Christmas 2007 is now over and yes, despite all my fears, it was a good Christmas. We spent time with family and friends, no one argued, the turkey was delicious and the cat wasn't sick! What more could I ask for?

Well........, it sounds terribly indulgent I know, but actually I could do with a quiet and peaceful holiday away from everyone. Long walks, bracing sea air, not too much to eat and somewhere cosy where I can curl up and read all those wonderful books I was given for Christmas.

December is the one time of the year when I am likely to go into major depression. Minor signs appear towards the end of September as the supermarket shelves fill with Christmas cards and garishly painted boxes of chocolate biscuits. By the end of October my mood, like the days, gets darker as mince pies, Christmas nuts and wreaths of holly are added to those yawning Christmas shelves.

By now I am dreading the phone ringing and those inevitable words: “Have you any plans for Christmas?” or worse still “It would be nice to see you over Christmas”. Urghhhhhhhhhh!

The ancient market town of Woodbridge was once a major ship building town providing ships for the English fleet fighting the Spanish Armada in 1588 and today there are still many boats in the river, some working but the majority leisure craft.

Just a few miles from the sea at Bawdsey smuggling boats would have travelled up the Deben Estuary to land their bounty in Woodbridge or beyond. Below is an extract from Smuggling in the British Isles: a History by Richard Platt For more detail visit his website www.smuggling.co.uk