Happily no water splashes this year to drive through on our way to Thursford for this year's Christmas show there. This year we also disobeyed the Satnav and didn't go through farmyards or down one car wide tracks in the back of beyond.

The show itself was as good as last year, apart from the comedian being a little too blue for our liking, not as crude as some true.

The shops get very crowded, too crowded when all the coaches have disgorged their passengers. We ate in the marquee which had a strange inflated tube in the ceiling apparently for heating. Every so often a pulse of hot air? would shoot down the roof. We had a bite to eat after the show to let the stampede finish, but also to speak a bit more with my cousin Pat and husband who we met up with there.

Heard how the show has evolved from its early days, when it was local choirs and performers in a barn, to its modern incarnation of professionalism and big stage. The show itself is what keeps Thursford running. It's unique.

I do like that the show doesn't shy away from talking about Jesus Christ as the Christ in Christmas. It's not evangelical in tone, but it has religious roots.