Monday 24th November 2025
The gift of Christmas
Carols around the piano and even in Bethlehem itself – those living with us share precious memories from over the year
Phyl, 79, Royd Court, Mirfield
“Christmas in our house was a happy time. I remember Christmas baking days, when the kitchen walls ran with condensation as the Christmas pudding needed steaming for hours. We made our own Christmas cakes and mince pies too. If we children later discovered the silver thruppenny bit in the Christmas pudding that was wonderful. Over the Christmas days we would share times with church families as we went to each other’s homes. This added to the Christmas spirit as we often sang around the piano of the dear Saviour who came from heaven to redeem us.
“As a child we had a good-sized house and I remember decorating it with holly, mistletoe, coloured paper chains, and also decorating our real Christmas tree! A coal fire burning in the grate would give me chilblains when sitting too near, as the rest of the house was so cold. Dad would put on the record player, his pride and joy, playing carols and Christmas music from the old 33 and 78 records. My children still regard some of that Christmas music as THE music to play at Christmas.
“Without television to distract us, playing games together, both in our home and when visiting friends, is another happy memory from Christmas. Charades was a particular favourite. One game I loved, but only played at our house, was completing well-known quotations and proverbs. These had been printed in two halves, and we put them separately around our large house to be discovered, identified as couplets, put together and collected, the winner being the one who gathered the most sets. One example, I remember was: ‘A Nightingale Sang’, with the couplet being ‘in Berkeley Square’.
“One family we visited had a miniature railway laid out in the attic with model trains running around – the father was a model railway enthusiast. In another, the father was skilled in juggling, and I remember him trying to teach my friend and me to juggle with large wooden clubs.”
Aileen, 81, Shottermill House, Haslemere
“We had a large playroom in our home as we were seven children. As a family, we cut a Christmas tree from the forest. We decorated the tree with baubles, it was really beautiful. Presents were put under the tree with our names on but we didn’t open them in the morning, rather we went to church. My father was the church minister and we opened the presents when we got home.
“On Christmas day, my dad would disappear. I found out later that he would visit his mother and take food for her and her neighbours who had very little. We would sing carols and hymns in our playroom and that is probably where my love of playing the piano began.
“When I had a family of my own, I would cook a chicken for our dinner and would play the organ during the service. We would then give our children presents.”
Sheila, 89, Koinonia Christian Care Home, Worthing
"We moved from London to the country when I was about nine. I remember my grandfather and cousins would always visit us for Christmas because it was nicer than in London.”
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Frances, 87, Middlefields House, Chippenham
“I was about seven or eight years old when my family lived in Jerusalem. My father was the headteacher of a boys’ school of some 700 pupils, and we lived in a flat just above the classrooms. He was also a priest, and our life seemed to revolve naturally around school, church, and family.
“That Christmas remains vivid in my mind. On Christmas Eve, we travelled to Bethlehem to hear a carol service. I remember the sense of wonder as we arrived — the thought that we were so close to where the story of Jesus’ birth had unfolded. The service was being broadcast by the BBC all around the world, but for me, as a child, it was the music that filled me with joy: the sound of carols echoing in the very place where shepherds once heard the angels sing.
“Christmas Day itself was spent in Jerusalem, with my family. We attended church together, and I remember the service. To me, it felt like being at the very heart of Christmas.”
More from us at Pilgrims' Friend Society...
Christmas memories
Those living in our care homes and housing schemes reminisce about Christmas past
