Back in 1980, the Boxing Day edition of the Watford Observer contained on its front page a large Christmas message from the Bishop of St Albans, John Taylor.

In those days, of course, the Watford Observer was broadsheet size, so there was plenty of room for that sort of thing. Not so these days – so here’s that very same message here, opening with a brief biography.

“As a Watford Grammar School boy the man who is now Bishop of St Albans remembers many end-of-term Christmas revues until they were banned when Terry Scott became ‘a little too saucy’.

“Bishop John Taylor’s family moved to Woodland Drive, Watford, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne when he was seven. The Bishop reflects on his Watford days with great affection. At the grammar school he particularly enjoyed classics, which he was to study at Cambridge. He also liked tennis and swimming, and played rugby for the first XV.

“He became a choirboy at St Luke’s in Langley Way at the beginning of the war and belonged to that church throughout his time in Watford.

“He also belonged to St John’s, where he was a Scout. As a young man he was Prime Minister of Watford Youth Parliament for a while but he claims the mock parliament was non-partisan.

“He was also on the committee for Watford Empire Youth Sunday, when all the uniformed organisations met for a service at the Town Hall.

“At the end of his first year at St Albans, the Bishop is optimistic about the future. He said: ‘There is every encouragement that the Church is on the up and up again after a long period of decline.

“‘For the first time in 20 years we are beginning to be in a growth situation again.’ This is his message to Watford:

“It is kind of the editor of the West Herts and Watford Observer to invite me to write this message of greeting to the people of Watford and district.

“I see the Watford Observer every week and always find it interesting to be reminded of the goings-on of the town, even though so many changes have taken place.

“My recollections of Watford High Street, Cassiobury Park and the countryside around Watford bear little resemblance to what can be seen now.

“But they bring back the happiest memories of my childhood and of enjoyable Christmases of years past.

“I remember helping with the Post Office Christmas deliveries when we were being interrupted by bombs and doodlebugs. I remember carol singing all around the Cassiobury estate with the young people of St Luke’s or with the Watford Crusaders.

“I remember the round of parties and concerts that seemed so important to me as a teenager and I find myself constantly being drawn back to my Watford days in unashamed nostalgia.

“But Christmas 1980 and England in the next decade are a totally different scene from all our memories of the past. Much as we would like to do so, we simply cannot relive past history.

“We have to remember that it is only fossils which always stay the same. Everything with life must grow and develop.

“The issues facing our society in the coming years are going to be the great inequalities between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’, between those who have work and those who are unemployed, between the developed countries and those where either corruption or malnutrition are the order of the day.

“We shall have to live even more consciously under the threat of nuclear destruction, and at the same time we shall be wondering how we can cope with the immense changes brought into our lives by advanced technology.

“Part of me wants to shut my eyes and say: ‘Don’t let it happen – please let these problems go away.’ That is the part that lingers over the Watford of long ago. But I know I have to face the future and a Gospel which does not have anything to say to people living in the world of the 80s cannot be the message of the living God.

“Because I believe in the Gospel – the good news that Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death and resurrection are the answer to man’s needs – I am an incorrigible optimist about the future.

“I believe God loves His world so much more than you or I give Him credit for. I believe that when it is time for this world to close down it will be as a result of God’s good and wise decision and not because of a trigger-happy madman pushing a nuclear button.

“I believe that, although men are capable of incredible selfishness and greed, there are also the most touching evidences of compassion, self-sacrifice and dedication to the welfare of others.

“Our programme, both in Church and State, in national life and in the local community, must be to encourage the good and to dive out the bad.

“We can do this first and foremost in our own homes and families. That is where we exercise our greatest influence. All of us are fairly successful at doing it over the few days of the Christmas festival.

“The challenge is to maintain the momentum through another 365 days. It will not be easy but it must be attempted – by all of us.

“May I, as Bishop of St Albans – and in a special way as Watford’s Bishop – wish you a joyful Christmas and God’s blessing during the coming year.”