Lights adorn the streets like landing strips, festive photos are plastered onto shop windows and enough trees go up to fill a forest. Christmas truly is a magical time. But one thing above all stands out to me, and that is the Christmas Markets. I really enjoy them; so much so that one simply isn’t enough. So much so that this year, I wanted to see many.
The first Christmas Market I went to visit was in Newcastle. In the heart of my family’s origins, the most northerly major city in the North East of England boasts a nice Christmas Market.
Rows of wooden huts with fine food and brilliant bars are lined together along the top of Grainger Street and Grey Street and also in Eldon Square where fire pits sit for people to roast marshmallows over whilst being watched over by a giant Christmas tree. Stalls for hot chocolate, hot food and alcoholic drinks surround you; on a mission to defeat cold and thirst alike. To me, the market is tinged with a little disappointment, however, as it appears smaller than last year and some of my favourite stalls are gone.
But not satisfied with just one and two days later I journey to York. What a market down there! In the stunning city with its beautiful, old architecture and modern content; York has taken the Christmas Market to another level. All the way along Parliament Street, twinkling lights wrap themselves around trees like snakes around sugar canes and a new street is born within the old as wooden huts akin to Newcastle line the length of the street, culminating in a square at the top.
Variety is much more here compared to Newcastle. Whereas both markets have food and drink stalls and a couple of stalls selling wood carvings and clothes, York has stalls dedicated to a lot more. Handcrafted pens from East Yorkshire, locally made food from pies, pasties and fudge and handcrafted oak and glassware were just a few of the things there, not to forget the Viking drinking horns. But don’t stop there; carry on to St Mary’s Square. From German bratwurst to a game of darts to win a stuffed toy, the celebrations continue.
There is, however, a hint of tragedy in the tale. The tragedy lies in the Ford Christmas Market, cancelled this year due to the storms.
Held in the quiet village of Ford in North Northumberland, roughly 13 miles southwest of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Ford Christmas Market holds a special place in my heart.
Hills and fields surround the usually peaceful settlement, now buzzing with a hive of activity. The snow layers the ground like an ice-cold blanket and within the old buildings of the main village lie stalls and treats abundant; my favourite being the traditional Northumbrian dish of pan haggerty.
Inside the Lady Waterford Hall and more stalls are present with arts and crafts and trinkets of all kinds. But if you thought one village was enough, you’d be kidding yourself. For waiting outside for you patiently is an old-fashioned, red double decker bus, adorned with a white ribbon on the front. Where does it go? The answer lies in Etal, Ford’s neighbouring small village, and there within lie even more stalls attached to the Ford Christmas Market.
Wood carvings, jewellery and a bounty of local produce awaits in Etal as the fun continues there. But it’s more than that for me. For me, it’s past times with the scouts when we went to fundraise by either having a stall of our own or helping direct the traffic to its parking places. It’s trying the local dishes like pan haggerty for the first time and experiencing the friendliness of the local stall holders and accepting their warm welcomes; something that Newcastle and York emulate. It’s continuing to visit with my wife and my friends and, when it becomes too irresistible, going for a winter walk on the beautiful footpaths and gazing at some of England’s greatest countryside. York and Newcastle are great but Ford in unmatched in nostalgia and sentiment. For many reasons, I was gutted when this year’s market was cancelled.
Christmas means a few things to me and one of them is the Christmas Markets. They stand like festivals, for people to come together from far and wide to celebrate warmth and happiness in the face of the cold and dark of winter. Christmas might mean many things to many different people, but I ask you, is coming together and celebrating not what it’s really all about?
