The peaceful village of Cawston, situated in North Norfolk, lies on the main road between the market towns of Aylsham and Reepham  It was Christmas Eve in one of the early years of the 1950s and the entire village was making the final preparations for the festive season.  The air was damp and left considerable moisture in the arable fields surrounding the village.  The day was bitterly cold and the roofs of many houses facing north were still covered with a thick layer of white frost. 

In the village numerous housewives accompanied by their children were doing their last minute Christmas shopping in the local stores.  The postman was busy delivering the extra Christmas mail.  The milkman had just come back from the last round and some elderly ladies were making their way to St. Agnes church to decorate for midnight mass.

It was an Age when nearly everyone knew each other in Cawston and most villagers soon became aware of any stranger walking around the village.  And so it happened that during the afternoon on that particular Christmas Eve, a stranger with a foreign accent drove in an old three-wheel van from Sygate to the village and asked where he could get a meal and cup of tea.  He was promptly directed to Mrs. Stackwood‘s fish and chip shop near the church. 

Sipping his tea the stranger told the villagers sitting in the cafe that he always travelled away at Christmas and sought refuge in a boarding house or hotel so that he could be alone as he hated the thought of Christmas.  No one in the cafe could understand his attitude as everyone in Cawston celebrated these holy days remembering how difficult it had been during the war years when many loved ones were fighting abroad.  One of the villagers soon convinced the stranger that Christmas was the season of love and joy and invited him to spend the next few days with him and his family.  

Arriving at his home in one of the old council houses the stranger was introduced to the family and shown to his room upstairs.  A hot bath was prepared and he was given a change of clothes.  Early in the evening the family with their two children all sat down for a hot meal at the dining table in front of the multi-coloured decorated Christmas tree that had dozens of presents under it all wrapped in bright Christmas paper.  The two children were already very excited and asked the stranger many questions about his family but only got answers about his childhood and parents.  No one knew if he was married or not or where he came from, but it did not matter for this was the season of goodwill and that is what counted more than anything else that day.

It started to snow late that evening and the family had intended going to midnight mass at St. Agnes church but now feared they could not venture out into the snow and down the hill to the village.  The stranger offered to drive them to church; an offer that was gladly accepted by all.  Emphasising his belief in Catholicism the stranger said he preferred not to participate in an Anglican church mass.  It was therefore decided to give him the key to the house so he could sit over the fire in the absence of the family. 

At the end of the midnight mass everyone in the church wished each other a merry Christmas and the family went outside and waited in the snow for the stranger to come to collect them.  The gravestones around St. Agnes were covered with a layer of new snow and everyone was walking home carefully.  The family waited 5 minutes near the church gate and then decided to walk home in the snow as they knew there was only one way and they would see the stranger in his van.  The thought that he may have had accident or even fallen asleep in front of the blazing fire went through their minds. 

The family arrived home to find no van standing in front of the house which immediately alarmed them.  Upon entering the living room they found that all the Christmas presents had disappeared.  The children cried.  In the kitchen, the turkey and home-made Christmas cake had been removed from the pantry.  On the table they found four home-made mince pies and a note with the words ‘Merry Christmas – my family will enjoy the rest’  In the absence of a telephone at home there was little they could do so late at night.

Just after sunrise the bells of Cawston church rang in Christmas Day.  The father of the family informed the neighbours about this incident and then went to the public telephone box on the Market Place to call the police.  Later that morning the local policeman arrived to take details.  “Most unfortunate” he said, “but the same thing happened to a family in Heydon last year on Christmas Eve”. 

It was just before the New Year’s Eve when an article appeared on the front page of the Eastern Daily Press about a stranger who made his way into homes before Christmas and stole Christmas presents and food from innocent families.  Two weeks later the same newspaper published photographs of the model railway and the doll that this family had put under the Christmas tree for their children.  A few days later the family enjoyed a belated Christmas.

Michael Yaxley

Bonn, Germany

November 2007

(This story may not be published in any form without the permission of the author or the Cawston Historical Society.  Should any publishing company wish to publish this story it is welcome to do so providing that one free copy of the publication is sent to the author and one copy to the Cawston Historical Society.  It is requested that any royalties resulting from publication are sent to the Cawston Historical Society).