Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

This week’s photograph is of the children at Jeddah Progress Nursery School in The Gambia. Although The Gambia is a Muslim country they are very tolerant of other religions and it is not unknown for Muslims to join in Christian celebrations and vice versa.

I took this photo to raise money for this school last year and the children and teachers were more than happy to don Santa’s hat to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Hope you all have a wonderful time this holiday season.

Last weekend I spent a wonderful Sunday afternoon exploring Covent Garden in London and was thrilled to discover a 32 foot high topiary reindeer and the largest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen as well as the wonderful street entertainers that you will find here any time of the year.

After a few hours shopping, we warmed up with a glass of mulled wine from a stall that looked like a giant Christmas present. There was also hot apple juice, minced pies and traditionally roasted chestnuts on offer. Tomorrow and Friday you’ll also be able to enjoy the seasonal delights of Covent Garden’s Real Food market with gourmet Christmas treats and a chocolate bar serving hot chocolate drinks and handmade sweet treats.

A very brief history
Covent Garden, in the heart of London’s West End, is today famous for its street entertainers, restaurants and cafes, theatres and The Royal Opera House, fashionable boutiques and interesting shops.

Once the site of the convent garden belonging to Westminster Abbey it was redeveloped in 1630 into an Italian style piazza and square and a licence for a fruit and vegetable market was later granted.

In 1666 the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the city and many of its markets and virtually overnight Covent Garden became the most important fruit, vegetable and flower market in the country. The River Thames brought boats from around the world filled with exotic items.

The market thrived and in the 1820s it was re-developed with a neo-classical market for fruit and vegetables. At one time it employed over 1,000 porters.

A new flower market was built in 1860s (which now houses the London Transport Museum) and in 1904 a second flower market for foreign flowers was built.

Eventually the market out grew the Covent Garden site, finally closing here and re-locating in the 1970s.

Did you know?

• In 1740 a list of Covent Garden prostitutes’ names, addresses, appearances and their specialities was published by a local tavern owner selling over 8,000 copies.
• London’s oldest, but still thriving restaurant, Rules, opened in 1798. Specialising in game, it serves traditional English food.

This weekend the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton near Chichester in West Sussex, hosts its annual Christmas Market. The museum, in the heart of the South Downs National Park, is a wonderful collection of nearly 50 buildings that have been painstakingly dismantled, re-built and restored, to bring alive southern England’s homes, farms and workplaces from the past 500 years.

Mid 17th Century Sussex cottage

Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen

As I explored the museum yesterday morning I wondered into the Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen which was offering samples of traditional 16th century fast food! The ladies working in the kitchen, dressed in Tudor peasant outfits, explained that ‘chewits’ were a popular take-away of the day. You could choose from savoury fillings such as a mix of spinach, onion and other vegetables, a meat based filling (or on Fridays and Saturdays, fish) or sweet fillings. This was placed on a pre-made pastry, made into a parcel and dropped into hot oil. I tried an apple, raisin and spice ‘chewit’ and it was really delicious!

So even then the English loved their deep fat fried take-aways, although its now fish-n-chips (still a firm favourite despite all the wonderful food on offer at our restaurants and take-aways from around the world).

The museum offers numerous courses in traditional and rural trades and crafts from pre-historic jewellery making, coppice management, leather carving to traditional English music and singing workshops. Coming up soon is a one day workshop on Tudor Christmas food where you can learn about, and make, such delights as Twelfth Night cake and shred pies.

Throughout the year there are a variety of events and I’m really looking forward to returning for ‘A Sussex Christmas’ (Mon 26th Dec to Sun 1 Jan) where you can discover traditions of Christmas past with festive fare, music and stories plus the houses around the museum will be decorated for Christmas in the style of the period they were originally built.

A must-see for any visitors to the area, a day at the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum provides a fascinating insight into the lives of the people of southern England in years gone by.

Read more about the traditional cooking at Winkhurst Tudor Kitchen

For more photographs visit Travel with Kat on Flickr

from left: 15th century shop from Horsham and Titchfield's market hall built in 1620