bottom of the bed and carefully felt to see if the pillowcase had been filled.

On Christmas Day we went to church, which had a nativity scene in front of the alter. We loved the Christmas story with baby Jesus born in a stable. We had no reason to disbelieve or question anything when we were children.

Mother single handedly prepared and cooked the Christmas dinner and also had the job of washing up afterwards, sitting down to relax with a glass of sherry in time for the Queen Speech at 3pm, with father nodding off in the chair.

We were spoilt for choice by pantomimes at both the Lyceum and Empire, and considered ourselves so lucky if we managed to get to both. I remember being spellbound one year by the flying ballet where the performers came out over the auditorium on wires.

And what’s more, the pantomimes in Sheffield still excite to this day!