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The origin of Boxing Day seems to be a bit clouded with mystery with several possible theories of when and why the tradition started.

One theory is in the middle ages servants who were required to serve their employers on Christmas Day were allowed to have the following day off to spend with their families. As they left their employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes left over food.

Another theory centers around the Alms Box that was traditionally opened the day after Christmas and its contents distributed to the poor. Some churches still open these boxes on Boxing Day.

One last theory looks at the custom of tradespeople to collect “Christmas boxes” of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. We like the sound of this one!!!!

Today Boxing Day is Bank Holiday that is synonymous with thousands of people rushing to the shops to get after Christmas deals on clothes and the latest gadgets. Customs and traditions change over time, so instead of our customers thanking us, we want to take a moment to thank all of you for an amazing 2015. Happy Holidays!!

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As Christmas quickly approaches we are all reminded that the public transport we depend on daily will either not be running or will be have modified service.

The Londonist has put together a great breakdown for getting around London during the holidays:

Note: there is no public transport at all on Christmas Day, except taxis and cycle hire and services are running with alterations between 24 December-3 January.

Airports

Well, if your plans involve a flight from Heathrow or Gatwick, you’re in for a shock. The Gatwick Express isn’t running between 25 December and 3 January, with services finishing mid evening on Christmas Eve. Southern and Thameslink trains won’t go any further south than East Croydon or East Grinstead. In fact, the only way to get to or from Gatwick by train from London is from Victoria — a journey that will take 90 minutes. With only one direct train every 30 minutes, so that’ll be fun for everyone. See the Thameslink website for more information.

Heathrow is slightly better, but not much. The last Heathrow Express train leaves Paddington at 8.25pm on Christmas Eve, and doesn’t start running again until 29 December. Trains will then run at 30 minutes intervals 29 December to 2 January, and watch out for some early finishing times. Heathrow Connect will only run to Terminals 4 and 5 between 25-28 December, with a half hourly service between 29 December and 1 January.

London transport

The tube starts winding down at 8pm on Christmas Eve and won’t be running again until Boxing Day. The Overground and TfL Rail don’t start back up again until 27 December.

All Transport for London services will be free on New Year’s Eve from 11.45pm until 4.30am — some stations won’t operate as usual, so find out which ones on the TfL website.

Be warned: there are various engineering works planned for the Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City lines, TfL Rail and sections of the Overground during the period, so check before you travel. The congestion charge won’t apply 25 December to 3 January. 

Rail

Stations: Paddington is closed between 25-28 December; and Charing Cross, Waterloo East and Cannon Street stations are closed 25 December to 3 January.

Abellio Greater Anglia: no service on Boxing Day, and there’s no service between Liverpool Street and Ingatestone on 27 and 28 December and 1-3 January. See the website for more information and for the general amended timetable.

C2C: at the time of writing Christmas service information is hiding on their website, but National Rail informs us there’s no service on Boxing Day as well as Christmas Day.

Chiltern Railways will run an ‘amended service’, details of which can be downloaded from the website.

Great Western Railway: there are no trains at all on Boxing Day. Between 27 December and 3 January, trains won’t call at Acton Mainline, West Ealing, Hanwell or Greenford. On 27-28 December, it’s rail replacement buses only between Slough and Ealing, calling at all stations except Iver and Hanwell. Some high speed services on those dates will be diverted to Marylebone or Waterloo. See the GWR website for more information.

London Midland: no services on Boxing Day, and see the website of amended services to and from Euston.

Southeastern: from 8pm on Christmas Eve to 3 January, no trains will call at London Bridge, Charing Cross, Waterloo East or Cannon Street. Trains will instead go to Victoria, Blackfriars or New Cross — some stations won’t have any direct links into central London at all, so check the Southeastern website for more information. Only the high speed network operates on Boxing Day. Southern services are affected by the same works at East Croydon that will affect Gatwick, so nothing will run south of there. See the Southern website for more information.

South West Trains run no services on Boxing Day. The work at Paddington also has a knock-on affect at Waterloo on 28 December as GWR will be running some services into the station, so check your SW train times and other alterations on the website.

Thameslink: no Boxing Day service, as seems to be par for the course. Thameslink is affected by the Gatwick engineering work (see above), and it looks like Sevenoaks services won’t run north of Blackfriars between 28 December and 1 January. See the website for other service alterations.


1 What The Christmas Travel Shutdown Looks Like For London accessed online 22 December 2015 https://londonist.com/2015/12/christmas-railageddon

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The Oxford English Dictionary records the use of cracker bonbons and the pulling of crackers from the early 1840s. Tradition tells of how Tom Smith of London invented crackers in 1847. He created the crackers as a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper). As sales of bon-bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. As most of his sweets were bought by men to give to women, his first tactic was to insert “love messages” into the wrappers of the sweets

Smith added the “crackle” element when he heard the crackle of a log he had just put on a fire. The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by a trinket, fans, jewellery and other substantial items. The new product was initially marketed as the Cosaque (i.e., Cossack), but the onomatopoeic “cracker” soon became the commonly used name as rival varieties came on the market. The other elements of the modern cracker—the gifts, paper hats and varied designs—were all introduced by Tom Smith’s son, Walter Smith, to differentiate his product from the rival cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up. As the demand for crackers increased, Tom Smith merged with Caley Crackers in 1953 taking over their headquarters and factory in Norwich, East Anglia.

The longest Christmas cracker pulling chain consists of 749 people and was achieved by Brindleyplace in Birmingham, West Midlands, UK, on 11 December 2013


1 Christmas Cracker Wikipedia page accessed online 21 December 2015 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_cracker

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With the holiday season in full force, the London Ambulance Service, London Fire Brigade, Metropolitan Police Service and the Mayor of London have teamed up to help residents Eat, Drink & Be safe.

You may have seen the campaign posters on the transport system all across the capital reminding Londoners to have a safer fun festive celebration.

The advice is pretty simple:

EAT

We all know drinking on an empty stomach is not the best idea. So before the festive drinking begins, put some food in your stomach.

DRINK

You don’t want to be the one who passes out early, so be sure to have water or a soft drink in between rounds. It is a time for celebration, but try not to over due it.

BE SAFE

Know how you will be getting home. Trying to plan a journey home after having a few drinks can lead you in the wrong direction or cost you more money.

The chairman of the Alcohol Alliance, Cllr Jim Maddan, said: “Most of us enjoy a drink at Christmas, but if you are going out make sure you keep in control, stick with your friends and plan in advance how you will get home safely. Please end your evening safe at home rather than in the back of an ambulance or in a police cell.”

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When something small goes wrong in your home, sometimes just having the right tool can make the difference between a quick fix and nightmare. Here are 5 stocking fillers for the DIYer on your shopping list.

1. DeWalt Ratchet Screwdriver

DeWalt Ratchet Screwdriver

For a lot of jobs you only need two screwdrivers, a flat head and a Philips. But sometimes having the right size screwdriver can save time and save the screw from being stripped.

2. Forge Steel Adjustable Wrench Set 3 Pieces

Forge Steel Adjustable Wrench Set 3 Pieces

A must have for any DIYer is a good set of adjustable wrenches. Perfect for quick fixes to sinks and loos.

3. Stanley Tape Measure 5m

Stanley Tape Measure 5m

You never really know how important having a tape measure in the house until you need one. When hanging fixtures to the wall, buying a new rug or even purchasing a new appliance for your kitchen, knowing if there is enough room before you buy is crucial in saving time and money.

4. Stanley Fibreglass-Handled Hammer

Stanley Fibreglass-Handled Hammer

If you don’t have a hammer in the house, you may want to give this as an early Christmas gift.

5. Gift card

ScrewFix Gift card

You never know what you may need. So if your DIYer has the essentials, a gift card is a great option. I know gift cards seem impersonal, but it may be the perfect gift.

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If you are looking for something fun and festive to do on Sunday 13 December, Omnibus and Cycle Confident are hosting a Festive Light Ride from 4-6pm and 7-9pm.

This is a great chance for people of all ages to get on their bikes for some festive fun, riding around some fabulous local landmarks, safely escorted by Cycle Confident marshals.

The route will include fireworks, lights, entertainers, music, singers and traveling soundscapes. Plus you will receive a little present at the end of the ride.

The route starts and ends at Polygon, Clapham Old Town London SW14 0JG.

Lambeth Sustainable Transport brings Festive Light Ride to you. Prices are £3 for adults and children go free. You can book tickets at www.lambethlightsride.eventbrite.co.uk. If you don’t have a bike please email cycling@lambeth.gov.uk for options.

Festive_Light_Ride_flyer


1 Lambeth Lights Ride accessed online 11 December 2015 http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/events/lambeth-lights-ride

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The key to repairing a leaky tap is identifying the root of the problem and to make sure the repair is done correctly. There are a number of things that can cause your tap to leak, but here are 4 of the most common causes of leaky taps.

1: Poor Installation

A tap can leak due to poor installation. A DIY job gone wrong can cause more issues than you can imagine. When in doubt, hire a professional.

2: O Ring Problems

The small rubber disc attached to the tap’s stem screw is known as the O-ring. The O-ring can become loose or worn after repeated use, which can cause taps to drip from the handle. Repairing the O-ring can fix your leaky tap entirely.

3: Corroded Valve Seat

The valve seat serves as the connection between the tap and the spout. The valve seat can eventually become corroded to the point where it starts to fall apart due to accumulation of sediment in the water. This can cause leaks the more it weakens so it’s important to repair it or have it replaced.

4: Water Pressure Problems

High water pressure can actually cause taps to leak due to the pressure preventing water from flowing away from a certain point. This can cause water to back up and seek another place to leak out. If you’re noticing high water pressure, it’s time to call a professional plumber.

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As the holiday season is upon us, energy use is on the rise, which means your bill will be as well. Here are 7 winter energy saving tips from The Energy Saving Trust.

  • LED Christmas lights

LED Christmas lights use 90% less energy than incandescent. If we all swapped a string of lights for LEDs we would save £13 million during the 12 days of Christmas alone. Replacing all standard bulbs and halogen spotlights in your home with energy saving light bulbs could save you £35 a year.

  • Keep the heat in

Draught-proof your windows and doors this Christmas and save between £25 to 35 a year. About one in two households still need to draught-proof their windows and doors, but collectively it could save the UK around £365m a year.

  • Insulate exposed pipes

Beware a sudden cold snap this Christmas. Insulate your exposed pipework and save around £10 a year on heating bills. Water freezing can cause them to burst!

  • New gadgets

Tablets use 70% less power than laptops. The number of devices in people’s homes has grown rapidly and leaving these devices on standby has an impact on your energy bills.

  • Standby power

Turn your TVs, games consoles and computers off standby and save £30 a year. Did you know? More than three quarters (78%) of us admit to regularly leaving at least two devices on standby. An advanced set-top box left on standby for 20 hours a day could cost around £20 a year alone just in standby mode.

  • Wash at 30 degrees

Wash your winter woollens at 30 degrees and your washing machine will use around 40% less energy than washing at higher temperatures.

  • Watching TV

Don’t forget to switch off your TV when you’re not watching it. Earlier this year the Energy Savings Trust found that more than half of people (53%) leave the TV on as background noise when they are in a room, and 43% regularly leave it on when there is no one in the room.

Collectively the UK spends £1 million on Christmas day to watch TV, which is equivalent of what would power 21,000-33,000 televisions for a whole year.


1 9 Christmas energy tips Energy Savings Trust accessed on-line 7 December 2015 http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/blog/2015/12/9-christmas-energy-tips

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With the cold weather now upon us, your boiler is doing more work than it has in awhile. When your boiler will break down has always been a mystery, but a new survey conducted by EDF Energy may help predict what day it will happen.

With the four most common break down days falling in December, customers will be picking up the phones to get some help and gas engineers across the country are going to be busy fixing boilers.

Not one to question research, we did a quick survey in the office, with most people thinking it was Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Boxing day. But the study brought a bit of clarity to our train of thought. The survey showed the four most common days for a boiler to malfunction being the 1st, 22nd, 8th and the 15th of December.

Getting your boiler fixed, especially during the holidays can be difficult, with those who were surveyed stating they had to wait a whole working week before their boiler was fixed, so being prepared can save you from the cold.

Something as simple as an annual boiler service can help catch issues before they arise by ensuring your system is running correctly before heavy use occurs.

In the age of finding how to fix everything on-line and with money tight during the holiday season, a lot of people turn to the internet to diagnose the problem and then try a DIY fix. As it is a gas appliance, this can be extremely dangerous, is often illegal and cause more damage to your boiler. When in doubt, always call a Gas Safe Registered engineer. And if you are in South West London call 020 7350 2511 to get one of our engineers out make sure you and your family are warm and safe this holiday season.


1 Mirror Your boiler is most likely to break down on this date according to new research Accessed online 2 December http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/your-boiler-most-likely-break-6916702

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