Christmas Tree Topiary

An extract from the book 40 Humourous British Traditions

At the end of the Christmas holidays in the dark days of winter everyone needs to let off a little steam. This may explain why the Christmas Tree Topiary contest in Northallerton is so popular with people eager to reshape their Christmas trees after spending many tedious and argumentative hours with their families.

On January 5^th, people come to the main street of the town with their trees and then between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. they can register for the topiary contest in one of three categories of shaping device: nail clippers (for trees under three feet high), scissors and secateurs (for trees under 10 feet high), and chainsaws (10 feet and over).