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29th November. Newbury.
No Santa Hats!
But.....
"It's grey, its wet,
and its not December yet"
But....
No hats!
At the end of this converstation
Blewbury Brass Band played what must be the
earliest rendition of "Away in a manger"
outside an educational establishment ,without
seasonal headgear, and in weather conditions
that had already prompted the man collecting
for the Cats Protection League to go home with
frozen toes and sodden clothes.
We were in Newbury on Hennessy
Gold Cup day; the town was packed full of people
not really sure if they needed to start Christmas
shopping yet or not. The town Christmas lights
had been switched on the previous weekend and
Santa was installed in his grotto in Camp Hopson,
but the feverish "buy everything NOW!"
spending that characterises the real Christmas
shopping season was not really present. It
wasn't really a day for Santa hats.
 The
Band played for about 2 hours in the shelter
of Camp Hopson's doorway and even without visual
prompting by the hats the public loved it,
especially the children.
"Nice to hear a band"
"Can you play Away
in a manger?"
"Can you play When
the saints go marching in?" - No, but
I promise it's being sellotaped into the back
of the carol book for next year.
The collecting tins for Sobell
House now go forward to next weeks outing at
Tesco. It will be December, it might not be
raining, and there is every possibility that
everyone may feel silly enough to wear a hat.
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