IT has returned. Bigger. Badder. Greener. And more secure than ever before. What are we talking about? We’re talking about the Angel Hotel’s Christmas Tree, which has become something of a focal point for the town’s festive spirit in recent times.

Following Last Friday’s calamity when the big old pine went belly-up, as a result of the high-winds and questionable Xmas tree installation protocol, many feared the worse.

Would The Angel Hotel replace the toppled tree which added a certain seasonal panache and dash to the town? Or would they be dissuaded in their yuletide efforts by the naysayers, who furiously munching on their humbugs declared that such a tree in such a setting was a transgression against the gods of health and safety and an accident waiting to happen.

Only earlier this week there was reported sightings of an elf wailing inconsolably and rocking furiously in the alleyway behind Greggs at the thought that the poor and neglected Christmas spirt had died a lonely death in Abergavenny. But the elf was wrong.

The Angel’s Christmas tree rides again, and this time it would take a tornado to topple the mighty green magnificence which is now perched in Cross Street like a proud rooster .

You see the new tree quite literally has legs of stone. It’s trunk has been cast in concrete to prevent similar mishaps to last Friday.

The Chronicle contacted Abergavenny’s resident Xmas tree expert Rudolph Renose to ask his opinion of this unusual erection. Rudolph exclaimed, “It’s very unusual and I haven’t personally come across this sort of installation before but my hats off to team Angel. They’ve excelled themselves in making that little patch of Abergavenny both safe and seasonal. When faced with an unruly tree or a severe topple a lot of people just give up but not these folks. They were determined to have their tree. So congratulations all around.”

You can rest easy this Christmas folks. God is in his Heaven, Santa is in his sleigh, and the Angel has her tree . Order is restored. Amen.