Leonard to the family:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Well the weekend has come and gone and we hope Alec arrived home safely on Monday afternoon. We were delighted to see him even if only for a little while and wish you could all have been with him. Nevermind [sic] we shall be looking forward to Easter but meanwhile must get past the wintry spell which appears to be on us already.

Thank you all very very much for the nice things you gave us for Christmas we do appreciate them especially the coloured photographs – they are excellent. Ted Caple looked in yesterday afternoon and as Alec knows he is a keen photographer and has his own dark room attached to bungalow so I showed him those you brought down this time and those you gave us last Christmas. He said they were exceedingly good but confirmed your statement that they generally come out much darker as a photograph than when shown on a projector. Their bungalow stands out on the one you took of the house and area from the Hill*. The dark room is the attachment to side of bungalow and you will quickly spot it on the film. We hope you had a good weekend with the children June but I expect they were very glad to have Auntie Pauline with them.

Glad to hear you have got over your attack of the Flu – do not want much of that over Christmas. A letter from Stella in reply to our birthday letter to her says she has been in bed for a couple of days also with Flu. Seems to be a lot about already. After Christmas is the usual time for plenty of that. Perhaps we can get it all over before for once. Noted Alec has had an injection at the office – he seems to have started something over on the E.R.

According to local Bristol paper Temple Meads station closes for twenty four hours commencing at 6 -0 a.m. Christmas morning – what a change. No doubt the staff will complain because they lose the extra time for working that day in addition to getting equivalent time off. Cannot please everybody all the time.

Not much to tell you this week as you had all the news so recently and inspected the garden yourself and tasted the Elderberry Brandy. Am afraid I have not done much outdoors so far and it is much too cold today even thought the sun is shining.

Roy Hewitt came up later on Monday morning for about 30 minutes and returned the November E.R. magazine. Said Mrs Hewitt not too good and laid up a couple of days. This weather is better than the fog though and as long as the wind keeps up there will be no danger of that or the smog returning. From what you told us it must have been very bad up there – we really do not know anything about it.

Well this must be the lot this time except to thank you all once again for all your kindness to us and to wish you all a Very Happy Christmas and good health and continued prosperity in the New Year. We shall be thinking of you during the holiday. All our love to you both and lots of kisses for the girls.

Eva to the family on the remaining one-third of a sheet of Leonard’s paper:

Dear Alec June Susan and Carol

Many thanks for all the nice gifts you sent down. We shall be well away for a bit. Thank your dad and mum for the sweets too won’t you. It was very good of them and perhaps when they move in we can reciprocate with a bit of cream. The weather is much healthier now & don’t mind if it lasts over the holiday although we have to keep nippy. The horse has settled down & has his bread & sugar every day. They came and did my stove yesterday had to have a new switch to the oven that alone is £4 [£95 in 2022 currency] so man says and he was here all the afternoon. Now I have to make another cake, he said I had been getting 300 degrees [F] too much every time I used the oven. Lots of love Mum and Dad.

*This would almost certainly be Church Hill.