2019

I watched the spectacular celebrations around the world on TV and saw the New Year in with a sherry and mince pie. The tradition of celebrating the start of a New Year, was to ward off evil spirits in the darkest times. The Druids believed fire was sacred so a first foot across the threshold would be a tall, dark haired man bringing a lump of coal to keep the fire going. It was thought to be bad luck if the first footer was a woman but it was more likely that they didn't want to get dirty carrying coal so invented the bad luck story. There are many other New Year traditions.  Firework displays started in London at the Millennium and before that people would gather in Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus for a 'knees up' and to sing 'Auld Lang' Syne' to see in the New Year.