Pictures: December 2008 Archives

The St. Andrew's flag flutters gently in the breeze celebrating the church's patron saint.  In parts of England the festival, on 30th November, was also one of the traditional days when schoolchildren indulged in locking their teachers out of school.  It's not very likely that this happened in Bishopthorpe.  During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the pupils were expected to attend a special morning service in the church on St. Andrew's Day.

The saltire also seems to have heralded winter's arrival. On Tuesday morning (2 December) we woke to find the village had a layer of snow; the sun's gradual ascent providing a positive glow.  As I walked into the churchyard, having decided to take a photograph or two, I was alarmed to find the head and shoulders of a man emerge from a grave.  Thankfully, I soon established he was from the land of the living and that a new plot was being prepared.