What
is now regarded as ‘traditional’ weather provided the familiar
atmosphere in local districts during Christmas. It was mild, sunny at
times, rainy at times, and strong winds blew intermittently, but there
was not a glimpse of anything seasonably white - neither snow, frost or
ice.
In
spite of the reasonable weather, however, the people remained at home
content to stay indoors, where the television set is now one of the
major attractions of the holiday. Curtailed bus services on Christmas
Day are partly responsible for the quite streets.
On
Boxing Day there was more outdoor activity, and 7,000 people gathered
for the local Rugby Football League ‘Derby’ match, while hundreds
made the customary journey to Darrington to watch the meet of the
Badsworth Hunt. A numbers of travellers left Pontefract on Christmas Eve
to visit friends and relatives in other parts of the country. Christmas
at the seaside has become very popular in recent years, but there were
few bookings from Pontefract for the Yorkshire coast resorts. About
1,000 arrived at Baghill Station, which was many more than last year,
and for their benefit on returning home there were seven relief trains.
