by Liz Fielding
I live in a small town called East Grinstead. It’s in West Sussex, England, midway between London and the south coast. It’s the kind of small town beloved of cozy crime writers.
It’s steeped in history. Queen Victoria stopped here at an inn to change carriage horses on her way to Brighton.
The High Street has the longest row of Tudor buildings in Britain. My hairdresser is in a building that was there in the 15th century, as is our wonderful indie bookshop. The Parish church, St Swithin’s (he of the legend that if it rains on his saints day it will rain for 40 day and 40 nights) has a monument to the Protestant martyrs burned in the High Street.
And it’s not just the history that makes the town special. It’s a spiritual place that has the reputation of being a little bit well, odd.
It sits on the Meridian where it intersects with ley lines. This supposedly creates a powerful magnetic field which guides UFO landings. (Neither the leylines nor the UFO landings have been proved!)
It is also the headquarters of some very diverse religious communities.
Christmas in East Grinstead starts on a Saturday in the middle of November when the Christmas lights are turned on. The night before, shops and businesses decorate their windows then cover them with brown papers in preparation for the BIG REVEAL on Saturday evening.
The whole town turns out for this. There’s a band playing carols, snow machines giving the streets a festive look, mulled wine, seasonal coffee, mince pies and gingerbread, and then the brown paper is torn down, the windows are revealed and votes are cast for the best.
Next up for me is dinner out with some of my fellow bookclubbers. This is a charity event put on by a number of local restaurants to support the local foodbank. After that I’ll be making a live Christmas wreath in a craft barn with the Woman’s Institute.
Then it’s a Christmas dinner with the bookclub, Christmas lunch with the WI and a visit to the theatre for a pantomime. Panto is a totally British tradition, a musical version of a fairy tale with slapstick, cross dressing, topical and local jokes and a fair bit of innuendo. The Dames (the Ugly Sisters in Cinderella, which is what is playing at our local theatre this Year) are always men. Sir Ian McKellan, great Shakespearean and film actor, does a fabulous dame. In the clip I’ve linked to, the great Sian Phillips is playing the Evil Baroness.
And then there’s the day itself. Christmas is all about the children unwrapping their gifts under the tree, and the food.
Traditionally, Christmas is turkey with pigs in blankets (not the US pig in a blanket, but small sausages wrapped in bacon), chestnut stuffing, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and Brussels sprouts with chestnuts and bacon, and carrots – with turkey gravy.
This, if you’re wearing something with an elasticated waist, is followed by Christmas pudding (traditionally made on Stir Up Sunday,– this year 23 November – when all the family stir the mix, clockwise, and make a wish.
That’s the tradition. Our family have a beef rib joint instead of turkey, but we have all the rest. Christmas pudding is a bit heavy so we have trifle and always, always, mince pies.
The name, I know is a little off putting to those not brought up on these gorgeous, sweet little pastry treats. In the past – we’re talking long ago past – the filling was spiced meat. The meat was gradually dropped and the filling now is a delicious mix of dried fruit, apples, crystallized ginger, orange zest and spices. (And a drop of brandy – just as a preservative…) Here’s a link to a recipe.
If you’d like to join in a small town Christmas in Maybridge – there’s a giveaway of all three of my Maybridge Mysteries in the newly issued box set.
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season however you celebrate, and a year filled with great books.
ABOUT LIZ FIELDING
Liz worked as a secretary in Africa and the Middle East and was co-ordinator of the Brecon Jazz Festival before writing full time. Her books are published worldwide in multiple languages. She has won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious RITA award twice for The Best Man & the Bridesmaid and The Marriage Miracle, In 2019 she was honoured with an Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Romantic Novelists’ Association.
She is now writing cozy crime for Joffe Books and the fourth of her Maybridge Mysteries, Murder in the Vineyard will be published in 2026.
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All Included Photos Were Submitted by Liz!
