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Books
A Child's Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas (Puffin Books, 1996)
Christmas by William Sansom (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1968)
The Englishman's Christmas: A Social History by JAR Pimlott (Harvester Press, 1978)
The Night Before Christmas by Clement C Moore (HarperCollins, 1999)
The Shorter Pepys edited by Robert Latham (Penguin Books 1993)
Places to visit
Milestones, Leisure Park, Churchill Way West, Basingstoke, Hampshire. Tel: 01256 477766. This modern open air museum has reconstructed streets and buildings based on those found in Hampshire from Victorian times and the 1930s. The museum offers you the chance to experience Christmas with Victorian style festivities, as well as plays and actors playing historic characters. Admission charges apply.
The Geffrye Museum, Kingsland Road, London E2 8EA. Tel: 020 7739 9893. The Geffrye offers a specialist collection of English furniture and decorative arts in a chronological series of period rooms. At Christmas the museum hosts a special exhibition recreating the festive atmosphere through the ages. Admission is free.
About the author
Christine Lalumia is an art and garden historian, and deputy director of the Geffrye Museum in London.
