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Advent Calendar 2019

Abraham Hondius: The Frozen Thames 1677
"Numerous figures shown amusing themselves on the frozen river, skating, sliding, snowballing and even shooting. Old London Bridge in in the middle distance and beyond it is the tower of St. Olave's Tooley Street and Southwark Cathedral. "
£18,000,000,000 - will be withdrawn from UK cash machines over Christmas
History does not belong to us, we belong to it
Hans-Georg Gadamer – German philosopher – 1900 - 2002

Devonshire Road and Manchester Road junction. Buxton marketed itself as a winter sports resort in the early 1900s as well as a summer resort. Sledging was a popular pastime.
The first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned by civil servant Sir Henry Cole in London in 1843. Featuring a family drinking wine, one sold for £8,469 in 2014
The supreme purpose of history is a better world
Herbert Hoover American president 1874 – 1964

Chorlton-on-medlock, Hulme Street from Oxford Road
According to a survey conducted in 2016, 57% of adults in the UK would gladly sacrifice seeing relatives on Christmas day if it meant they could spend more time on Facebook.
History never looks like history when you are living through it
John W Gardner - American statesman – 1912 - 2002

Denali Park, Alaska - Corrie Mile 9 landscape
Ebenezer Scrooge’s famous line “Bah Humbug” almost never existed. Charles Dickens’ initial choice was “Bah Christmas”.
The happiest women, like the happiest nations, have no history
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) - English author - 1819 - 1880

A frozen waterfall in Wales, January 1963
According to the Guinness World Records, the tallest Christmas tree ever cut was a 221-foot Douglas fir that was displayed in 1950 at the Northgate Shopping Centre in Seattle, Washington.
History, a distillation of rumour
Thomas Carlyle - Scottish historian - 1795 - 1881

Hardy cyclist David Joel on the frozen Thames at Windsor Bridge in the winter of 1947.
The Windsor Bridge or Windsor Town Bridge is an iron and granite arch bridge which crosses the Thames between the towns of Windsor and Eton, just above Romney Lock.
The chances of a White Christmas are just 1 in 10 for England and Wales, and 1 in 6 for Scotland and Northern Ireland
It is the soothing thing about history that it does repeat itself
Gertrude Stein – American writer – 1874 - 1946

Skating on the Serpentine during the winter of 1963
Irving Berlin hated Elvis Presley’s version of “White Christmas” so much that he tried to prevent radio stations from playing Presley’s cover
It is the soothing thing about history that it does repeat itself
Gertrude Stein – American writer – 1874 - 1946

Derbyshire bus stuck in a snow drift 1947 winter
It’s technically illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day in England. In the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas pudding, mince pies and anything to do with gluttony. The law has never been rescinded.
What is past is prologue
William Shakespeare English dramatist 1564 - 1616

Oxford Road and Grosvenor Square, All Saints, Cholrton-on-medlock in 1953
The average home will splash out £809.97 at Christmas; on food and drink, travel, decorations and presents, with the latter accounting for 58.5 per cent of the budget
History teaches everything including the future
Alphonse de Lamartine – French writer – 1790 - 1869

Piccadilly Gardens with the temporary Manchester Central Reference Library 1929
In Britain, the best-selling festive single is Band Aid’s 1984 track, Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which sold 3.5million copies. Wham! is next in the same year with Last Christmas, selling 1.4million
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce
Karl Marx – German philosopher – 1818 - 1883

New Mills in winter
According to research carried out by Jarlsberg cheese (of all things), the strain of cooking the big Christmas dinner sees the average Brit start to sip their first alcoholic drink at 11.48am
History is the record of what one age finds worthy of note in another
Jacob Burckhardt – Swiss historian – 1818 - 1897

"Snow place like Buxton"
Royalties from Last Christmas are estimated at around £300,000 per year. The first year’s royalties were given to Band Aid, and since 2012, George Michael had donated ALL his royalties from the song to charity
Anybody can make history. Only a great man can write it
Oscar Wilde – Irish writer – 1854 – 1900

Stockport Parish Church being freed of snow
The Yule Log was originally an entire tree that was carefully chosen and brought into the house with great ceremony and burned over the 12 days of Christmas. A Chocolate Yule Log or ‘bûche de Noël’ is now a popular Christmas desert, made of a chocolate sponge roll layered with cream. The outside is covered with chocolate or chocolate icing and decorated to look like a bark-covered log.
History is written by the victors
Anonymous though often attributed to Winston Churchill

Swizzels Matlow New Mills Factory
For a christmas to be officially classified as “white” a single snow flake needs to be observed falling in the 24 hours of 25th December on the rooftop of the Met Office HQ in London.
History is a gallery of pictures in which there are few originals and many copies
Alexis de Tocqueville – French historian – 1805 - 1859

Cars and buses struggle to negotiate Trafalgar Square in January of 1947
The tradition of putting tangerines in stockings comes from 12th-century French nuns who left socks full of fruit, nuts and tangerines at the houses of the poor.
It is the soothing thing about history that it does repeat itself
Gertrude Stein – American writer – 1874 - 1946

Oxford Road, All Saints, 1958
The UK Brussels Sprouts industry (and yes, it’s Brussels sprout, not brussel sprout) is worth £650 million, and the area of the country covered by Brussels Sprouts fields is the equivalent to 3,240 football pitches
History is the great propagator of doubt
A.J.P. Taylor English historian 1906 – 1990

Two women delivering milk in northampton by sledge during the harsh winter of 1947
The Beatles hold the record for most Christmas number 1 singles with FOUR, topping the charts in 1963, 64, 65 and 67. Cliff Richard (1960, 1988 and 1990) and The Spice Girls (1996, 1997 and 1998) have three each
History is a vast early warning system Norman Cousins
American writer – 1915 - 1990
The limits of the software mean that every day is visible, unfortunately no doors to open allowing exploring every day. Click on image will be enlarged; photo information two interesting facts will emerge.
Next Meeting: 20th January 2020
Judith Wilshaw – From Ancient Tracks to Modern Highways
Acknowledgement
Marple Local History Society would like to thank Mark Whittaker for his indispensable help and contribution in designing and setting up this website, which he continues to host on behalf of the Society.