8 December: National Christmas Tree Day

It's National Christmas Tree Day - time to think of putting up a tree, if you celebrate Christmas and haven't done so already. Here are some facts about Christmas trees to help you along.

1. Decorating trees in winter is by no means a new thing. It pre-dates Christ and was a pagan practice. It started when ancient peoples noticed that the leaves had fallen from the trees around the shortest day of the year. They didn't understand the science of trees, and couldn't know for sure the leaves would ever come back. So they hung bits of cloth on the bare branches to encourage the leaves to grow again, which they did, come spring. 'It worked!' they thought, and carried on doing it.
2. The most popular Christmas trees are: Scotch pine, Douglas fir, noble fir, Fraser fir, balsam fir, Virginia pine and white pine. Why fir trees? There's more to it than simply that they are still Green in winter. Besides evergreens, other types of trees such as cherry and Hawthorn were used as Christmas trees in the past. There's a legend to explain it. The legend concerns a monk called St Boniface who cut down an oak tree. A young fir tree spring up in its place, inspiring Boniface to wax lyrical: “This little tree shall be your Holy Tree tonight. It is the tree of peace for your houses are built of the fir. It is the sign of endless life for its leaves are evergreen. See how it points toward the heavens? Let this be called the tree of the Christ Child. Gather about it, not in the wilderness, but in your homes. There it will be surrounded by loving gifts and rites of kindness.” So fir trees it is.
3. Having a tree in the family home at Christmas is a tradition started in Germany. The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531. The first use of the term ‘Christmas tree’ in English was in 1835. The tradition spread to the UK thanks to the German roots of our royal family. Queen Victoria wasn't the first to have one - it was Queen Charlotte, George III's wife, who had the first Christmas tree in Britain, for a party she held for children in Windsor. William IV's wife Adelaide had one every year. It was Victoria and Albert who made the Christmas tree popular among the common people, though.
4. On average, it takes seven years for a Christmas tree to grow to the right height (6-7 feet).
5. Artificial trees first appeared in Germany in the 19th century. Early ones were made from goose feathers dyed green and tied to wire branches, which were then secured to a wooden post. In 1930, the US-based Addis Brush Company created fake Christmas trees made from brush bristles. Today, they are mostly made of plastic and 80% of them are made in China.
6. So which is better, a real tree or an artificial one? The sources I looked at tended to come out in favour of real trees as being more environmentally friendly. Artificial trees, they say, contain plastic and lead and other nasty stuff while an acre of Christmas trees produces enough Oxygen each day as they grow to sustain 18 people. Fungi on their roots is good for the soil and Christmas tree farms attract birds, which live in the trees. At the end of Christmas, they can be recycled. If they have their roots, they can be planted in your garden; if not they can be turned into wood chippings or compost. A novel way to recycle your Christmas tree might be to donate it to your local zoo. Apparently, a number of large animals, including Elephants, Giraffes, Rhinoceros, Camels, deer and sheep love to eat them. An elephant may eat as many as five in one meal. Another fact which could influence your choice here: the average real Christmas tree contains about 30,000 bugs and insects.
7. On to the decorations. While tree decorating goes back a long way, decorating of Christmas trees specifically dates back to the 16th century. The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510. From the 17th century the idea of putting candles on them has been credited to Martin Luther, the idea being that the lights would look like stars in a forest. Candles are a bit of a Fire risk, so Electricity was soon adopted as a means of lighting the tree. Thomas Edison's assistant, Edward Johnson, came up with the idea of electric Lights for Christmas trees in 1882. Christmas tree lights were first mass-produced in 1890. Manufactured Christmas tree ornaments were first sold by Woolworths in 1880.
8. Most people in Britain will know that Oslo has donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Westminster since 1947 as a thank you for Britain's help to Norway during World War II. There's a similar gesture in North America now, too. Since 1971 the Province of Nova Scotia has presented Boston with a Christmas tree in gratitude for the relief supplies received from the city after a ship exploded in 1917 following a collision in the Halifax, Nova Scotia Harbour. Other famous Christmas trees include the one at the Rockefeller Center in New York, a tradition which began unofficially in 1931 when people who worked there put up a small tree and decorated it with tin cans. Now, the tree will be over 50 feet tall and decorated with LED lights. A tree is always lit by the US President on the White House lawn. This tradition started with President Coolidge in 1923. Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the United States, was the first President to have a Christmas tree in the White House, but Teddy Roosevelt banned them from the White House for environmental reasons. President Truman preferred to spend Christmas at his home in Independence, Missouri, so he would light the National Christmas Tree by remote control.
9. During the Second World War, cutting down trees for Christmas was banned - but people did it anyway.
10. About a thousand people every year will end up in A and E with Christmas tree related injuries.

My Christmas Novella!

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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New!

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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