A Curmudgeon’s Christmas Conversion

BY DAVID RICHARDS I had perfected the pre-emptive festive scowl. By the first week of November, as tinsel-tawdry displays metastasised across the high street, I retreated into a state of advanced curmudgeonliness—a seasonal affective disorder in reverse. To my finely-tuned cynicism, Christmas had crystallised into a triumvirate of modern miseries: a festival of consumerism so rampant it would make Saturnalia blush; an exercise in stress-management … Continue reading A Curmudgeon’s Christmas Conversion

countrysquiremagazineDecember 29, 2025December 28, 2025

Christmas

Happy Christmas

Dear Readers of Country Squire Magazine, Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year! As we reflect on the past year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your continued interest, which has made our magazine a thriving community. In particular I thank Deputy Editor James Bembridge and associate editor Sean Walsh for their steadfast support and constructive criticism. … Continue reading Happy Christmas

countrysquiremagazineDecember 25, 2025December 24, 2025

Christmas, Long Reads

Grandfather Christmas

BY JOHN DREWRY The vampire, the werewolf and the witch were the primary facilitators of an annual December conference of monsters, devils and demons. The aim of their organisation had always been very clear – to inflict fear, pain and death upon humankind. But they faced an eternal conundrum – did they really exist? Each year they addressed this perennial problem. “Through many ages they … Continue reading Grandfather Christmas

countrysquiremagazineDecember 24, 2025December 23, 2025

Christmas

Vincent

BY DOMINIC WIGHTMAN Just before Christmas, while on holiday with my family, I received a text. A parcel had been delivered to my neighbour’s house. We live in the sticks. The parcel went to Martin’s farm. He is our nearest neighbour. A tall man with blue eyes and a quiet way. God-fearing. He has a penchant for scrumpy. I texted Martin. A few hours later, … Continue reading Vincent

countrysquiremagazineDecember 27, 2024December 27, 20241 Comment

Christmas

The Scrooge Letters: Part Three

BY MAX WALLER Dear Ebenezer, It is cold once again, which suits my current state of mind quite well, though I find it less of a friend than I used to. No, I now see the suffering it brings—the incessant gloom, reduced sunlight, and icy air—more as a means of atoning for ever believing that warmth (be it climate or humanity) could be found in … Continue reading The Scrooge Letters: Part Three

countrysquiremagazineDecember 26, 2024December 19, 2024

Christmas

The Scrooge Letters: Part Two

BY MAX WALLER Dear Ebenezer, I am writing to you as a young man of fifteen years, from my school boarding house, hoping this letter finds you in good health (and wealth!) as an old man—presuming, of course, you have managed to survive the endless, merciless winters here in England, which always seem so viciously cold. It is bitingly cold here today on Christmas Day, … Continue reading The Scrooge Letters: Part Two

countrysquiremagazineDecember 25, 2024December 19, 2024

Christmas

The Scrooge Letters: Part One

BY MAX WALLER Dear Ebenezer, I am nine years old and have no friends here. Usher Stokes suggested I keep myself busy during the holidays by learning to write letters. Since I have no one to write to, I am writing to you, hoping you might have far more friends than I do. Though now that I think of it, there are friends of a … Continue reading The Scrooge Letters: Part One

countrysquiremagazineDecember 24, 2024December 19, 2024

Christmas

Good King Wenceslas

BY MARGARET ASHWORTH I have always thought that Good King Wenceslas was about a benevolent old gent trying to spread a little happiness. Wrong. According to the Guardian ‘it glorifies a patriarchal definition of charitable giving that belittles the value of a properly funded welfare state’. In the spirit of Christmas I will admit that the writer seems to have been joking (funny, isn’t it?) but it … Continue reading Good King Wenceslas

countrysquiremagazineDecember 7, 2022December 7, 2022

Christmas

A Tale of Christmas Past

BY IAN MITCHELL Nearly fifty years ago, I was working as an unauthorised clerk—the lowest of the white low—at Max Pollock and Fremantle, then the largest firm on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. It was an easy job, which I owed to pure nepotism in that my then girl-friend’s cousin was a partner. I enjoyed both the easy work and the fact that the staff were … Continue reading A Tale of Christmas Past

countrysquiremagazineDecember 25, 2021December 22, 2021