The Christmas Tree

Some kids promise to get a proper Christmas tree for the patients in the children's ward of a London hospital. This film follows their adventures on the way.

This is a charming little film, not atypical of the CFF's output. It smacks of Enid Blyton, yet is set in more real and believable situations. For anyone of the right age and/or from that part of the world it is something of a nostalgia-fest, with scenes of 1960s Britain that are not quite lost forever.

Locations I recognised were Hambleden weir, Hambleden village, and Round Hill, Aldershot. Hambleden weir and the village are virtually unchanged, and the enormous (30' tall, forty ton) statue of Wellington (which was originally erected on Hyde Park corner) still sits atop round hill in Aldershot. It looks OK in the film but had lapsed into a poor state more recently and was refurbished in 2004. It is no longer mainly surrounded by open heathland. Sadly you can't wander between the horse's legs as the children do. Where I grew up there was lots of heathland used by the Army and for the most part they tolerated the local kids (who treated the whole area as their own playground) rather well.

All rather charming and jolly; 8/10 from me.