Babbacombe blizzard

The village of Babbacombe in Devon has been transformed into a picture-postcard winter wonderland after it received a covering of snow.


Looks great, doesn't it?


Accept that it's fake snow that's been sprayed onto a fake village. Yes, this is Babbacome Model Village, a popular Devon tourist attraction.


Visitors can enjoy the snowbound model village from Saturday 5 December 2009 to Sunday 3 January 2010. But what I want to know is, what'll they do if it really snows? There won't be anything to see!

Christmas carols - a fictional fantasy?

The Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Croydon, has branded Christmas carols as being nonsense - saying that adults should be embarrassed to sing them.

He also blasts nativity plays as "fictional fantasy" and claims that songs like Away In A Manger give children a "misleading" image of Jesus.

He says: "I find it bizarre when I see parents singing Away In A Manger as if it related to reality. I can understand little children being taken with the sort of baby of whom it can be said 'no crying he makes'. But how can adults sing this without embarrassment? If we sing nonsense, is it any surprise that children grow into adults and throw out the tearless baby Jesus with Father Christmas and other fantasy figures?"

Has he not heard of symbolism - something that is vital to the whole Christmas faith? I think he's treading on thin ice here. The Church needs its own to support it, not slate one of its most popular festivals which draws people in like at no other time in the year.

He also slates Once In Royal David's City for saying that children should be "mild" and "obedient", saying that "This sounds suspiciously like Victorian behaviour control." Well he would do, he's from Croydon.

His rant appears in his new book called Why Wish You a Merry Christmas? and you can pick up a copy here, if you'd like to read more.

Ding dong merrily online

Internet retailers dubbed Monday 30 November "Cyber Monday" thinking that it would be their busiest Christmas shopping day. In the run-up to last Christmas, we spent £4.67billion using the net. But the Centre For Retail Research (CRR) expects that figure to rise to £8.9BILLION this year - accounting for one in five of all UK sales.

You can read more about the phenomenon of Christmas shopping online here.

Christmas dinner for £1.83?

Apparently, the powers that be as ASDA believe they are offering Britain's best festive bargain... a full Christmas meal for £1.83 a head.

The luxury lunch has turkey, spuds, carrots, gravy, cranberry sauce and stuffing, followed by a Christmas pudding and six mince pies.

But if it looks anything like this, I'd personally think twice...

The Ultimate Advent Calendar

Christmas is a time for giving, but it's also nice to receive every once in a while! That's why the people at Classic FM have teamed up with Grant's Whisky to create the ultimate Advent calendar.

They'll be counting down the days to Christmas by giving away all sorts of amazing prizes every day. From luxury mini-breaks in Scotland and fine dining on Orient Express, to this year's must-have gadgets such as Sony eBook Readers, iPod Touchs and Nintendo Wiis, there are great gifts for all the family to be won.

To use the calendar, simply follow this link and click on the relevant date to reveal the details of the daily prize and how to enter. Good luck!

What's your favourite Christmas Carol?

Whether it’s Away in a Manger, Silent Night, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, O Little Town of Bethlehem or The First Noel, Classic FM and the Radio Times want to hear from you, because they've teamed up to search for the Nation’s Favourite Carol this Christmas.

Voting opened at 6am yesterday (Tuesday 1 December) and will close on Sunday 13 December, with the full results being announced in a special live programme - The Nation’s Favourite Carol - presented by Howard Goodall on Christmas Day from 12pm to 3pm .

To cast your vote for the Nation’s Favourite Carol, follow this link.

And if you'd like to find out more about the origins of your favourite Christmas songs, why not pick up a copy of What is Myrrh Anyway? here to gen-up on all your festive-related knowledge?

First frost

December is here and with it came the first frost our way. I actually had to get out of the car and spray some de-icer on the windscreen! So much for global warming.

But of course parts of the UK have already seen their first snow, such as here in the Cairngorms.


And there's more to come.

But if you're wondering what the odds are this year of it being a white Christmas in your part of the UK, you can check here.