Remember you're a Womble

In the early 1980's before the birth of the M25, the easiest way to get from West Sussex were we lived to the outskirts of Manchester where my Dad's family lived was to go through London.  I was only little and so don't recall the whole route, but I always remember two landmarks very clearly; one was Hammersmith Bridge which was my favourite bridge at the time before some local authority or other decided to paint it murky green rather than its previous majestic pale blue and gold, and the other was Wimbledon Common where we would have all eyes to the window in the hope of spotting a Womble or two. I think we did see some of the Wombles on several occasions, although I cannot be sure if it was Orinoco, Wellington, Tobermory or Tomsk, they were definitely there. You see the thing with the Wombles, as with Father Christmas, Christmas Elves and the Tooth Fairy you have got to believe, otherwise they don't show themselves to you. And just ask anyone who has ever spent any time with me in December and they will tell you that I DEFINITELY believe.

So today you can imagine how pleased I was to read in the Metro that the Wombles have revamped their band as the 'W-Factor' and are re-releasing their 1974 number 2 hit record Wombling Merry Christmas, as a contender for the Christmas number one spot to challenge the X Factor. Uncle Bulgaria was quoted as saying  "I hear The X Factor is jolly popular. However, W comes before X."  He seems confident that a proper Christmas song would prevail this year and the Wombles are ready to do it, and so am I.  How fabulous would this be?! The Christmas Single is due to be released on 12 December, and the whole reworked album, The W Factor - 20 Wombling Greats is out on 28 November. Put the dates in your diary.

So, with these two very exciting things to look forward to, I am sure my next round of chemo treatment which starts tomorrow will fly by. Bring on the chemo and bring on the Wombles.