The Box of Delights

The Box of Delights is a children's fantasy novel by John Masefield, remembered as much for the BBC's dramatisation of it in 1984. In the story, Kay Harker returns from boarding school only to find himself mixed up in a battle to possess a magical box, which allows the owner to go small, go swift, experience magical wonders contained within and go into the past.


The dramatisation is noted for its yuletide atmosphere (it is set during Christmas, after all) and has become something of a nostalgic treat for followers of cult TV. The seasonal theme music is Victor Hely-Hutchinson's wonderful orchestral arrangement of "The First Noël" from his Carol Symphony.

If you've never seen it, it's worth looking it out, and if you remember it fondly from your childhood, as I do, enjoy the following clip as you take a trip down memory lane and recall a creepy children's Christmas classic...

Have yourself a very Dickens Christmas!

The Dickens Christmas Market is open now at Rochester Castle and runs until 15th December 2013. It will take place in the Castle grounds during the Dickensian Christmas Festival to create what may well be one of the largest 'authentic' German Style Christmas market in the UK. It will feature German-style Christmas chalets, a giant Christmas tree, bandstand, and carousel. The castle walls will be illuminated and the entire market will be decorated in festive tradition to ensure that visitors experience a truly spectacular Christmas atmosphere.

Charles Dickens is famous of course for practically creating the Christmas we know today in his festive classic A Christmas Carol, published on 17 December 1843, and which he completed in only six weeks! But A Christmas Carol wasn’t the only festive-themed story that Dickens penned. His other Christmas Books include The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848).

The Chrismologist's Advent Calendar - Day 3

The Dickens Christmas Market opens today at Rochester Castle and will run for 17 days, until Sunday 19th December 2010. It will take place in the Castle grounds during the Dickensian Christmas Festival to create what may well be one of the largest 'authentic' German Style Christmas market in the UK. It will feature German-style Christmas chalets, a giant Christmas tree, bandstand, and carousel. The castle walls will be illuminated and the entire market will be decorated in festive tradition to ensure that visitors experience a truly spectacular Christmas atmosphere.

Charles Dickens is famous of course for practically creating the Christmas we know today in his festive classic A Christmas Carol, published on 17 December 1843, and which he completed in only six weeks! But A Christmas Carol wasn’t the only festive-themed story that Dickens penned. His other Christmas Books include The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848).

What's Christmas without a few Christmas classics?

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