January/February 1940

Christmas Fact: Although now mostly vegetarian, in Victorian times, mince pies were made with beef and spices.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it
George Santayana – Spanish philosopher – 1863 - 1952

Lock 10 in the winter of 2009/10

Christmas Fact: Nearly 60 million Christmas trees are grown each year in Europe.

History never looks like history when you are living through it
John W Gardner - American statesman – 1912 - 2002

Snow in January February 1940. Taken on the Ridge

Christmas Fact: Robins on cards were a joke 150 years ago when postmen wore red tunics and were named after them.

History is a pack of lies about events that never happened told by people who weren’t there.
George Santayana – Spanish philosopher – 1863 - 1952

The Weir at Marple Bridge in winter, frozen over with people walking on the ice

Christmas Fact: James Pierpont's 1857 song Jingle Bells was first called One Horse Open Sleigh and was written for Thanksgiving.

History always has a few tricks up its frayed sleeve. It's been around a long time
Terry Pratchett – English author – 1948 - 2015

Workers clear the snow in the severe winter of 1947 at Rose Hill Station

Christmas Fact: Before turkey, the traditional Christmas meal in England was a pig's head and mustard.

History is nothing but gossip about the past, with the hope that it might be true
Gore Vidal – American author – 1925 - 2012

Peak Forest Canal in the winter of 2009_10.

Christmas Fact: Jingle Bells was the first song broadcast from space when Gemini 6 astronauts Tom Stafford and Wally Schirra sang it on December 16, 1965.

History is a pattern of timeless moments
T.S.Eliot – Anglo-American poet – 1888 - 1965

January / February 1940 Hibbert Lane with the Willows School in the background.

Christmas Fact: Carols began as an old English custom called wassailing, toasting neighbours to a long life.

There is a history in all men’s lives

         William Shakespeare English dramatist 1564 - 1616

1940s snow,  Station-Road

Christmas Fact: Angels Singing? There is no reference to angels singing anywhere in the Bible.

History is a set of lies agreed upon 

       Napolean Bonaparte French Emperor 1769 – 1821

Strines Road unknown date

Christmas Fact: Many theologians estimate that Jesus wasn't born on December 25 but sometime in September between 6BC and 30AD.

L’Histoire est un alliage de réel et de mensonge. (History is a combination of reality and lies.)
Jean Cocteau – French playwright - 1889 - 1963

Lane Ends, Marple Bridge

Christmas Fact: Carols: Carols weren't sung in churches until they were introduced by St Francis of Assisi in the 13th century.

That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history
Aldous Huxley – English writer – 1894 - 1963

Peak Forest Canal in the winter of 2009-10.

Christmas Fact: The bestselling Xmas single ever is Bing Crosby's White Christmas, shifting over 50million copies worldwide since 1942.

History teaches everything including the future
Alphonse de Lamartine – French writer – 1790 - 1869

Lock 10 in the winter of 2009/10.

Christmas Fact: Hanging stockings out comes from the Dutch custom of leaving shoes packed with food for St Nicholas's donkeys. He would leave small gifts in return.

History never looks like history when you are living through it

         John W Gardner - American statesman – 1912 - 2002

January / February 1940 Half Acre Terrace, Upper Hibbert Lane

Christmas Fact: Hanging presents on trees may come from the Druids who believed the tree was the giver of all good things.

Human blunders, usually, do more to shape history than human wickedness.

         A.J.P.Taylor – English historian – 1906 - 1990

Church Lane in the winter of 2009-10

Christmas Fact: 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 last year.

The only history that is worth a tinker's damn is the history we make today

         Henry Ford – American industrialist – 1863 – 1947

Brick Bridge in the winter of 2009/10

Christmas Fact: Tangerines: 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.

God cannot alter the past though historians can
Samuel Butler – English author – 1835 - 1902

Iron Bridge in the winter of 2009/10

Christmas Fact: Santa Claus comes from a Dutch folk tale based on Saint Nicholas, or Sinterklaas, who gave gifts on December 6.

History is interim reports issued periodically

           Annoymous

Rose Hill Station Feb 1940

Christmas Fact: US scientists calculated that Santa would have to visit 822 homes a second to deliver all the world's presents on Christmas Eve, travelling at 650 miles a second.

History does not belong to us, we belong to it

         Hans-Georg Gadamer – German philosopher – 1900 - 2002

Dan Bank Toll House in the winter of 1901

Christmas Fact: Three Wise Men? Despite the tale of three wise men paying homage to baby Jesus, the Bible never gives a number. Matthew's Gospel refers to merely "wise men".

The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice
Mark Twain American author 1835 - 1910

Etherow Park Winter 2009-10

Christmas Fact: The Greeks celebrate Christmas on January 7, according to the old Julian calendar, while Xmas presents are opened on New Year's Day.

History just burps and we taste again that raw onion sandwich

         Julian Barnes – English novelist – 1946 -

Station Road January / February 1940

Christmas Fact: The word Noel derives from the French expression "les bonnes nouvelles" or "the good news"..

History is not what you thought. It is what you can remember.
“1066 and All That” - Sellars and Yeatman - British writers

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

Piccadilly Gardens on a winter's night in 1947

230,000 tonnes - The amount of wasted Christmas food that is thrown away each year

The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know

Harry S Truman American president 1884 – 1972

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

Brough, Cumbria

 The number of Olympic sized swimming pools that could be filled with the beer consumed in the UK over Xmas.

History is the invention of historians

Napoleon Bonaparte French emperor 1769 – 1821

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

Deer and sheep in a Derbyshire field

During the Christmas period, nearly 28 Lego sets are sold EVERY SECOND

That great dust-heap called “history”

Augustine Birrell - British essayist - 1850 - 1933

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

Horsedrawn Cab at the winter cab stand at Ardwick Green in 1900

In the UK, natural Christmas trees outsell artificial Christmas trees by a ratio of 3:1

History hath triumphed over time. Sir Walter Raleigh 

English courtier – 1552 - 1618

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

Happy Christmas from MLHS !!!

Deer in Lyme Park

According to Matalan, 82% of people surveyed own a Christmas jumper, with 25-34 year olds the most likely to buy one. Over 75% of people buy their festive jumper to wear for a work event, whilst over half wear one on Christmas Day.

Macclesfield Canal

On average, three Christmas trees are planted to replace each one harvested

History is little more than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind
Edward Gibbon – English historian – 1737 – 1794

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

Skating on the River Dee, Chester in 1963

On Christmas Eve in 2001, the Bethlehem Hotel had 208 of its 210 rooms free

History gets thicker as it approaches recent times
A.J.P.Taylor – English historian – 1906 – 1990

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

Lyme Park in the snow

27% of families sit down to watch the Queen’s Speech

We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything

Thomas Edison American inventor 1847 – 1931

"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