Happy New year

Rue de la République
The lights herald in the New Year in St. Céré. You may be heading for a Hogmanay evening, but do you know what "hogmanay" means? Do you know why you need a tall, dark, stranger to "first foot"/see the new year into your home? Whilst we are at it, will you be one of the millions forced to sing Auld Lang Syne without knowing the words?

Have no fear, as by clicking the photo above or the link below, you can check your facts about New Year, listen to Auld Lang Syne sung by experts, read the words and print them off for some last minute revision.

Click here for all you need to know about Hogmanay.

Christmas Fête

And Santa Came Too!
The Christmas season saw plenty to amuse in the streets and squares of St. Céré this year. We were out and about with our camera and have put together a short automatic slide show of the goings on, You need to turn off your pop-up blocker and then click on the phot above, or the link below, to access these photos.

Click here to view a quick-tour slide show of the St. Céré Christmas Fête

Winter Solstice

O Wind -
if winters here,
can Spring be
far behind?

December 21st at 12:04
You may have missed it, but at the same time, you may have been aware that this week saw the the shortest day. Meaning that, from this date onward, the days start to get longer. It was Solstice time again!

The winter solstice occurs at the instant when the Sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer's hemisphere.

Depending on the shift of the calendar and ignoring the Southern hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year.

The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. How cultures interpret this is varied, since it is sometimes said to astronomically mark either the beginning or middle of a hemisphere's winter. Winter is a subjective term, so there is no scientifically established beginning or middle of winter but the winter solstice itself is clearly calculated to within a second.

Though the winter solstice lasts an instant, the term is also colloquially used to refer to the full 24-hour period of the day on which it occurs... 21st December this year.

On winter solstice, the Sun ceases to decline in the sky and the length of daylight reaches its minimum for three days, during which the sun does not move on the horizon. After such a time, the Sun begins its ascent into the northern sky and days grow longer. Thus the interpretation by many cultures of a sun reborn and a return to light.

The Winter Solstice is also referred to as the shortest day (and longest night) of the year and occurs when the sun shines directly over the Tropic of Capricorn. For the Summer Solstice in June, the sun glistens over the Tropic of Cancer.

As the Earth orbits around the Sun it also spins on its axis at a tilt of 23.5-degrees. Thanks to that tilt, the Northern Hemisphere gets less direct sunlight for the next six months and the Southern Hemisphere gets more. Hence "midwinter" tag often associated this date.

Astronomically speaking though, the solstices happen when the Sun is at its greatest distance from the celestial equator, which is on the same plane as the Earth’s equator.

(So now you know - Ed)