CRANES and crane drivers, I love them, they can help send out the message of Christmas.

Some years ago when working and driving daily across the West End, Mayfair, to the City of London, a phenomenon appeared in the night sky around St.Paul's Cathedral just before Christmas.

There were a huge number of building projects in the area, and every building site with a large crane entered a competition, with a prize for the crane judged to have the best Christmas decorations attached to it.

Every afternoon, as it began to get dark, all the cranes would switch on their decorations, and people started to look up wondering would it be the one on the site near Blackfriars Bridge which boasted a flight of Christmas angels? or would the one further down the river, near Tower Bridge, which was sporting a large Santa sleigh together with Rudolph and his friends, catch the attention of the judges? 

Some cranes had giant Christmas trees, others had reindeer, some had clusters of bells. Stars featured quite a lot — stars, upon stars, which, considering it was all seen at its best in the night sky, that seemed eminently suitable.

In the event, a large crane near Blackfriars with a flight of wonderful angels on it, won the competition.

Donald Bibey

Okehampton

l Major Joy Webb of the Salvation Army, leader of 'The Joystrings, saw the same sight in London. Donald obtained the permission of The Salvationist to reproduce her thoughts at the time:

'One evening while the cranes were illuminated, instead of making straight for the station after work I made my way down to Blackfriars Bridge and stood, with lots of other people looking up at the winning crane with its stunning flight of angels. Suddenly I became aware of a small child near me. He was standing with his mother, his face turned to the sky, rapt and enchanted! 

'"Mummy!"  his voice rang out on the clear frosty air. "Mummy! Look! There are angels in the sky! Look, Mummy! Angels".

'I waited with bated breath. Would there be a put-down from the mother, every inch a young, modern women? Something like, "No darling, they're attached to the crane. See?  it just looks as though they are flying".

'But no, her answer came clearly: "Yes darling, I can see them too. Don't they look wonderful?"

'Thank you Lord I said in my heart. Thank you for this young modern mother who cares enough for her little one to see through his eyes— eyes of innocence and wonder. I left soon after, but the flight of the angels on that crane and the wonder of that moment stayed with me.

'Even walking home, at the end of my train journey, looking at the tawdry Christmas lights in the high street and the tasteless decorations in the supermarket couldn't quite spoil the memory of the child with a sensible Mother.

'All around us nowadays you hear people saying, "I hate Christmas, it's become so commercial" or "I'll be glad when it's all over. I'm sick of trying to think of things to give to people!"

'Quite right too! We have managed to dim the wonder of Christmas with the tremendous com-mercial hype surrounding it. It shouts at us from our television sets from November onwards and every child can tell you in an instant what is the latest cool toy that they're expecting. It's so sad.

'The age of innocence has passed, and with it the sense of wonder at the simple, old truths at the heart of Christmas which, if accepted and believed, could bring peace and hope to our divided world.'