In addition to the Christmas events shown on this page, there are many more events being held during December around Aldridge which you will find on the Aldridge Village What's on & Events page and even more Christmas events on the Streetly Village Website

Charity Christmas Light Display in Aldridge

From 1st December Aldridge Charity Christmas Lights display created by Julia & Nick Barnard at our home at 70 Westbrook Avenue Aldridge (the postcode is WS9 0DA for any sat nav users). The display starts on 1st December and will continue to Christmas Eve from 6pm-9pm approx. The cost is ?1 per family front garden (?1 coin only in the box at the top of the drive to activate the front garden display). The cost for the back garden is ?1 per person and ?1 extra for each child to see Santa (including a small gift). Our Charity this year is Acorns Childrens Hospice. The back garden is not accessible for prams, buggies etc but the front garden is. This will be the 24th year we have held the display. We would like to pass on our thanks to everyone who has been along to see us over the years and look forward to seeing them again in 2011 and new visitors. If anyone needs any further information please give us a call on 01922 452989.

Aldridge Christmas Festivities Saturday 10 December, 11am to 3pm Aldridge Shopping Centre, Anchor Road. Hosted by Aldridge Village Business Partnership and Walsall Council

Sat 10 Dec 2011, Aldridge Village Business Partnership is organising a tombola as part of the Aldridge Christmas Festivities on Saturday 10 December in order to raise additional funds for Aldridge in Bloom.

Recipe for Christmas Tree Biscuits
It's a child friendly recipe... Makes 8 large / 12 smaller biscuits !

225g (8oz) plain flour
140g (5oz) butter
55g (2oz) caster sugar

1. Wash your hands! Ask your grown up helper to set the oven to 180 degrees C/ 350 degrees F/ Gas Mark 4

2. With a little butter or margarine, grease a baking tray so that the biscuits will not stick.

3. It may help to weigh out your ingredients to start with, and put them in small bowls. 3. Using a sieve, put your flour into a mixing bowl.

4. Add your butter.

5. Using your fingers, rub the flour and butter together for a few minutes, until the mixture feels and looks like breadcrumbs.

6. Add your sugar to the mixture and mix it in with a spoon. Use your hands to really squash the mixture together to make a soft dough and roll it into a ball.

7. Sprinkle some flour onto a clean board or surface and roll out your dough, until it is around 1cm thick.

8. Using a shape cutter or a safe edged knife, cut out your tree shapes (or whatever shape you prefer). Place them on the baking tray.

9. Collect your left over dough and roll it out again - cut out shapes until it is all used up.

10. Ask your helper to put them in the hot oven. Bake for 10 minutes. They should be pale in colour, so do not let them go brown.

When they are cool, you may decorate your trees if you wish, with sweets or icing, or they are delicious as they are.

Many thanks to Julie Homfray for this tasty christmas receipe for biscuits !

Christmas Tree history....in 680 AD the Saxon, Boniface, was born in Crediton, Devon, becoming a monk, missionary and finally a martyr but before fulfilling his final destiny Boniface travelled to Germany to spread the word of God. Whilst in Germany, legend tells that Boniface used the triangular shape of the fir tree to demonstrate the holy trinity ? the Father, Son and Holy Spirit to the German people but first he had to overcome the local people?s superstition. Until then the people had revered the oak. One story tells of how Boniface felled Thor's sacred Oak at Geismar, in front of hostile tribesmen and it was there that he laid the foundation of a new church. The church grew and flourished and soon the local people began to worship the fir tree, as God?s own tree. Jump forward 500 years or so to the twelfth century and records show the fir tree was now becoming more commonly used in worship. All across Central Europe people were hanging fir trees upside down as a symbol of Christianity at Christmas time but it was another few centuries before the first decorated tree was recorded at Riga in Latvia, in 1510. It was the Georgian Kings from Germany and German merchants who first brought the Christmas tree to England. However, the British people of the time were not overly keen on the German monarchy so the fashion never reached the common people. It was not until 1846 that the Christmas Tree took root in the nation's conscience. Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, appeared in the Illustrated London News stood around a Christmas Tree with her children. Victoria was a very popular Queen and the fashion took off. The Christmas Tree as we know it was born.
Fr?hliche Weihnachten.

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