HO, HO, ho – here we go, Christmas has arrived, the season of goodwill and a chance to sell over-priced tat to punters under pressure to buy unwanted gifts for relatives they never see, writes Chris Parkinson-Brown.

Look, that’s a bad start. Believe it or not, I’m not a Grinch and actually adore Crimble, but I’m certainly a cynic and am utterly disillusioned with much of the associated commercial hyperbole that starts just before the Lords test match and continues until the end of the January sales somewhere round about Easter. What’s more, I’ve been to too many Christmas Fayres stuffed with stall after stall of near-identical “unique,” handmade, eco-sustainable wreaths and “authentic” panettoni (beware panettone imposters!) making me dread the appearance of any new renderings of this seasonal genre.

Which brings me to Goodworth Clatford’s “Affordable Art and Craft Weekend.” Now, this being a small country village, and given what I’ve just said, you’ll not be surprised to know that I approached it with trepidation, expecting to find little more than a glorified church fête. My mood wasn’t improved, either, by being asked to cough up £5 just to get in, which seemed a little steep for an event which was, let’s face it, trying to sell to me. Mind you, that did include a cuppa and a piece of cake, so I put away my Ebenezer scowl, let the moths free from my wallet and went in.

Now, before I go any further, I must declare an interest here. My wife is a keen photographer and jewellery maker, albeit at the non-professional end of the spectrum, and had taken a stall at this exhibition, so none of what I am about to say relates to anything she was selling.

When I tell you, then, that the standard of work on display was truly exceptional, I’m offering an opinion solely about the work of other artists who don’t have sleeping privileges with me.

And exceptional it certainly was. The majority of the participants were professional artists with impressive C.V.’s, exhibiting a range of products from greeting cards carrying original art, to mouth-watering creations in felt and larger-scale paintings and drawings - landscapes, portraits, abstract, impressionist – silver jewellery, ceramics; something for every taste.

Exhibitors’ guidelines stated that no single piece should cost more than £500 and, by and large, exhibitors honoured that; the odd occasion where a price tag slightly exceeded this was offset by the generous discounts offered by some of the artists for this event.

Don’t be put off by the £500 figure, either: there was something for every pocket, and if you didn’t see just what you were after, most of the artists were happy to accept commissions.

I made the mistake of going away to mull over whether to buy a particular painting depicting a couple dancing the tango, and when I returned the next day, it had already been sold, such was the quality and popularity of the works on offer.

This was the first time that this event has been staged and it’s not yet clear if it is to become an annual fixture, but I hope it does.

It wasn’t strictly a Christmas event, but it served as a great chance to buy that special Yuletide gift for a loved one.

Watch the Goodworth Clatford Village Club website ( https://bit.ly/3ylJekw ) for details next year and put a note in your diary when a date is announced – you’ll not be disappointed.

And if you are the rotten so-and-so who bought that tango painting before I could, I say “Bah, humbug” to you.

Happy Christmas!