The Post of Christmas Markets Past and Future

A belated congraulations to the team behind Saturday's Christmas Market.

We don't really have a great deal to "report", other than that we had some mulled wine, a mince pie and our son refused to have his picture taken with a highly photogenic green Father Christmas at the Broca (no grubby, Dan Ackroyd / Billy Bob Thornton-style beard on this one), but gladly accepted a lolly.

The market was a test-case for future events and the sheer number of people who attended on a rain-affected Saturday afternoon speaks volumes for the local appetite for this kind of thing. There were relatively few stalls but they were complemented very nicely by the neighbouring shops, helping to create the atmosphere and critical mass which street markets need to succeed. It won't signal the beginning of regular markets on Coulgate Street - but has hopefully made the argument for future Christmas (and maybe summer) events.

Congratulations too should go to the Community Church, an organisation we have given a bit of a hard time over Healthy Brockley, but which organised a great lantern workship and parade. At one point, the whole of the market was a sea of coloured lights, melting our Grinch-like heart, which was subsequently reduced to a puddle by seeing "the must-see movie this Christmas", Enchanted.