Carols at Christmas

This afternoon was the first carol service of the season - Queen's Campus of Durham University.  There's a tradition that after the service and evening dining the university processes with lanterns across the river to the Town Centre and is greeted by the Mayor and Chief Executive of the Council at the Town Hall.  It's a very enjoyable and picturesque event but this year the procession had to be cancelled thanks to the snow and ice.
Nevertheless the Mayor and Mayoress joined the carol service and evening dining so the link between Town and Gown wasn't lost completely.
I enjoyed being able to relax and contemplate the Christmas story with the aid of a mix of traditional and modern words and music.  One hears so many carols and Christmas tunes crackling over loud speaker systems in shops at this time of year that I for one just shut them out.  So to sit and enjoy well performed music and to join in the singing of traditional carols in that setting was a real treat.
It was especially so when I'd spent a part of the morning, yet again, on the thorny question of recommendations from the Environment Committee on Car Parking.  I believe we've got a good set of recommendations now which stand a fighting chance of getting cabinet approval next week but it's taken a great deal of work to get there.