Did you know?

According to Wikipedia, Tom Smith (1823–1869) of London invented crackers in 1847. He created the crackers as a development of his bon-bon sweets, which he sold in a twist of paper (the origins of the traditional sweet-wrapper). As sales of bon-bons slumped, Smith began to come up with new promotional ideas. His first tactic was to insert love messages into the wrappers of the sweets (similar to fortune cookies).

Smith added the "crackle" element when he heard the crackle of a log he had just put on a fire. The size of the paper wrapper had to be increased to incorporate the banger mechanism, and the sweet itself was eventually dropped, to be replaced by a trinket: fans, jewellery and other substantial items. The new product was initially marketed as the Cosaque (French for Cossack), but the onomatopoeic "cracker" soon became the commonly used name, as rival varieties came on the market. The other elements of the modern cracker—the gifts, paper hats and varied designs—were all introduced by Tom Smith's son, Walter Smith, to differentiate his product from the rival cracker manufacturers which had suddenly sprung up.

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Today's Felixstowe sunrise: 08.01

Today's Felixstowe sunset: 15:47

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Tide Times:

05:41 3.31m

12:17 0.91m

18:36 3.28m

THU 24 Dec

00:26 1.41m

Floodgates open

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Weather:

Cloudy with further long periods of rain, heavy at times. Generally light winds and mild. A brisk north-easterly wind developing in the north later in the day. Maximum temperature 11c, low of 5c.

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Orwell Bridge:

Open

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Christmas cracker jokes:

What does Santa suffer from if he gets stuck in a chimney?

Claustrophobia

What kind of motorbike does Santa ride?

A Holly Davidson

What happens to elves when they are naughty?

Santa gives them the sack

How does Good King Wenceslas like his pizzas?

One that's deep pan, crisp and even

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Live travel information:

Trains...

Bus timetables

Check here for 77 service Monday to Friday timetable

Check here for 75 service Monday to Friday timetable

Roads - interactive mapping

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Pharmacies:

Christmas Day

HADO Pharmacy, 135 Hamilton Rd 10.00-13.00

Boxing Day

Boots, 31 Orwell Rd, Felixstowe 09.00 - 17.30

Boots, 86 Hamilton Road - 08.30 - 17.30

Dec 28 Bank Holiday Monday

Boots, 86 Hamilton Road - 10.00 - 16.00

Morrisons Pharmacy, Grange Farm Avenue - 10.00 - 16.00

New Years Day

Morrisons Pharmacy, Grange Farm Avenue - 10.00 - 16.00

Otherwise all open normal times.

NHS number 111

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Felixstowe Post Office

Thu 24 Dec 08:30-17:30

Fri 25 Dec Closed

Sat 26 Dec Closed

Sun 27 Dec 10:00-14:00

Mon 28 Dec 10:00-14:00

Tue 29 Dec 08:30-17:30

Wed 30 Dec 09:00-17:30

Thu 31 Dec 09:00-17:30

Fri 01 Jan Closed

Sat 02 Jan 09:00-12:30

Sun 03 Jan Closed

Mon 04 Jan 09:00-17:30

Old Felixstowe Post Office

Festive opening times not available

Bent Hill Post Office.B]

Thu 24 Dec 09:00-12:30

Fri 25 Dec Closed

Sat 26 Dec Closed

Sun 27 Dec Closed

Mon 28 Dec Closed

Tue 29 Dec 09:00-18:00

Wed 30 Dec 09:00-18:00

Thu 31 Dec 09:00-12:30

Fri 01 Jan Closed

Sat 02 Jan Closed

Sun 03 Jan Closed

Walton Post Office

Festive opening times not available

Trimley Post Office

Festive opening times not available

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Supermarkets:

Morrisons

Christmas Eve - 6:00am - 6:00pm

Christmas Day - Closed

Boxing Day - 9:00am - 6:00pm

Sunday 27 Dec - 10:00am - 4:00pm

Monday 28 Dec - 7:00am - 9:00pm

Tuesday 29 Dec - 7:00am - 9:00pm

Wednesday 3o Dec - 7:00am - 9:00pm

New Years Eve - 7:00am - 6:00pm

New Years Day - 9:00am - 6:00pm

Saturday 2nd Jan - 7:00am - 9:00pm

Tesco

Christmas Eve - 7am - 7pm

Christmas Day - Closed

Boxing Day - Closed

Sunday 27 December - 10am - 4pm

Monday 28 December - 7am - 10pm

Tuesday 29 December - 7am - 10pm

Wednesday 30 December - 7am - 10pm

New Year's Eve - 7am - 7pm

New Year's Day -Closed

Lidl

24 Dec 07:00-18:00

25 Dec Closed

26 Dec Closed

27 Dec Open as normal

28 Dec Open as normal

29 Dec Open as normal

30 Dec Open as normal

31 Dec 08:00-18:00

1 Jan Closed

2 Jan Open as normal

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Helplines:

Samaritans: 0330 094 5717

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