War Cry 17 December

WAR CRY

On a positive note

Aled Jones talks about the joy of singing Christmas songs

Champion diver reflects on a golden year

Cliff Richard tunes in to the heart of the festive season

What is The Salvation Army?

The Salvation Army is a Christian church and registered charity seeking to share the good news of Jesus and nurture committed followers of him. We also serve people without discrimination, care for creation and seek justice and reconciliation. We offer practical support and services in more than 700 centres throughout the UK. Go to salvationarmy.org.uk/find-a-church to find your nearest centre.

What is the War Cry?

The Salvation Army first published a newspaper called the War Cry in London in December 1879, and we have continued to appear every week since then. Our name refers to our battle for people’s hearts and souls as we promote the positive impact of the Christian faith and The Salvation Army’s fight for greater social justice.

WAR CRY

Issue No 7607

Editor: Andrew Stone, Major

Deputy Editor: Philip Halcrow

Production Editor: Ivan Radford

Assistant Editor: Sarah Olowofoyeku

Staff Writer: Emily Bright Staff Writer: Claire Brine

Editorial Assistant: Linda McTurk

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Graphic Designer: Mark Knight

Email: warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk

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Published weekly by The Salvation Army © The Salvation Army United Kingdom and Ireland Territory ISSN 0043-0226

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From the editor’s desk

MUSIC plays a big part in many people’s Christmas celebrations – whether it involves listening to a Salvation Army band’s carols in the high street or belting out a rendition of ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ at the work Christmas party. Whatever our taste in music, there will almost certainly be a Christmas composition to suit.

Two singers well known for their Christmas hits are Cliff Richard and Aled Jones. Cliff had success with songs such as ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ and ‘Saviour’s Day’ and Aled was only a teenager when his cover of ‘Walking in the Air’ became a Top 10 hit in 1985.

As we discover in this week’s War Cry, both artists have new albums out this Christmas. Aled has produced an album with fellow singing star Russell Watson. Christmas with Aled and Russell is, Aled tells us, ‘feelgood and Christmassy’. The album contains secular favourites as well as some familiar carols. In his interview, Aled explains why he believes those carols still have worth today.

‘They tell the most magical story of all,’ he says. ‘Marry that with fantastic melodies and there you have it. I suppose they were the greatest pop hits of their day.’

Aled goes on to explain how that ‘most magical story of all’ is the account of the birth of Jesus, remembered in the Nativity plays often staged at this time of year.

‘An excellent testament to the story is that it has stood the test of time,’ he tells us, ‘and that it gives so many people comfort in all aspects of life, me included. I love the excitement of the birth of Jesus.’

The excitement that Aled speaks about is felt by Christians across the world as they celebrate Christmas. For them, the season marks the time when God came into the world so that people of all backgrounds and heritages could experience his love in their lives – giving everyone who accepts it something to celebrate, at Christmas and throughout the year.

Wired for sounds

Cliff Richard tells BBC radio show about his kinda life

Halcrow

HE may have narrowly lost out to Stormzy in the race to the top of the album chart at the beginning of the month, but Cliff Richard has had many reasons over the years to receive con-grat-u-la-tions. When his previous release Music… The Air that I Breathe entered the album chart at No 3 in 2020, the Official Charts Company announced that he had become the first artist to have scored a Top Five album in eight consecutive decades.

The achievement is noted in When Cliff Richard Met Sara Cox, scheduled to be broadcast on Radio 2 on Wednesday (21 December) and already available on BBC Sounds.

Chatting at Abbey Road Studios, the singer and the radio presenter discuss some of the highlights of a career that began in 1958 when Cliff and the Shadows recorded ‘Move It’. The location of their conversation feels significant to him.

‘For me, in terms of my life starting,’ he says, ‘I know my mother gave birth to me, but the image that people see was born right here when I was 17 in the corner of studio two. Records came out really well from there. The Shadows would be in

one section of the room – and it’s a big studio – and I would be behind this kind of Perspex covering so that my voice was pure and clean.’

Cliff is still touched by the accolade that John Lennon gave him by saying that before ‘Move It’ there was nothing in terms of UK rock’n’roll. And Sara and Cliff pick out other highlights from his career.

Cliff speaks about how his decision to sing a wide variety of songs on his 1976 release I’m Nearly Famous marked the point at which he became ‘an album artist’. He remembers duetting with his good friend, the impossible-to-dislike Olivia Newton-John on the Top 20 single ‘Suddenly’. And he recalls sensing the success of what became the biggestselling of his 14 No 1 singles, ‘We Don’t Talk Anymore’. Considering his legacy, Sara asks whether it felt particularly fantastic when a ‘Christian song like “Saviour’s Day”’ became Christmas No 1.

Cliff – who also had a Christmas No 1 with ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ and another December No 1 with ‘The Millennium Prayer’ – tells Sara: ‘A journalist said something, and it really made me feel quite proud. He said he thought that I had

put Jesus back into Christmas. And so I thought: If I’ve done that, that’s something.’

His new single – given an airing on the show – underscores that take on the festive season. ‘Heart of Christmas’, from his album Christmas with Cliff, not only paints a picture of snow, carollers and streets ‘glistening with lights’, but also outlines why people might want to get together and celebrate. The song keeps coming back to the line: ‘Jesus, the heart of Christmas.’

The lyrics contain echoes of other carols, including ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Joy to the World’. They refer to details in the Bible’s accounts of the birth of Jesus, such as the star, angels and shepherds.

They sum up that ‘Christ has come to save the world’ – which for countless people around the world is, as Cliff knows, the reason for Christmas’s celebrations and jubilations.

BBC/PENNY LANE ENTERTAINMENT/NICK HOLT

Feature by Philip

A journalist said I had put Jesus back into Christmas

Cliff Richard has had Top Five albums in eight decades

C/RAY B U R M I S T NO

Sara Cox asks Cliff about his Christmas No 1s

sound a lot It’s beginning to

TINSEL and tree up. Check. Christmas greetings exchanged. Check. But what about the playlist? Cue singers and long-time friends Aled Jones and Russell Watson, who have brought out a new album, Christmas with Aled and Russell.

‘The album is unashamedly feelgood and Christmassy, with traditional and contemporary songs,’ says Aled. ‘Russ was great in suggesting some contemporary music that I probably wouldn’t normally do.

‘My go-to would always be the stuff I’ve done all through my life as a cathedral chorister, songs like “In the Bleak Midwinter”, but on this album, there’s also “I Believe in Father Christmas”, “A Spaceman Came Travelling” and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas”.’

The album also features ‘Walking in the Air’, the song that catapulted 15-year-old Aled to fame in 1985. ‘It’s the first time I’ve sung it with anyone else and it seemed a great opportunity to have a go with Russell. He was as excited as a child in a sweet shop when we were recording it!’ Christmas music presents an irresistible draw for many artists.

‘It’s our third album together, so invariably you move towards Christmas,’ says Aled. ‘It’s actually Russell’s first Christmas album. I’ve done quite a few over the years, but it was my first one as a duet.

‘Russ and I wanted to put our stamp on some Christmas classics, which have been produced and arranged beautifully. I think on this album the blend of harmonies is the best it’s ever been, I suppose because we’ve sung together so often. And it’s a joy to be performing it live.’

Aled says that part of the appeal of Christmas music is the memories that it evokes.

‘We’ve all grown up with carols,’ he says. ‘Ones like “Away in a Manger” always remind me of primary school where I first heard it, of being crosslegged and being in the school hall. You could smell the lunch being cooked through the shutters as you heard this music for the first time.

‘Carols have stood the test of time because they tell the most magical story of all. Marry that with fantastic melodies and there you have it. I suppose they were the greatest pop hits of their day.’

When I speak to Aled, he is touring the UK with Russell to perform songs from their new album. With more than 30 years

in the singing spotlight, Aled is no stranger to delivering songs on the big stage.

‘As a kid, the variety was mad,’ he says. ‘One minute I was singing at Bob Geldof’s wedding. The next I was in Kensington Palace, singing Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” for the Prince and Princess of Wales.’

For Aled, performing live has taken on a greater significance over the past few years.

‘Last night I thought, when Russ was singing, that I’d really savour every moment because you never know when it’s going to be taken away from you,’ he says. ‘I think Covid has done that to a lot of people.’

We’ve all grown up with carols

ALED JONES has launched a new Christmas album with his long-time friend and fellow singer Russell Watson. To mark the release, he shares his thoughts on the power of the Nativity story and why people connect with carols

Interview by Emily Bright

Aled Jones and Russell Watson

like Christmas

The pandemic lockdowns caused many uncertainties for perfomers, but throughout Aled’s career, there has been a constant: his relationship with God.

‘My faith is always there,’ he says. ‘I’m not somebody who is very vocal about it. But from a young age, it has been at the core of who I am.

‘Even if I don’t know it, it has given me strength in the background. I went to Sunday school and I was in the cathedral choir from the age of nine, singing the music that acted as a conduit for my faith. If I go to a church service where there’s no music, it really doesn’t resonate at all. My connection is definitely through the music.’

While Aled enjoys performing all kinds

of music, he has a particular affinity with Christmas carols.

‘The magic of the carols is that when you sing them, you are taken somewhere else,’ he says. ‘I was, even while we recorded this album in a heatwave in July.

‘I started by singing this sort of music, and I’m still doing it. But that’s because I love the hymns and carols so much. That’s where I feel most comfortable.’

Aled also acknowledges the power of the Nativity story that lies behind the carols.

He says: ‘An excellent testament to the story is that it has stood the test of time and that it gives so many people comfort in all aspects of life, me included. I love the excitement of the birth of Jesus, and

the magic of the music that conveys that as well.

‘It brings a smile to your face. The minute we start singing something like “O Holy Night”, I see the faces of the audience and they’re taking such a lot from it. They might not be Christians, but something spiritual is happening there.’

l Christmas with Aled and Russell is released on BMG

PHOTO COURTESY OF DEACON COMMUNICATIONS

Play time!

Interview by Claire Brine

AST year she set the Nativity story to the rock’n’roll hits of Meatloaf and Guns N’Roses. This year, says director Natasia Bullock of the B Tales theatre company, she is using songs from Disney to help her convey a timeless Christmas message.

‘Our show is called Invited, and it’s a Christmas twist on a story that Jesus told in the Bible, the parable of the wedding feast,’ Natasia says. ‘In the version Jesus told, a master is holding a feast and invites noble guests to come along and celebrate with him. But when those people don’t turn up, he opens the door to everyone else in the community – whoever they are – and welcomes them in.

‘Our telling of the story is a bit different in that it’s set on Christmas Eve, and the guests are invited to a birthday and Christmas party which the king is planning for his son.

Guests receive an invitation to a party in ‘Invited’, which is touring schools

Throughout the play, the actors make reference to the fact that the king character represents God and that the son represents Jesus. It’s a fun show with lots of party scenes and opportunities for audience participation. But the main message we want our audience to take away is how important it is to be inclusive. We should be welcoming of everyone, because in God’s eyes, we are all equal.’

Founded by Natasia seven years ago, the B Tales is a Christian theatre company that aims to bring

NATASIA BULLOCK of the B Tales theatre company explains why she is inviting children to consider their community at Christmas

Natasia Bullock

Bible stories to life for young people and families. Its Christmas show is currently touring primary schools and churches around the northwest of England and the West Midlands.

‘Our Christmas production is always a little more zany than the productions we offer at other times of the year,’ says Natasia. ‘In Invited, we have songs from Frozen and Moana, several puppets, a funny court jester called Jingle, and at one point we invite the whole school to get up and dance the Macarena. We also have a scene based on The Great British Bake Off, where we invite a schoolteacher to come up on stage and bake a cake blindfolded.

‘Though the show is exciting for the kids and we try to give them a lovely time, it’s most important for us that –amongst all the madness – the gospel message gets across. Who are the people on the outskirts of our own community? And how can we be welcoming to them, not just at Christmas-time, but beyond?’

Entertaining audiences while encouraging them to think about faith has been a passion of Natasia’s for a long time. She tells the story of how the theatre company started.

‘I was doing a lot of theatre-ineducation work – so going into schools to perform plays and lead workshops,

the court jester, chats with the king

which covered history, literacy and other subjects. But one day, when I was working on a show in London, I had a God moment and said to myself: “Why am I not putting the two things I love – my faith and theatre – together?”

‘I had no idea if anyone else was doing it, and I wondered if it was too niche, but then the name for the company came to me as well – the “B” in B Tales stands for Bible. Gradually, I stopped working for other theatre companies and started creating my own work. The team of actors built up. Today the B Tales company tours four times a year, performing plays and leading workshops in schools, churches and community groups.’

One of the key ways in which the company gets children and families interested in the Bible is by modernising its stories.

‘Earlier this year we were doing our anti-bullying show, which is based on the parable of the good Samaritan, but we set it in a school,’ explains Natasia.

‘The Samaritan character was called Sam, and the bully was called Amy. Setting the story in the current day like that makes it feel more relevant to the kids, which helps them to engage with it. It’s also what Jesus did. When people came to him with questions, often he answered with parables, and the content of his parables was always relevant to the people listening.

‘His message is still relevant today, of course, but I do think children find Bible stories the most powerful when they can see them happening in front of them.’

As the Christmas production of Invited fast approaches the end of its tour, Natasia hopes that audiences will remember something of the true meaning of Christmas. In her mind, the festive season remains one of hope and joy.

‘Christmas is always about a new start,’ she says. ‘With Jesus coming as a baby, we are being given a gift from God which allows us to set things straight in our life. We can say: “It’s OK, because from now on we have Jesus and we have his teachings, which make it a lot clearer for us on how we should be living.” For me, Jesus is always the focus of Christmas.’

l For more information visit btales.co.uk

We should be welcoming of everyone

JOHN K ROBERTS

PH O T O G R A P H Y

JOHN M c R O B E R T S

Jingle,

A handful of athletes are in the running, but there can be only one winner when it comes to each of the awards presented during the BBC Sports Personality of the Year show, broadcast on BBC1 next Wednesday (21 December). Reflecting on her own experience of winning the Young Sports Personality of the Year award two years ago, British diving champion ANDREA SPENDOLINI-SIRIEIX reveals why her past successes

Faith goes deep for

TEENAGE diver Andrea SpendoliniSirieix recalls feeling over the moon when she found out that she had won the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award. It was 2020, and the athlete had enjoyed her best season yet, topping the podium in the women’s 10m platform event at the British Diving Championships, then going on to win her first international gold medal at the Fina diving grand prix in Rostock, Germany.

‘Winning Young Sports Personality of the Year felt so surreal,’ she tells me ahead of next week’s awards ceremony, somehow squeezing in our interview between her A-level studies and diving training. ‘I can remember standing on the stage and thinking to myself: “How has this just happened?” It was an amazing opportunity for me but also great for diving, because not many people know much about it as a sport. To have diving

acknowledged felt really good.

‘I also hoped that I was able to show people through my achievements that you should never limit yourself because of age. I was 16 when I won the nationals and the grand prix. It’s important to have self-confidence, to push yourself and to not be held back by something like age

It seems as though nothing has held Andrea back this year. During the summer she won two gold medals for England at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (in the women’s 10m platform and mixed 10m synchro events), and then – a fortnight later – another two gold medals for Great Britain at the European Championships (in the women’s 10m platform and the women’s 10m synchro).

‘I don’t think those successes have really registered in my brain yet,’ she says. ‘When you win something like that and interviewers are by the pool asking you how you feel, it’s hard to describe, because there are so many things going on in that moment. For a start, you’re exhausted. But now that I’ve had a little more time to process the competitions, I’m proud of what I’ve achieved. I think it’s a testament to the hard work I have put in this year and how I have pushed through, even when I could have given up.

‘I also feel that the competitions have given me more confidence for next season and even the Paris Olympics in 2024, because I know now what I’m capable of. My medals remind me of what’s possible. But I don’t tend to dwell on them too

Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix

diving champion

much, because I’m trying to think more about the future. How can I improve my performance? Is it about getting physically stronger – working on my legs, arms and abs? Or do I need to concentrate on the technical parts of my diving?

‘This summer I was able to cement my competition routine – and that was a good experience for me, because it gave me clear ideas about what works and how I need to move forward.’

While I could listen to Andrea talk all day about her sporting victories and Olympic dreams, I’m interested to learn where her diving story starts. She tells me that, as a child, she tried every sport going thanks to her inability to sit still.

‘I used to do tennis, gymnastics, swimming, dance – the whole lot. But, when I was eight years old, a representative from Crystal Palace Diving Club came to my primary school to give a talk, and my mum said we needed to broaden my sporting horizons. I started diving a couple of times a week, and then, slowly but surely, I dropped my other sports as my interest in diving overtook. It was the best decision.’

By the time she was 10 years old Andrea was serious about diving. At 16 she was representing Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, where she finished in seventh place. Wherever she’s competing, diving is a sport she finds thrilling.

‘Being up on that board is exhilarating,’ she says. ‘Your heart is pounding, you are flying through the air, making shapes, twisting, somersaulting. I find every competition to be so much fun. Diving is making the impossible possible.

‘When I did my last dive at the Commonwealth Games, I could feel my

heart thumping, but it was weirdly calming because I could focus on that instead of any bad scenarios in my head. I heard the crowds cheering, which gave me confidence, and then I got into the zone.

‘On every dive, my approach is the same. I focus on any key points that my coach has given me, I look at the platform, I take a big breath to get rid of any anxiety, and then I go for it. The dive itself goes by so fast.’

Watching Andrea compete for Commonwealth Games glory were her supportive parents, Alessandra and Fred. Though it’s not unusual for an athlete’s parents to be spotted on the sidelines at such a major event, the sight of a cheering dad is always going to be newsworthy when he’s the star of Channel 4’s First Dates. I ask Andrea if she feels that her career has been affected for better or for

GEORGIE KERR AND BRITISH SWIMMING

Andrea with her gold medal partner Lois Toulson

worse by having a famous father.

‘When I was just starting to do international competitions, I was only ever named in the newspapers as “Fred Sirieix’s daughter” – which kind of bummed me out just a little a bit,’ she says. ‘I’m really proud of my dad and his career, but I am my own person.

‘This year, though, my name is appearing in the newspapers, and it’s a good feeling. It’s like I’m being acknowledged as an individual, who at the same time has a dad who happens to be called Fred Sirieix. It’s nice to have a bit of independence and not always be in his shadow.’

Throughout our conversation, Andrea makes frequent references to her family and how much she appreciates their support in her career. She tells me how she once took her dad to a diving session – and how, after overcoming his nerves to jump from a 10m board, he developed bruises which didn’t disappear for two weeks. She also tells me that, in tough times, her mum texts her verses from the Bible to help and encourage her.

‘My favourite Bible verse is: “God will never leave you nor forsake you”,’ Andrea says. ‘It reminds me that God won’t ever leave my side. He’s all-powerful and allknowing. I get so much peace from him.’

Andrea hasn’t always had a sense of peace. At the start of 2022, she was struggling to cope with anxiety and stress. The pressure to succeed in diving and at school caused her confidence to plummet to an all-time low.

‘I had a big mental block with diving, which took all the joy out of it,’ she says. ‘Instead of my heart beating with excitement to be on the 10m board, it was beating with fear. I felt I couldn’t do it any more. And I thought that if I wasn’t good at diving, I wasn’t good at anything – and if I wasn’t good at anything, then I wasn’t a good person. I was convinced that it was time to give up.

‘But then I decided to change my approach to training. For so long I had been trying to do everything in my own strength, and I realised that it was impossible. So, instead, I began to rely on my family more, on my coach and on God for help.’

By focusing on her faith, Andrea found

a life-changing peace.

‘I used to have all this torment in my mind that everything was going to go badly for me, but when I prayed to God for peace, everything fitted together,’ she says. ‘I realised that I’m only human and that some things in life are beyond my control. I realised that it’s OK to not know everything.

‘I also found that reading the Bible every day and meditating on it helped my mind. I always do a big Bible study the night before a competition because it helps me to focus. It keeps my mind on the goal and stops me from getting distracted by social media.’

I ask Andrea if her Bible study includes

prayer – and what topics she prays about.

‘Usually I ask God for strength, wisdom and peace,’ she says. ‘Peace is something I have cherished. It helps me to concentrate and understand situations without being irrational or overemotional about them. When I have peace in my competitions, I feel better.’

As well as developing her faith in the privacy of her own home, Andrea enjoys going to church and being part of a supportive Christian community. She explains how her interest in religion began.

‘I always thought that there was a God, even if I didn’t understand who he was,’ she says. ‘Then, when I was about 12 years old, we started going to church after my mum’s friend invited us. It was nice to be in a place where things were explained to me – because I always had a lot of questions. Having that love and support

After becoming a Christian six years ago Andrea kept asking questions. She continues to seek understanding on who

‘God, for me, is love,’ she says. ‘The sacrifice made by his Son, Jesus, is love.

I ask God for strength, wisdom and peace

Andrea diving at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games

The fact that my sins are forgiven is love. My faith teaches me to love others. But I also feel that faith isn’t a “black and white” conversation. God isn’t a concrete thing – and that’s why I don’t think I can really define him.’

Our interview time is almost up. But before Andrea disappears, we talk quickly about her future. She wants to do well in her A levels, qualify for the Olympics and continue exploring her faith.

‘As an elite athlete, I will always want to win in competitions, but I know that the competitions and medals don’t define who I am,’ she says. ‘God is the centre. He’s part of my everyday life. And it’s important for me to always lean on him and not on my own understanding.’

Receiving her Commonwealth medal

LEN AQUATICS

Andrea at this year’s European Aquatics Championships

Andrea celebrates with her mixed 10m platform team-mates

THE War Cry invites readers to send in requests for prayer, including the first names of individuals and details of their circumstances, for publication. Send your Prayerlink requests to warcry@salvationarmy.org.uk or to War Cry, 101 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6BN. Mark your correspondence ‘Confidential’.

jBecoming a Christian

There is no set formula to becoming a Christian, but many people have found saying this prayer to be a helpful first step to a relationship with God

Lord Jesus Christ, I am truly sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life. Please forgive me. I now turn from everything that I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Holy Spirit. Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me for ever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen

Team talk ’

‘T E A M TALK

talk

Classic has modern message

Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

THOSE who look back fondly on Christmases past may claim that no one does Scrooge quite so well as Alastair Sim. But film-makers in the Christmas present are offering some new versions of Charles Dickens’s classic tale – and I can’t wait to tuck in.

On Netflix there’s Scrooge: A Christmas Carol, a colourful animation for kids, which I’m looking forward to watching with my daughter. I’m also liking the look of Spirited, a musical comedy available on Apple TV+, in which Will Ferrell plays a modern Ghost of Christmas Present. Another programme that has caught my eye is Sky Max’s Christmas Carole, starring Suranne Jones as a Scrooge-like businesswoman.

Whether we have ever read A Christmas Carol or not, it seems that every December we get to hear about Ebenezer Scrooge. Perhaps we like to read the story, see it performed on stage or watch a group of Muppets acting it out on screen. But I wonder why A Christmas Carol is so endlessly appealing. About 180 years after it was published, what does it teach us?

Scrooge changes overnight

I remember a colleague of mine interviewing the Charles Dickens biographer Claire Tomalin some years ago. She described A Christmas Carol as ‘a Christian tale of the man who seems really awful but who is redeemed’. He changes, literally overnight. He starts off a selfish miser and ends up generous and kind. ‘Scrooge is a villain who reforms,’ Claire summarised.

Can there be a more heart-warming story than that of someone who changes from the worst version of themselves into the best? Perhaps Scrooge resonates with us because we all have days when we feel a bit ‘Scroogey’. Maybe his transformation gives us hope that either we, or those we love, can also change for the better.

Whichever version of Scrooge I catch on telly this Christmas, I’m inclined to see his story as something more valuable than simply an hour or two’s festive entertainment. A Christmas Carol highlights the power of making peace with our past. It shows us the importance of assessing our behaviour in the present. And it helps us to consider ways in which we can be kinder in the future, enabling us to lift the spirits of the people with whom we spend Christmas –and the rest of the year.

War

101 Newington Causeway London SE1 6BN

Extract from Why Jesus? by Nicky Gumbel published by Alpha International, 2011. Used by kind permission of Alpha International

QUICK QUIZ

Who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel?

Who wrote the novel The Thursday Murder Club?

The BBC1 soap EastEnders is set in which fictional borough?

In which UK city is the Jorvik Viking Centre?

Who directed this year’s biopic Elvis?

In which field event would an athlete perform a Fosbury flop?

ANSWERS

4. York. 5. Baz Luhrmann. 5. The high jump.

1. Michelangelo. 2. Richard Osman. 3. Walford.

by Nigel Bovey

Revellers prepare to make a splash

HUNDREDS of hardy souls are hoping this month to revive a heart-warming Christmas Day tradition – a quick dip in the chilly waters of Exmouth. After two years of Covid-enforced cancellations, locals plan once again to build up a turkey-dinner appetite with a swim off the Devon resort’s beach.

Since it began more than 50 years ago word has spread so that now, come rain or shine, the annual event attracts thousands of Speedo-clad Santas and their well-wrapped supporters.

Traditionally, a hearty rendition of ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ and a countdown signal a mad dash across the sand, followed by mega splashes at the water’s edge. As wind-chilled bodies hit refreshingly icy water, the Christmas morning air is filled with shouts of joy and squeals of delight.

Fifteen minutes later a sea of shivering humanity meander their way back to their cars, swaddled in towels, thermal cups in hand and soggy Santa hats clinging to freezing fringes.

Forsaking a cosy morning coffee for a swim in the midwinter sea is not everybody’s cup of tea.

Some may wonder how such a venture can be fun. Some may worry about the risk of cold-water shock. But, whether the dip is fun or foolhardy, the fact remains that thousands of people want to mark Christmas Day by doing something they wouldn’t think of doing on any other day. The beach is not invaded on 24 or 26 December. For the dippers there is something special, unique and meaningful about Christmas Day. And therein lies the wonder of Christmas.

Christmas Day is a unique day because it marks a unique event –God’s gift of a saviour to the whole world. God didn’t give Jesus just to churchgoers or carol singers. God offers salvation to everyone. Anyone who puts their faith in Jesus can know eternal life.

God is not confined to cathedral or church. We can find him any time, anywhere – even on a chilly Exmouth beach.

Christmas Day is a unique day

PA IMAGES/ALAMY

Santas take the plunge at Exmouth

Stuffed mushrooms

Ingredients

4 portobello mushrooms

3tbsp olive oil

1 yellow pepper, cored, seeded and finely chopped

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1tbsp coriander leaves, chopped

1tbsp flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped

1tbsp lemon juice

60g cheddar cheese, grated

1tsp red chilli flakes

Coriander sprigs

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease a large baking dish.

Prepare the mushrooms by removing and chopping the stalks and setting aside the caps ready to be stuffed.

Heat 2tbsp oil in a frying pan set over a medium heat and cook the pepper, onion and garlic with a pinch of salt for 4-5 minutes, until softened.

Stir in the coriander leaves, parsley, lemon juice and chopped mushroom stalks and season, to taste. Cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Place the mushroom caps in the baking dish, gill-side up. Brush with the remaining oil and divide the vegetable mixture between the mushroom caps. Sprinkle with the cheese and red chilli flakes.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is piping hot. Garnish with coriander sprigs before serving.

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.

Line a roasting tray with aluminium foil and place a trivet on it.

Trim any excess fat and silver skin from the pork shoulder. Cover its top with rashers of bacon, overlapping slightly to fit if necessary.

Warm the orange marmalade in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Brush the bacon and pork with the warmed marmalade before topping with slices of orange down the centre, overlapping them to fit, and bay leaves on either side.

Lift the pork on to the trivet and season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 20 minutes, then reduce the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and continue to roast for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Baste from time to time with any remaining marmalade.

Remove from the oven and leave to rest, covered loosely with aluminium foil, for at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

Light and life to all he brings

From ‘Hark! the Herald Angels Sing’ by Charles Wesley