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  Ooops!
. . . an apology to all the members of the site - we seem to have dropped a single bit in the code signing new members in which has led to their membership being inactive. We are fixing this by manually activating the accounts (usually within 24 hours of first sign-in) and new members will be activated automatically soon.
New & Updated Pages
 We have had a list of our twenty most popular pages of the month on the home-page for most of the year - we have now introduced a new section there showing pages which have been newly created or seriously re-hashed. A ticker-tape style banner will point this out at the top of all of our pages soon.
About New Year time, members will be able to enter a postal code, Ordnance Survey reference, place name or page address. Members can then select whether they want to recieve an email or notification on-screen when they enter the site (or both) when the appropriate page changes - setting the page to the place where you live will ensure you know when that page changes.
Member Sign-In
At the moment, the only way for members to sign in is from the home-page. This is shortly to change (by the end of December) with sign-in becomming available in a pop-up available from the top of each page on the site.
December
 The name is derived from the Latin "decem" for "ten" as it was originally the tenth month of the year before the insertion of January and February.
The winter solstice (the shortest day of the year) falls in December making the month the middle of winter. The ceremonies and festivities surrounding the solstice were adopted by the Christian Church as Christmas, the Holy day celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ.
Christmas Fare
 The turkey, now traditional fare at Christmas, is an immigrant from the New World. Before it was imported into the British Isles, spiced beef was usually prepared for the Christmas Day feast.
You might not want to abandon your Christmas turkey, but spiced beef makes something different for Boxing Day; mix some table salt, saltpetre (available from your local chemist shop), crushed peppercorns (a modern addition - they were horribly expensive in days gone by) and crushed juniper berries (available, dried, in most large supermarkets). Dry off a large piece of brisket, not too lean, and rub well all over with the curing mixture. Store in a cool place (a larder is much better than a fridge) and rub the curing mix in morning and evening for ten days.
When the curing is finished, rinse the brisket down well in cold water and place in a large pan to boil. When boiling, bring off the heat and discard the water. Cover the beef in fresh water and bring to the boil. Simmer on a very low heat until soft. Remove the beef from the water and place in a baking tray. Place another baking tray over it and weigh it down (a few bricks, rinsed and tied up in polythene bags will do) to press it while it cools.
Slice thinly to serve - and enjoy!.
The Time-Line Page
 Like our Bibliography page, the Time-Line page started life over a year ago almost only as a data entry form for managers and editors to drop new records into so that they could be extracted as required for various pages. In June we decided to make it public, primitive though it was, and had 1,862 hits on it by the end of the month. It has steadily become one of our most popular pages with an estimated 4,500 hits this month alone. Because of this we are looking to revamp it and make it easier and clearer to use. Your suggestions, member or not, would be very much appreciated and you might get more of a page that you want.
If you have a web page or site, we do have facilities for syndicating the time line - it costs nothing and all it involves is including a simple line of html code on your page. The results are configurable so do email the webmaster for details. The example below is for "Old Sarum";-
| 960 | | King Edgar holds a council at Old Sarum (Wilts.) | | BAAAGBVP BAAAGEEQ | | 1035 | | Death of King Canute of England
reputedly at Old Sarum, Wilts.) | | BAAAGBVP BAAAGBRA | | 1058 | | Bishopric of Wiltshire (which included Berkshire), with its see at Ramsbury since 909 united with that of Sherborne.
The see was moved to the new see-city of Old Sarum in 1075. | | BAAAGCDL BAAAGESB BAAAGDFD BAAAGCBG BAAAGBVP | | 1070 | | William I pays off his conquering army at Old Sarum in booty captured from the Saxons and disbands it. | | BAAAGBVE BAAAGBVP BAAAGBRO | | 1075 | | The see of Wessex removed from Sherborne in Dorset to Old Sarum, Wilts. | | BAAAGBVP BAAAGCBG BAAAGCBS BAAAGBHZ | | 1078 | | Death of Bishop Herman who had moved from Sherborne to Old Sarum - Osmund appointed Bishop of Old Sarum | | BAAAGBVP | | 1092 | | Consecration of the new cathedral church at Old Sarum - just five days later it was struck by lightening during a great storm and mostly destroyed | | BAAAGBVP | | 1099 | | Death of Osmund, Bishop of Old Sarum | | BAAAGBVP | | 1100 | | Rebuilding of the cathedral at Old Sarum commences under the new chancellor, Roger | | BAAAGBVP | | 1100.Aug.02 | | William II (Rufus) killed hunting in the New
Forest, Henry I [old page] becomes king
Henry took advatange of the
absence of his brother, Robert
II, Duke of Normandy, to seize the English Crown | | BAAAGBZD BAAAGCBL BAAAGBKX BAAAGBVP | | 1102 | | Chancellor Robert becomes bishop of Old Sarum | | BAAAGBVP | | 1135.Dec.01 | | Death of Henry I (Beauclerc).
Stephen of Blois accepted as king of England by the magnates depsite their previous oaths to Henry\'s daughter Matilda
| | BAAAGCBL BAAAGCBO BAAAGBVP | | 1139.Jun | | Stephen's arrest of Bishop Robert of Salisbury and his nephews, Bishop Alex of London, and Chancellor Roger, on questionable evidence of offense against the majesty of the King allienated the Church
Roger of Salisbury died later in the year of a fever | | BAAAGCBO BAAAGDKN BAAAGBVP | | 1194 | | Plans to move Old Sarum cathedral | | BAAAGBVP | | 1849 | | Dean and Chapter of Salisbury Cathedral buy Old Sarum | | BAAAGBVP | | 1909 | | Society of Antiquaries begin excavation of Old Sarum, Wilts. (-1913) | | BAAAGBVP | | 1913 | | Society of Antiquaries ends excavation of Old Sarum, Wilts. (1909-) | | BAAAGBVP |
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. . . well, "that's all folks" as the rabbit was wont to say, or almost all; -
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. | | - Luke 2:14 |
. . . and, if you are not Christian, then there are many worse notions than "goodwill to all men" - perhaps we should spare a thought for all those too many places in the world where it is so obviously lacking. Perhaps also for those hundreds of thausands who won't be having a Christmas this year, like the family of father and son Mark Wells from Seend Cleeve and Luke from Melksham who were drowned at the beginning of this month when the tractor with which they were trimming the canal-side hedge on the Kennet and Avon Canal at Mill, near Pewsey slid into the water when the towpath subsided.
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