As with painkillers, it’s best, I find, to get a bit of Christmas peace in first, before the noise, jollity, gorging, tempers and drink get the upper hand. In my calendar, four o’clock on Christmas Eve brings First Vespers of Christmas. This is the real thing, genuine Christmas Day, begun, as the ancients began a day, at sundown.
I go to Westminster Cathedral, easy to reach for central Londoners. It has a peculiar kind of winter beauty, because the domed roof inside is