Christmas Special Those Were the Days

For more than half a century the BBC have captured the changing face of life in Northern Ireland.

It all seems so innocent today, but without these moments,

something of who we are now would be lost forever.

These are the Christmas archives and those were the days.

I think to look back at Christmas archive, there is nostalgia to it and it's also very informative

because you see how far things have moved on.

Watching people enjoying themselves and watching back to old times,

watching pieces of archive about Christmas.

It's just...you know, you could sit in summertime and watch it.

Just watching it at Christmas itself, it's so fabulous.

There may only be a few short moments on film

but they're magical moments.

To see the smiles on the faces and to see the laughs and the fun

the kids had back in the day. It's very important and I just wish there was more of it.

# Oh, the weather outside is frightful

# But the fire is so delightful

# And since we've no place to go

# Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow. #

Seasonal scenes of sleighs and snowball fights

evoke the very essence of Christmas,

and it was no different in 1955 Northern Ireland.

# Let it snow, let it snow. #

From White Christmases in black and white, to sepia-tinted memories of magical moments,

the festive season makes children of us all.

I love Christmas, and since I've had kids I love it doubly, triply,

and more, in fact, because it is a magical time.

Christmas Eve is my favourite day of the year.

# All the way home I'll be warm. #

That moment at which

you arrive back in the house.

You close the door, you look to see if It's A Wonderful Life is on.

I loved all the decorations

and I remember all the colour,

all the smells of Christmas.

I enjoyed them every bit as much

as I enjoy Christmas now with my own children.

The whole thing for me

is buying things that I know are going to give pleasure to people.

I love giving people gifts.

I love shopping, even though it gets crowded and noisy and hectic.

'At the weekend they were still clearing the road

'between Ballymena and Cushendall.

'Our car was the first ordinary vehicle to make the through journey since Wednesday.'

Before I had kids I might have been slightly cynical about Christmas.

It was really just a chance to get a bit of time of work

and maybe have a few drinks with friends or something.

But if you look at a kid in the run up to Christmas

and the sheer buzz, the sheer excitement and the sheer, you know,

love of everything to do with the Yuletide period.

You can see it in kids' eyes.

I think it's brilliant and it's my favourite time of the year.

And I'm looking forward to it.

Da-di-da.

Stepping into our living rooms in 1970 were the happy feet of dancer Tommy Gunn.

Joining him around the hearth, to celebrate a traditional rural Christmas,

was poet and presenter Seamus Heaney and an audience of wide-eyed schoolchildren.

You're welcome to this house where we're celebrating Christmas in our own way.

Of course, there are all kinds of ways of celebrating Christmas.

Seamus Heaney's Christmas Garland, it is magical.

It is a beautiful piece of television.

Seamus Heaney, you could watch reading the back of a cornflakes box.

Like the man has this incredible ability to make the most eloquent language

seem the most natural language.

My father played the melodeon outside at our gate,

there were stars in the morning east and they danced to his music.

Inevitably, when you put somebody like Seamus Heaney in a space like that,

that is steeped in history, and you can clearly see

it's a very old stone-thatched Irish cottage that has the open hearth.

There are so many small touch's within it that reminds us of history, reminds us of tradition.

Outside in the cow house my mother made the music of milking,

the light of her stable lamp was a star and the frost of Bethlehem made it twinkle.

And then the whole thing builds up to The Mummers coming in

and doing there kind of mumming story of King George

having the kind of sword fight with the Turkish champion from Turkeyland.

Knocking on the door and making a dramatic entrance into the Yuletide celebrations were The Mummers.

ALL: Hurray.

# Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat. #

Long before television took over our living rooms,

these travelling bands of players

were warmly welcomed across the country to provide home entertainment.

# Please put a penny in the old man's hat. #

I was surprised, when The Mummers were coming I was expecting big people.

So, when the doors opened and we get more kids

and they come in and they perform.

I've never seen that. I've never seen that done.

So that, in itself, was interesting.

So, you're watching it in the same way as those kids present.

You have no chance, Turkish.

Turkey man's down, he's dead.

Aaah.

Here come's I, old Doctor Brown, the best old doctor in the town, and if this man...

'I was Dr Brown.'

They were calling for a doctor, a doctor, and I just came in and,

"Here come I, old Doctor Brown, the best old doctor in the town.

"If this man's life must be saved, full 50 guineas I must be paid."

-50 guineas?

-50 guineas, no less.

-What can you cure?

-I can cure...

-What can you cure?

I can cure the plague within, the plague without, the palsy, ague, the gout.

For nine devils in I can knock ten out.

Moreover, bring me an old woman of three score years and ten

and if she's very bendy I'll make her straight again.

-He's coming to life.

-He's alive again.

Once I was dead and now I'm alive, God bless the old Doctor who made me revive.

BOTH: We'll shake hands and fight no more,

brothers be as we were before and if you don't believe what we say

call in Big Head and he'll clear the way.

They are times past and I don't think can ever come back.

I think the world and technology now, things have just moved that much.

Kids just wouldn't be interested, I don't think in doing stuff like that now.

That's a shame, I wish they would. See a lot more of them.

# Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring, ting, tingling too. #

At Christmas, it is normally only Santa's sleigh that is seen soaring across the sky.

But in 1972, the BBC News reported on an extraordinary Christmas gift

for a group of underprivileged children.

Christmas is very exciting for kids anyway.

If you add to it that you are going up in an aeroplane

that's really exciting, that's a double whammy of excitement.

# Giddy up, giddy up, its grand. #

What a great idea.

Because to those children, although it was only a very short flight,

that would be an entirely out of their experience.

They would never have had that kind of thing in their life before.

These orphaned boys and girls were given the treat of a lifetime in Santa's spectacular skyride.

As well as receiving presents, they flew above the clouds for the very first time.

-Christine, are you enjoying yourself?

-Yes, I am, very well.

-Is this the first time you have been in an aeroplane?

-Yes, it is.

-What do you think of it?

-I think it's beautiful.

And to see the clouds like snow.

I think the lovely thing is they are all so innocent and wide-eyed

about everything that they've seen.

What do you like about it?

I like watching the clouds

and all the cars are like a matchbox motorway.

That thing of things being tiny on the ground,

I still will kind of elbow the person next to me and say, "Look at that wee car down there."

I know that I am doing it, I know that I'm turning into my mother

saying, "Would you ever believe that those of full-size?"

They just look like miniatures.

-And what did you get from Santa Claus?

-A watch.

-Did you? Let's see.

Oh, lovely. And you went up front, didn't you, to the pilot?

What did you see up there?

I seen that there were all kinds of knobs

and the pilot let me talk to the people down on the ground.

-I hope you weren't flying it, were you?

-No.

What else could be better than that experience?

To not only go up in a plane, but go in and meet the pilot.

Then, interviewer asks silly question, "Did you fly the plane?" "No".

I hope he is an airline pilot to this day.

I would happily get on a plane with him,

he's clearly got a very strong sense of the technical know-how.

Just a load of knobs and they let me talk to the boys on the ground.

That's all you need to know.

# So this is Christmas

# And what have you done. #

The Troubles may have taken hold,

but that didn't stop crowds of young people celebrating Christmas in 1970s downtown Belfast.

# And so this is Christmas. #

And joining them was Geraldine Kelly, an intrepid reporter from Down Under

looking to shine a light on our troubled Christmases.

It's not quite like Christmas at home.

Two days ago sunbaking in Sydney along with a few hundred thousand Irish migrants.

Now I'm freezing to death having been poked and searched

and battered with the crowds to the town.

Belfast's a nice place

but it's a big shock coming from sunny Australia.

# So this is Christmas. #

I think it was a huge culture shock for somebody coming from Australia

to be parachuted into Belfast

and for this to be a normality.

For an outsider to come in and to be put in that position.

You can see in her face she just looks really, well,

as you would I suppose, really uneasy and on edge and very uncomfortable.

Swapping barbecues and beaches for Saracens and searches

proved an eye-opening experience for this Christmas visitor

who would take home some decidedly bittersweet memories.

And when Geraldine asked shoppers to share their wishes,

she was met with one single, simple abiding answer.

-What is your Christmas wish for Belfast?

-Peace.

-And yours?

-I'm the same, peace.

-I hope you get it.

-I sure hope so, too.

-So do we.

When Geraldine goes round towards the end of the piece

she does some vox pops around the city centre.

What's your Christmas wish for Belfast this year?

Every single person, all they really want is peace.

I think a little bit of peace,

I think we deserve it after all these years.

-Peace.

-Thank you.

-Well, peace, of course. Everybody would like peace.

-Is there anything else?

-Mmm.

I think that's the most important thing here, I think.

Peace and everybody just get on with their normal lives.

At that stage people were weary completely and utterly weary

and desperate and desolate with what was going on.

You know, it was a heartfelt, really deep heartfelt wish, I think,

from all of those people.

Just for things to calm, for people to stop it.

Well, Christmas in Belfast, with a few obvious exceptions,

is probably like Christmas anywhere else but an awful lot colder.

Belfast, it's a beautiful city.

It can make you laugh but unfortunately, for me especially, it can make you cry too.

Belfast, Happy Christmas, I wish you happiness,

peace and next year may be just a little bit different for us all.

# They said there'll be snow at Christmas

# They said there'll be peace on earth. #

As Geraldine jetted home, peace remained a far-off dream for Northern Ireland.

So, in 1978,

one group of local women decided to leave the tensions behind and go seasonal shopping London-style.

And BBC Northern Ireland was there to capture their big city bonanza.

The ladies who went to London

they were releasing themselves from a very dark time here.

They were going for what, literally, were the bright lights of London.

# They sold me a dream of Christmas. #

And among the seasoned shoppers

was one retail rookie with her eyes on the prize,

five-year-old Lorna Treacy from Templepatrick.

Well, because it was December and, of course, all children get very excited about Christmas.

I was five, my younger brother, Richard, was only two at the time

so he didn't come on that trip. He stayed at home with our father.

But I knew that when we went to London, we would see lots of Christmas decorations,

lots of Christmas lights, and possibly a visit to the big man himself, going to see Santa.

# I wish you were home for Christmas

# I wish you a brave New Year. #

My mother was familiar with London, she knew where to take me to see the sights.

So, I did go to the likes of the Tower of London,

I did see Tower Bridge, going along the River Thames,

seeing Buckingham Palace, seeing the London buses.

That was very exciting and as exciting, really,

as seeing all the Christmas decorations in the city at the time.

But there was one VIP who topped Lorna's list

on this jam-packed Christmas jaunt.

And, once again, the BBC was there to record this auspicious meeting.

I remember queuing up and having these lights on me,

which is a very unusual experience for a five-year-old.

I wasn't overawed by it, particularly,

but I was a little bit mesmerised by being the focus of so much attention.

She was not only there for herself

but she was there for her brother as well, on behalf of her brother.

You know, and knowing what he would want for Christmas

and making sure that she would tell Santa,

because she's obviously left home saying, "Don't worry, I'll let Santa know what you want."

Which was lovely that she did that.

My young brother would like a toy train.

Now, let me go through this and make sure I've got it right.

You want an emu, right? And a walkie-talkie doll.

What is it your brother would like?

I asked for a train for my brother.

I can't be sure if he got that. He probably did though.

And I asked for Emu, a walkie-talkie doll and Tiny Tears.

I'll see about your emu and your walkie-talkie doll.

-All right, my darling.

-What do you say?

-Thank you.

Have a lovely Christmas.

-A kiss for Santa.

-And lots and lots of lovely presents, my darling.

Thank you, Happy Christmas.

It was lovely to see the footage again after so long,

really nice to see how we looked 30-odd years ago.

I've got two children of my own now, who are four and seven,

so they found it really funny to see their mum as a little girl.

And what my voice sounded like, as well, that was lovely to see.

-Have you enjoyed yourself?

-Yes, thank you.

Belfast has really come into its own in the last ten years, really.

We're definitely not where we were in 1978.

Belfast is a great place to go shopping in.

It's a great place to be,

and we don't need to go to London for shopping.

If we want to, we can, but we don't need to do it to have that great experience,

we have it on our doorstep.

Throughout the 1980s,

popular BBC Northern Ireland programmes celebrated the season with Christmas specials.

And top of the tree was Ye Tell Me That,

an eclectic mix of tall tales and unusual events.

The idea to make a Christmas special was, in a way, sort of obvious.

We done three years worth of serious and it seemed sort of obvious

to do a Christmas special of Ye Tell Me That.

Great fun. The very last show I ever did.

So, great fun tinged with sadness, but I enjoyed it.

Santa look-alike Brian Willis was joined by sidekick,

and elf, Joe McKee,

who were both determined that this final show would be a Christmas Cracker.

I remember this series on transmission.

I knew that television had moved on a great deal within the first 30, 40 seconds of the programme.

The style of it, the style of presentation,

all of that just seemed such a long, long way ago.

This is Ken Stewart from Dungannon.

Christmas is a time to feast, and there's nothing we enjoy more

than sitting down for a Christmas dinner.

But how can one tell

if the food you are about to eat is good or bad for you?

My favourite part of the programme was the food divining thing with Ken.

Ken told me about this trick.

And what he does, he has a ring on the end of the string and he would hold it over food.

If it was good food it would go up and down and if it was nasty food, not suitable for him to eat,

it would go round and round.

So, that's the best of stuff, on that plate.

That's the best of good food on the plate? Yes.

The chicken salad was good for Ken

and then, when it went over the chocolatey gateau, it went in a circle.

It was bad for Ken.

Then when it went to the bananas and apples, they were great. They were OK.

You can see a massive swing on that, it is very good for you.

I think grapes, maybe, didn't agree with Ken.

So, it went across the Kiwis but it's circled his grapes.

And do you know...

Again, if I go to the grapes, they wouldn't agree with me.

Let's talk about Match Of The Day or something.

If you check the rest of this food.

I obviously have got to go to the kitchen and do some washing up.

-You carry on here.

-Right.

Of course there's absolutely no scientific grounds for this,

it's all nonsense, really, do you know.

But what I loved was Ken's confidence,

when asked by Joe how foolproof this was he says, "Oh, 100%."

It was very, very funny, it was very funny.

Needless to say, food divining hasn't really taken off, has it?

# Here comes Santa Claus Here comes Santa Claus

# Right down Santa Claus Lane. #

One job that will always be in demand is that of Mr Claus himself.

And in 1984, snowed under with a heavy sleighload of deliveries,

the recruitment campaign began to find back-up for Father Christmas.

Santa can't be everywhere at once,

therefore helpers are needed in shops and the streets of the town.

To take orders.

Obviously if anything has been left off lists it needs to be passed on.

To perhaps to give out a present, just to keep you going until Christmas.

Competition was high, but despite a lack of white whiskers and advancing years,

20-year-old Padraig Mackel from West Belfast

was convinced he would make a swell Noel.

I saw the advertisement in the local job market.

I was 20, I think it said you had to be at least 40,

and I just thought, "Well, I'll go for it and see."

It was a job, I had a lot of respect for Santa, I like Santa,

always did as a kid, so I thought it would be interesting to see if I could put my skills to work.

Padraig, I'm still not quite convinced that you're the type of man for the job.

After all, you are only 20 years of age.

That was tremendous pressure to be interviewed by Santa

and to know that he had the power to give you the job or not to give you the job.

So, I was excited, but at the same time there was a bit of trepidation there.

I had to concentrate very hard to make sure I said the right things

and convince Santa I was the best person for the job.

Well, Santa, there are many things I can do.

I can feed reindeers, I can trim beards, I could go on all day.

Padraig, aged 20, who said that he would be Buttons or an Ugly Sister,

he'd do anything, and he got the job.

13 men had failed the interviews and two jobs went unfilled.

It wasn't easy to recruit the right people.

I was, in fact, a Santa's helper, myself.

No amount of pillows could disguise the fact that I really hadn't been built for this.

I can't say there were too many three-year-olds, who came in, were particularly convinced by me.

I have to say Santa was really good, really nice.

He was very friendly, as you would expect.

He made sure we got our breaks on time, he made sure we got our pay.

He made sure we did the right things for the children

to make sure they had wonderful time in the lead up to Christmas.

I have to say Santa was one of my better employers over the years.

# Joy to the world

# The Lord is come

# Let Earth receive her King. #

In 1984, BBC cameras witnessed the inspirational work of a local legend,

Saint Anne's Cathedral's Dean Sammy Crooks.

Since 1976, this extraordinary clergyman had braved the elements

for his annual charity Christmas sit-out.

Dean Crooks had begun this

and it was really an inspirational thing for him to do.

He was very determined and he was able to drive this thing forward,

in a sense, by the force of his own personality.

The way he interacted with everybody who came by, with the children who were bringing money,

I thought that really came across in the film.

It is rare that someone's personality shines through to such an extent, like that.

It didn't matter who you were or where you came from.

People knew that there was this particular sit-out

and they were going to come round, regardless of their own personal denominations.

So, there was no sense that this was a Protestant thing.

It was just a sense that this was the right thing to do, to give money to charity.

It was a clear message, people got the idea and they reacted so well.

Thank you, darling. Thank you very much.

Such was the chord that the dark-robed Dean had struck with the generous public,

that the press had labelled him Black Santa.

The people of Belfast are so entirely different from all other people.

They've got a heart, they've got a lung,

they have a warmth, and if they get a good cause they'll support it to the hilt,

that's exactly what has happened here.

And support it to the hilt they did, as people of all ages and backgrounds

came from far and wide to donate everything from a few simple pennies

to hundreds of pounds,

all for Black Santa.

To set in 1984, a target of £50,000 to raise in a matter of days,

and doing it, just is staggering.

It's quite incredible to think

that he was able to just to pull that amount of charity

in from ordinary people in the street.

Again, I was very struck, very moved by the fact that this was all happening

in the darkest days of the Troubles.

I can't raise my hat to you.

No-one embodied the true spirit of Christmas more than Dean Sammy Crooks.

Tragically, just two years later,

this unassuming hero would die in a car accident.

But his remarkable charitable legacy,

which has raised over £7 million, lives on to this day.

Seeing this footage at the time that I viewed it was very important for me

because from the very day that I was appointed Dean

the media were asking me, "Will you be Black Santa this year?"

Seeing Dean Crooks doing this

and looking at archive footage generally, I think one of the things is it tells us,

"Yes, I'd forgotten that," and, "Really was it like that?"

And those sort of things, I think, are very inspirational

and I found it a great help in considering the whole thing that, here was somebody, you know,

30 years ago doing this and I'm going to be part of this now.

# Those were the days my friend. #

The story of our Christmas past is also the story of how we used to live.

Thanks to a rich archive, and the magic of film, we can bring those bygone days back to life.

# We'd fight and never lose For we were young

# And sure to have our way

# La-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la

# Those were the days

# Oh, yes, those were the days

# La-la-la-la-la

# La-la-la-la-la

# Those were the days

# Ah yes, those were the days

# La-la-la-la-la. #