IS THERE ANYTHING MORE NOSTALGIC THAN CHRISTMASES PAST?

Do you remember the anticipation before the big day, pondering endlessly about what should go on your Christmas list? I would lovingly write two or three things down, pop it into an envelope and leave it by the fireplace to be wafted up the chimney like something out of Mary Poppins.

- Isabel Webster

And I was like a jack-in-the-box on Christmas Eve, repeatedly coming downstairs to report to my exasperated family that I was far too excited to sleep and couldn’t possibly be expected to go to bed (again).

I remember waking up on Christmas morning to the weight of my stocking, balanced precariously on the end of my bed. I’d run down the corridor to open it with my brother.