Now that we are past the bogus festival of Halloween, Christmas is, commercially speaking, upon us. In London, it arrived a month ago. I have always thought the Americans were better organised: in the US, Thanksgiving is such a presence in the shops that reindeer, grottos and tinsel can’t make an appearance until it is over at the end of November.
The UK doesn’t have a suitable terminus post quem of this kind. Perhaps we could think of one. Another inspiration from across the Atlantic might be Repeal Day. This marks the day on which Prohibition was abolished in 1933. It falls on December 5. I know this because Miller’s Gin has invited me to witness a cocktail-mixing competition in New York: very kind, but my liver has only just recovered from an undergraduate brandy Alexander party I threw in 1976. Wouldn’t it be nice, however, if we had our own Repeal Day.
There are so many things to repeal: the Hunting Act for a start. Plus, in the interests of liberty, the smoking ban, with particular reference to after-dinner cigars. Then political correctness, trick or treating, the 2012 Olympics, Jonathan Ross what a bonfire of the inanities it would make. Let Christmas begin after that.
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A well-connected rural playground with 23 acres on the edge of the South Downs National ParkOld House Farm is an impressive family home with a wealth of amenities that would inspire any rural passion.
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The UK gets its first ‘European stork village’ — and it's in West SussexAlthough the mortality rate among white storks can be up to 90%, the future looks rosy for breeding pairs in southern England.
