How often do we hear grumbles that Christmas is not like it used to be? According to some of the stories unearthed by assistant museum curator Alice Mayers, that might be a good thing. LUCYA SZACHNOWSKI reports

JUST before Christmas 1940, during the Second World War, children from Penge and Beckenham were given the traumatic news they were to be evacuated. The first children left the borough for safer homes on January 2, 1941.

The same Christmas, firemen in West Wickham heard the news Manchester had been hit by bombs. The cathedral was on fire, about 75,000 homes were ablaze and about 1,000 people had been killed.

The West Wickham firemen, lead by Sargeant Woodman, left their homes within 20 minutes of hearing about the disaster. They travelled to Manchester and worked solidly for 36 hours to save people and buildings, not stopping until Christmas morning, when relief came. Although they were offered places to rest in Manchester, they wanted to get back to their families on Christmas Day.

Parched with thirst, they set off home. They stopped at cafes on their way but, because they were so blackened with soot, one place after another refused to serve them. It wasn't until they got to South Mimms that someone gave them drinks.

But they did manage to return to West Wickham late on Christmas day.

Bromley Memories: Boyhood, edited from rough text by Mike Green, relates a less-than joyous Christmas tale. A young boy, who was brought up in Bromley in the 1950s said: "Christmas in our house means a little holly in the corner of the room and a few trimmings stretched across the ceiling.

"A chicken goes into the gas oven on Christmas day and I peel some black-eyed spuds before nipping round to Charlie's for a little fun before the silence grips the neighbourhood. And having to stay in and be bored before my parents go to the pictures, leaving me to roam the streets or boot a ball across Bromley park."

Throughout the Victorian era, goose was the traditional festive food. Those on low incomes might join a goose club. They would put money into it each week throughout the year. At Christmas, they would each be given a goose. But it was a lottery who would get what size bird, so a huge family might only get a tiny goose.

In late Victorian times, children were encouraged to play a game called Snap Dragons which would be unthinkable now because of its dangers. For this, adults stuck raisins in a bowl of brandy. They lit the brandy and the children were expected to pluck the raisins out of the flames.

These are some of the stories researched by Alice Mayers, assistant curator of Bromley Museum, for its Christmas exhibition. The display uses photos, pictures, memories, objects, presents and decorations to explore the changing face of Christmas over the last century. It runs until January 7, 2002.

The museum, at The Priory, Church Hill, Orpington, is open from Monday to Friday from 1pm to 5pm and Saturday from 10am to 5pm. The museum will be closed from December 24 to 26, and on January 1. For more details, call the Bromley Museum on 01689 873826.

December 21, 2001 16:00