A CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL by David Askham 2025

Thus starts the second verse of an old German Christmas Carol. I thought of this memory when we were planning to attend an exhibition of Christmas trees in our local village church, in Bromham Wiltshire.



Without an incumbent priest for three years, it is remarkable what the villagers can do to maintain old traditions. Each active club, group, business, and primary school within the village, sponsors and decorates a fir tree at Christmas.

Thinking of opportunities for a little gentle photography, I opted to attend the event on a Monday morning when I guessed that it would be quiet. It was!



There was a warm and peaceful atmosphere within our old church. The Christmas trees were skilfully placed to cause least inconvenience to visitors. So, where to start?



Specialist groups

There is a wide variety of sporting, social and specialist clubs in the village. For example, a Monday Club for the lonely and elderly; a Youth Club; a Footpath group for adventurous retirees; Mothers’ Union, (quote: ‘a women-led Christian movement dedicated to ending poverty, violence and social injustice in the UK and around the world’); and a very successful Gardening Club, with a waiting list for membership, to name but a few.



Parishioners raise funds for many local and national charities including Julia's House, essential repairs to the church roof and the Wiltshire Air Ambulance, that serves a wide area. This tree is dedicated to those fundraisers.

An encouraging sign of self-sufficiency was the active pursuit of locally-produced tree decorations. For example, hand-knitted figures, garments, and even vegetables become durable, if not edible, (and no air-miles involved!). Look how the Footpath Group featured their activities. Who would expect old boots, at a tree base, for a Christmas present?



All of the trees, from a distance, looked conventional. Not too glitzy, but very revealing when you approached them. As the all-embracing long-shots show. But here is a cute little fellow.



A few facts for photographers

It was grey outside, prompting an initial ‘Cloudy’ white balance setting. But I quickly changed that to the ‘Automatic White Balance’ on my Leica CL camera when I saw my first preview. That proved to be a wise move when considering the various mixed light sources. (Daylight through clear glass windows; coloured light produced by stained glass; normal artificial electric lighting plus twinkly LED lights on the decorations). It was an harmonious mixture that looked natural and very pleasing.



The lens that I used is interesting. It is a normal range L-mount Sigma standard zoom, with a constant aperture of f/2.8. It covers the equivalent and most useful range of 28mm to 75mm. I call it my ‘winter zoom ‘. and it worked perfectly inside our church, handheld, on a grey day at a constant f/2.8. (I also have a Leica standard zoom lens for less challenging times.) In manual mode, ISO was left on Auto and the selected values ranged from ISO 100 to ISO 5,000.

Files were transferred wirelessly using Leica's ‘Fotos’ app, while processing was carried out on an old Samsung tablet using an app called Snapseed. Many illustrations were cropped, some quite severely, to aid clarity. Meanwhile I sat comfortably in my armchair. (I no longer stand in a darkroom in subdued safe light, rocking dishes while breathing chemical fumes!)



Abiding memory from our visit

By just visiting this well-presented event, in a centuries-old holy place, lifted our spirits and reminded us of the good deeds of so many people. Our church exuded peace and calm. That is a state to which the whole world might aspire. And maybe, just maybe, a permanent priest might be tempted to join us.