The aftermath of the market traders' efforts yesterday to clear walkways through the snow were apparent today with piles scattered all over the town centre but I took this picture mainly to show the town's Christmas tree.
It's a well-known fact that the Christmas tree was introduced to England by Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert but the Noway Spruce's connection to Christmas can be traced back to St Boniface and the eighth century. Boniface was a monk from a Devon monastery who travelled to Germany as a missionary and the story goes that he rescued a boy being offered as a human sacrifice beneath an oak tree. He chopped the tree down but a Spruce sapling in the roots grew. According to the legend Boniface declared that it would be known as the Tree of the Christ Child as it pointed towards heaven. And that is why Christmas trees are still part of our Christmas tradition.
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