CHRISTMAS POEM 2017

by Rachel Hughes

'I'll have one. Then just another...

'Oh, go on then! It's Christmas time, brother!'

A couple of shots, a few more pints.

'I'm not paying for a taxi...I'll be all right!'

'I'll be home soon, love!' - She's asking again.

'I ain't walking, it's started to rain...'

Laughing and joking, the time passes by,

Enjoying the company stood by your side.

'I really  must go now; my tea's in the dog!

And it's been a few hours since I finished my job.'

As wobbly legs take this Human across the road,

It tells itself it's in 'driveable mode'.

Key's in the starter, the mirror's in view.

'I'm on my way home love! I love you, I do!'

Driving along with thoughts of its bed,

The drunk-driving human hits a tree up ahead.

A knock on the door wakes the family inside.

Tears start to fall from the loved ones' eyes;

'How has this happened? I can't believe...

'Why would our loved one decide to leave?'

An individual's act; a choice that was made,

Another human life that could have been saved...

Think of the others you'd leave behind,

At any time of year, not just Christmas time.

©Rachel Hughes, November 2015

(reproduced with permission)

Editor's note: We thought this excellent poem by Rachel Hughes deserved as wide an audience as possible, partly because of the time of year, and partly because of the powerful writing and the message it gets across. A message which can't be repeated too often. It first appeared on the Middlewich Community Group on Facebook - DR

MIDDLEWICH DIARY CHRISTMAS MASTHEAD 2017

by Dave Roberts

For Christmas 2017 there can only ever have been one subject for our masthead - the excellent display of Christmas lights and the quite exceptional Christmas tree in the town centre, captured here  by Ken Rane in a photo used with his permission.

There was some criticism of the lights last year and hopes were high that the situation would be remedied this year.

Those hopes were realised (and then some), and we were treated to Christmas lights and a tree that any town, big or small, would be proud of.

The light switch-on, combined with one of the best Christmas markets in the area, was also very well organised and did us proud.

You can find out more about the switch-on here, and in our archived Mexon Market diary entry here.

Photo: Ken Rane

Ken's photograph sums up the Middlewich at Christmas scene very well indeed. Despite the ever-present (and unavoidable) modern traffic in the town centre, this photo still manages to convey something of our town centre's Victorian heritage. 

The shops on the right still have their 19th Century frontages more or less intact, and that lantern  outside  the White Bear on the left adds to the atmosphere.

As for the Christmas tree, the lights are the best we've seen in years, and the 'baubles' in the trees in St Michael's churchyard are a pleasing addition.

Merry Christmas Middlewich!