A Christmas story

Christmas is already feeling like a distant memory but there were some great ones from our trip home, one in particular that I’d like to share was the Torchlit Parade we joined in on Christmas Eve.

The torchlit parade takes place every Christmas Eve between the Oxfordshire villages of Streatley and Goring. At dusk people walk downhill from both villages and cross the small bridge that crosses the tapered River Thames and then gather in a vast meadow with a huge bonfire to sing carols.

Seeing thousands of people holding hessian and wax torches was a wonderful visual, especially with the snow cover on the ground. My son loved it but tended to wave his torch around a bit like it was a sparkler and we did well to escape the parade without the Fire Brigade being called!

Goring and Streatley are inexplicably linked but are in fact in two different counties with the Thames acting as the border. Streatley is in Berkshire and is the smaller of the two villages, while Goring is in Oxfordshire and both have some stunning old buildings and some brilliant pubs such as the Miller of Mansfield and The Bull.

No one could tell me how long this tradition has been going on for but it was a fun thing to do before Santa visited.