The Santa Sleigh 2013

Over the weekend I was happy to assist Santa Claus and Round Table in what is the traditional tour of the village and surrounding areas that's carried out at this Festive time of year.

We covered – in the six hours over the two nights – as much as we could of all the lanes and streets, giving lots of joy to many children and in bringing a bright light on gloomy nights and posing for many, many photos with the youngsters and the gang of blokes wassailing at the Bridge Inn!

On the Sunday, as we gathered to board the sleigh, along with the genial fellow in red, the
group of young village teenagers sitting under the Buttermarket, came up to ask if they could come along and be helpers in knocking on doors and seeking donations for all the good causes that Tablers support.

This was a really lovely move by the lads – especially as they are often accused of silly mischief. And gratefully received, as we were not large in numbers.

Even young Callum had ordered a Chinese meal from Drayton just before offering to help – a meal that stayed untouched through the three hours. A great sacrifice by him.

After 180 minutes of foot walking, we finished at 9.00pm in the Square. I asked if we could take a photo to record this night, especially to show the young lads who so happily gave of their time! And they all want to help next year.

Amongst those in the photo, are Liz Parkin, Jordan Lewinski, Ian Hallat, Santa Claus, Tom Jeffs, Callum Andlows, Andrew Gavin, Dave Joynson and Katherine Gresty.

The total collected on Sunday night was just short of £500! Our thanks to all who gave so willingly and to the one person who said "No" before slamming the door, a happy Christmas.

By the way, we had an inlux of some 20 lads from Nantwich at the weekend to a house party who gave trouble with trashing a bike and perhaps cutting the Christmas lights.

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.