Derby - Germany Comes To The East Midlands
w/e 11 December 2005
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Christmas Markets are a traditional way of celebrating Christmas
in Germany and are fast becoming a favourite here in the East
Midlands too. All through Advent, one is being held in the centre
of Nottingham but the one pictured here is on the Maket Place
between the Assembly Rooms and the Guildhall in Derby.
The clock tower of the Guildhall forms an impressive backdrop
to the market which consists of a number of wooden chalet type
buildings housing traders selling a variety of tasty goods. A
large advent calendar is also a feature of the market and can
be seen here between the stalls on the left.
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It was rather quiet when we visited the market in the middle
of the week and even Santa found time to have a break from the
preparations for his big delivery run and sat on the roof of
one of the stalls to read a book.
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Typical German food, drink and gifts were on sale at the market
including a large variety of sausages ...
... and some of them were even hot! Many of the traders had travelled
from Derby's twin city of Osnabrück in northern Germany
to give the market an authentic atmosphere.
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Craftwork, Christmas tree decorations and
wooden toys were also on sale and these large baubles were especially
attractive. The wooden figures will delight many a child on Christmas
morning and Santa's Reindeer Ride, a monorail carousel where
parents could ride with their children, will provide much entertainment
in the interim. If the grandchildren had been with me, I might
have enjoyed a ride myself!
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Osnabrück's Christmas market attracts more than a million
visitors each year. Here in Derby, the stallholders will not
see that many vistors but sweetmeats, mulled wine, roasted chestnuts
and potato pancakes along with the other attractions mentioned
above make a visit well worthwhile. The market is arranged around
something that transcends all the other attractions though as
is only right and proper for Christmas is about celebrating the
birth of Jesus - a Nativity Scene.
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Iron Gate leads from the Market Place to the Cathedral and this
view must have been photographed many times before by numerous
people. I too have a photo somewhere in the archives from a similar
position but this one differs only in the lights and the words
strung across the road - "Merry Christmas".
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