An Ormskirk Christmas
The Nativity Scene outside Ormskirk Parish Chrurch
Ormskirk Bygone Times has been collecting the memories of our page followers over the last couple of years and it seems that amongst our 5000+ followers, many people share the same memories of the Ormskirk Christmas experience.
For many children the season was about visiting Father Christmas in his grotto at Burgesses on Church Street. Or to those a bit younger, Parker Franks on the same site.
The traditional junior school Nativity plays bring back memories of red shiny paper used for a fire and silver tinsel wrapped around coat hangers for Angel halos. Boys dressing gowns for Shepherds coats and singing Away In A Manger to our beaming parents sitting quietly watching, not a digital appliance in site, just the brain to record the memories and a photo for the local paper.
Our very own Dot as an angel in her school Nativity play
School Christmas dinners were exciting and at the end of the meal Father Christmas dropped in, oddly enough he never looked like the one in Burgesses.
Mahoods on Beaconsfield corner had a Christmas Toy department upstairs with train sets laid out and running. Taylors on Moor Street was full of seasonal gifts and toys.
The Nativity Scene at the Parish Church has changed little over the years, a plastic screen on the front to protect the contents from theft or damage being the main change.
Shops in the town offered seasonal fayre of the highest quality. Butchers provided local fresh Pork,Turkey and Goose with home delivery.
Moor Street in the late 1960s
Car Parks were unheard of until the late 1960s, before then parking was wherever you needed to be and for however long you chose, although most people walked into town and carried their shopping home themselves.
The town had everything people needed for a comfortable family Christmas and it was all done without excess or t’internet with most workers having just a couple of days off.
Many people will remember the winter of 1962/63 when snow drifts 6ft to 8 ft high almost caused a problem. It was nothing a few men with spades couldn’t put right.
A selection of adverts relating to Christmas in Ormskirk
Thanks for those memories Dot. It seems you were in the same Nativity Play as my David, who was one of the wise men, along with Michael Hoffman.