Derek Bradley’s just like any other daft young lad growing up in the 1960s - unique. Through his brutally honest eyes and ears we recall what it's like to celebrate Christmas past in a small Yorkshire village.
The advent calendar in the Bradley household is full of adventures - Derek's first crack at carol singing ends with his first kiss. Dad's lost wage packet means a lean festive season, until a tiny law is quietly broken, and his search for holly leads to a ghostly encounter.
As Joseph in the school nativity play, Derek rewrites scripture and fuels a riot. Christmas magic is everywhere, until Granddad tries conjuring with flames at the dinner table.
Christmas Eve in church is anything but holy. In frosty bedrooms, damp village halls, and Santa's Grotto at the CO-OP, all is not calm, but it's certainly bright.

It’s how Christmas used to be – real, fun, and real funny.
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Award-winning author Dave Preston was born and raised in Old Malton, a small village in Yorkshire that provides the perfect setting for these hilarious stories.