Winter—and Christmas—in Suffolk

A Suffolk Christmas, compiled by Humphrey Phelps

I found the first of these Sutton Christmas anthologies (A Worcestershire Christmas, if you care) at a library book sale several years back, and another at a second library sale a couple of years later. These contain short excerpts of Christmas/Christmastide passages from various British novels, memoirs, and poetry books, with the action taking place in the shire or historical era denoted in the title

This Suffolk book is a little lacking in Christmasy entries; a lot of them seem to be just generic winter entries, no less interesting, but a little disappointing after some of the other volumes. Suffolk and Norfolk are the two easternmost counties in England, and in general they enjoy "soft" weather at Christmas. But snowy Christmases take the fore in many of the stories, which range from 19th century feasts and customs to a 1971 retrospective of a 20th century celebration. Christmas in the marketplace is a popular theme in Suffolk's country setting, also carol singing among the country estates, Nativity plays, the pantomime, several ghost stories, vicarage parties, and even an account of a vet's Christmas day.

Still worthwhile reading, but a few too many out-of-season entries for my taste.