It’s the time of year when nights are long and daylight is scarce, the curtains are drawn at 4pm and we all need more lights around us.

People have celebrated the winter solstice for countless eons. The stones at Stonehenge have marked the winter solstice for thousands of years, Long Meg standing stone in Cumbria is placed to mark the setting midwinter sun.

It is fascinating to think of human history and how our lives have been aligned to the changing seasons. The deepest winter is a time to renew and look forward to the New Year. Of course it is midsummer and the hottest season in the southern hemisphere.

Christmas is the time that many of us get together with family and friends and celebrate. Decorations are put up and the Christmas tree adorned. There is a tradition of bringing in evergreens at midwinter and of singing and telling stories for entertainment. Christmas has added more significance to the ancient solstice customs and more to celebrate.

At midwinter in the past candles were used to light homes, now it is more likely to be energy efficient LED lights that add an extra glow.

Yule logs once burned for days in an open hearth, now we have central heating with an electric log-effect fire. It serves the same emotional purpose for us, a central hub of warmth that we can gather around.

Many of our modern Christmas rituals stem from Victorian times when there was a mini ice age and the Thames froze over. Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol set in a snowy, bleak midwinter and this imagery has become rooted into modern culture.

Now on a warming planet the chance of winter snow is receding rapidly. We make use of artificial snow and pretend icicles to get the effect of a cold winter. We still like to see scenes of snow and frost on cards and in films. It seems to speak to a human need for marking the turning of the year, a time to pause and reflect. The past and present are not so far apart.

I wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a New Year that is full of possibilities.

Lynn Daniel

West Devon Borough Councillor for South Tawton and Green Party member

The contents of this column are the views of Lynn Daniel and not West Devon Borough Council policy.