Night - silent or not

Well the clans are now gathered and with a full house I am turning off my comments until Boxing Day or so.  I'm guessing a lot of you are on overload too.

We went down to town late this afternoon for  a leg stretch, some clementines and a coffee.  The place was in an odd state.  Quite a lot of people on the main drag, none elsewhere, shops all open, coffee bars mostly closed, pubs apparently entirely so.  A chestnut roaster had been wheeled to the Buttercross, but on the whole this seasonal gesture was ignored.  This shot was taken round in the Square and illustrates perfectly the empty open shops and the closed pub.

(If you want a bit of history..  The closed pub is The Eclipse, one of the best known and most haunted buildings in the city.  When Judge Jeffries, the 'hanging judge' convicted Lady Alicia Lisle of harbouring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion and the Battle of Sedgemoor, she spent her last night in this building - then the St Lawrence Rectory - and climbed through the large window in the apex straight onto the scaffold on 2nd September 1685.)

So now, on that seasonal note, all that's left  for me to do is to wish you a great/peaceful/wild/loving/happy/alcoholic Christmas.  And to thank you for your wonderful support this year.  See you on the other side  xx