Christmas in Ruddington

As December begins, for most of us the festive season ahead is likely to be a rather different affair to the one we’d normally be able to enjoy. Even if Ruddington drops from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in mid-December, followed by the Government’s promised five days of even looser COVID-19 restrictions over Christmas, the threat of Coronavirus will still be looming large over everything we do.

However, a number of ‘low risk’ activities and initiatives are taking place this month in our village to try to get Ruddingtonians into the Yuletide spirit as safely as possible. Also, as you can see in the photo (above), the customary Ruddington Parish Council organised Christmas trees outside our village businesses (below) are being complemented this year by a brand new, festive lighting display in front of St Peter’s Rooms.

Starting today (December 1st) our village centre has been transformed into a giant ‘Advent Calendar’ too! Ruddington Post Office kicked us off this morning by revealing their Christmas advent window display, and will be followed each day by 23 others, according to the schedule below, rounding off with St Peter’s Church on Christmas Eve.

Many village businesses will also be offering ‘Christmas Late Night Shopping’ until 7pm on the three Fridays before Christmas, promising some fabulous ‘pop-up’ events. It’s hoped this will include dining in at some of our Ruddington hospitality venues on December 18th, if restrictions are eased by then. Meantime details of the traders taking part in the first one on Friday Friday December 4th are >>HERE<<.

St Peter’s Church promises all its usual services will be happening. However, because of COVID-19, vicar the Reverend Andrew Buchanan tells us they’re having to do them differently this year:-

• The annual service ‘Remembering those who have died’ will be a ‘Facebook live’ gathering on Sunday 6th December at 7pm.
• The Carol Service, full of Bible readings and traditional carols, will be a pre-recorded service broadcast on Facebook and YouTube on Sunday 20th December at 7pm.
• The Christingle Service (usually their busiest service of the year) will be pre-recorded this year, and will be broadcast on Facebook and YouTube at 4pm on Christmas Eve. They are hoping to distribute some 900 Christingle sheets and candles through the village schools, so that all the children can join in.
• The 11pm Christmas Eve Communion will be a face to face service as usual. However, because of restrictions, numbers will be strictly limited and attendees will not be able to sing. To book a ticket (on a first come, first served basis), please email Nikki Roe at St Peter’s Church office via ruddoffice@gmail.com. However, they are also going to ‘livestream’ this service via Facebook so you enjoy it at home.
• Finally, on Christmas Day – St Peter’s Church will pre-record a service of celebration so that we all get to sing ‘happy birthday to Jesus’ on his birthday!

Rev’d Buchanan talks about these St Peter’s Church festive highlights below:

Each weekend in December, Ruddington Baptist Church invites you to go on a quest through the ‘Nativity Story’. The journey begins on the first weekend with Mary and Joseph, followed by the wisemen, shepherds and angels and culminating on Christmas weekend with a search for the Baby Jesus. You can follow a map that can be collected at The Bottle Top on High Street and follow clues to find the next part of the story. At each destination you will find a picture of a character and a QR code to scan linking to a video of someone telling the story.

If you prefer to stay online, all Baptist Church services over Christmas will be on Zoom:

• 13th Dec – Advent service – 10.30am – >>JOIN<<
• 20th Dec – Nativity service – 10.30am – >>JOIN<<
• 25th Dec – Christmas Day service – 10.00am – >>JOIN<<

Also online, Ruddington Baptist Church and St Peter’s Church are also involved in publishing a daily video as part of a ‘Jesse Tree Advent Journey’. They are encouraging families to watch the daily video as it will help people understand the journey throughout the Bible from Creation to the birth of Jesus. Each short video will include ideas for a decoration that families can add to their own Jesse Tree. The videos can be found >>HERE<<.

Ruddington Village Market is back on Saturday December 5th with an extended, ‘festive’ special on The Green, which this month will run from 9.00am to 2.30pm. Organisers promise that all COVID-secure measures will be in place (metre-spaced stalls and separate queue lines), plus a few new extra ones such as hand sanitiser stations dotted around the market, and all traders and volunteers masked-up for your safety. Find the full details >>HERE<<.

Monday December 7th sees the start of the ‘Ruddington Christmas Lights Trail’ organised by The Friends of James Peacock School. The printed Trail Map’ will be available to collect from The Bottle Top on High Street – or you can request one by email from fjp.committee@yahoo.co.uk. When it’s completed a small gift for children will be available back at the Bottle Top in exchange for finished forms plus a small donation requested to the Friends of James Peacock School.

Nottingham City Transport‘s Navy 3 and Green 10 offer frequent and COVID-safe services to and from Ruddington for your #RuddyGoodDayOut. You can find out how our village buses are running over the holiday period >>HERE <<.

So there’s still plenty happening and it’s easy to get here. However, as villagers and visitors make the most of the festive fun Ruddington is offering us this year, it’s worth remembering Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s words when he announced England’s ‘COVID Christmas’ restrictions: “Tis the season to be jolly careful!”