“AND so this is Christmas and what have you done”, as the Beatles sang, and indeed wrote, although I think they got it wrong with the line: “Another year over and a new one just begun”. I think that was on New Year’s Day chaps.

But what have I done? I suppose getting married was one of the biggest days of the year apart from taking a wicket with one that went the other way, of course, but it was a great day to look back on.

When you put your mind to it and think back over the year there must be some highlights and I know tomorrow I’ll think to myself: “Why didn’t I mention that?”

I went to New York, Bucharest and to Bourgoin, none of which I had stayed long in before and all of which were very different.

So what else? I did live cricket commentary on my own from a muddy field in Essex, spent four sunny days in Cardiff and almost froze to death at several rugby grounds around the country. It seems when you get older your blood gets thinner, nothing else, just your blood.

I passed 60 of course, which is great as you get a free bus pass and winter fuel allowance as well and it seems I have spent about three months of the year building flatpack furniture. Who writes those instructions anyway and why are you always short of a screw or nail or have something left over?

Joshua George, my grandson, has occupied a lot of the time, of course, as indeed he should. He will not be with us this Christmas Day as he has to go to Oxfordshire and see his other grandad, which is fair enough. He will no doubt be showered with presents such as Thomas the Tank Engine and the Night Garden and why not?

Of course, there’s a lot of sport over the festive time but why do we have to go to Newcastle the day after Boxing Day when there are lots of lovely local derbies to be had? Would it not have been better to have the likes of Gloucester, Bristol or Leicester? Still it’s better than a couple of years ago when the long trek to the North East was on New Year’s Day.

I still had to get a few things for Christmas as I left it a bit late this year so I popped into Worcester. It was such a nice day and a clear frosty morning so I walked from Malvern.

It took about two hours but it was superb to get all that fresh air.

How sad it is to see the state of Woolworths and didn’t it look like a hurricane had been through there?

When I went in there was not a lot left. I recall buying my first ever record from Woolies and it wasn’t the song “And so this is Christmas and what have you done.”

Have a very merry Christmas.