Choristers skate towards Christmas
DRESSED IN their distinctive crimson red overcoats, the sight of choristers taking to the ice in Winchester is as sure a sign as any that Christmas is most definitely on its way.
The photocall of the young boys slipping on their ice skates and then heading out on the rink at the Hampshire city’s cathedral has become an annual tradition as the nation gears up for the impending festive season.
The ice rink, which is situated in Winchester Cathedral’s Inner Close and will open to the public from today until Sunday, January 5, is among a host of similar attractions which are being unveiled across the country in the run-up to Christmas.
Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland has returned to the York Designer Outlet for its 15th anniversary, and features the North of England’s largest outdoor ice rink, called the Ice Factor.
Ice rinks are also operating at Lotherton Hall, near Aberford in West Yorkshire, Stockeld Park, the Grade I listed country house and estate which lies between Wetherby and Harrogate, and at the Flemingate Centre in Beverley.
The ice rink in Winchester is part of the cathedral’s Christmas Market, which was first staged in 2006 and now features more than 100 chalets.
It is one of the largest cathedrals in Europe, and lays claim to having the greatest overall length of any Gothic cathedral in the world.
The ancient place of worship, which was once the seat of AngloSaxon and Norman royal power, was founded in 642AD on a site which lies to the north of the present cathedral.