It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of former Salisbury MP Robert Key. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Salisbury from 1983 until 2010. He cared deeply for the city and its community. Robert shared this passion when he wrote the My Wiltshire feature in Wiltshire Life December 2021.

Snow. Ice on the inside of my bedroom window. Crumpets toasted on the coal fire. Chains on Dad’s tyres as he set off for church services in Wiltshire and Dorset. Waving goodbye, with Mum worrying about snowdrifts. But Christmas was coming so paper chains to be made, family panto to be rehearsed, our Christmas wassail party. My job, aged almost three, was to bang a saucepan with a big spoon as I led the procession bearing the copper pan of steaming punch from the kitchen to the hall, with everyone singing:

‘Here comes the wassail, the jolly potent wassail.

It’s as pure as the Canons in the Close.

It’s full of rum and whiskey – the stuff to make you frisky -

So come along and take your dose.’

The lighting of the cathedral Christmas tree at the west end was always a great occasion, with families joining in the fun. It was my turn in 1949, aged four. The cathedral was plunged into total darkness (not so much as an illuminated ‘Exit’ sign in those days) except for one candle on the high altar. The Dean took me by the hand and guided us by torchlight on the very long walk to light my candle and return to the tree. I lit the first candle (real of course) on the huge tree. The lights went on and we all sang Christmas carols. This where my love of music began, taught so well at Salisbury Cathedral School following my early learning years at Leadenhall School.

I was two when my family left bombed-out Plymouth, on Dad’s appointment as Bishop of Sherborne. There had been no blitz in Salisbury – indeed it was a boomtown between 1939 and 1949. We lived in South Canonry in Salisbury Close (now home of the Bishops of Salisbury). After an amazing life I now live with Sue (my wife of 53 years) just 400 metres from South Canonry, on the other side of the River Avon. After Salisbury we lived in Truro, then I lived in Cambridge, Edinburgh and Harrow – but home was always Salisbury, Wiltshire always my county.

Music and politics took me to many corners of our world. I sang my way around Germany, Belgium and Spain with the Monteverdi Choir and the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields and the USA with the London Bach Society.

On the defence committee of parliament and as a shadow defence minister I visited British Forces, with many women and men based in Wiltshire, from the Falkland Islands to Hong Kong and the Balkans to Northern Ireland. It was my privilege to represent our Porton Down establishments, and to visit their counterparts in the USA. It was always so good to get home to my family in Wiltshire.

As a minister, my work took me to many parts of the UK that were so neglected and living conditions so poor that I did not dare tell my constituents how bad life was for many and how fortunate we were in Wiltshire. I am, frankly, ashamed that so little has changed since then.

I was born into the Church of England and I remain an active Christian (I am a lay canon emeritus of Salisbury). Now in winter, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, remember that Jesus said not one word about human sexuality (about which so many are obsessive) – but he gave forthright instructions about loving our neighbours, feeding the poor and hungry, about truth, justice and prisons. Christianity is a highly political religion.

Christmas is about the birth of a child. Traditionally it also embraces ancient pagan midwinter traditions (especially at Stonehenge and Avebury) and the jingling of many tills. Carols in our churches, nativity plays in our schools and Christmas as it should be in our finest of all cathedrals - driven by ministry, music and a focus for Wiltshire life from the NHS to our military, from schools to weddings and from celebrations to remembrance. We’ll be there on Christmas morn.

The scar of poverty grows daily even in Wiltshire. Salisbury is the birthplace of the Trussell Trust, supporting foodbanks nationwide. Please remember them this Christmas.

When Bishop Richard Poore removed his cathedral from the hilltop garrison of Old Sarum and planned and built our cathedral and city starting in 1220, the contemporary poet Henry d’Avranches described the site of New Sarum as ‘a second Eden’ … ‘exceeding Paradise in blessedness’. ‘The soil is fertile where this church is set, where flowers bloom, where fish the clear streams throng’.

Here began my love-affair with Wiltshire. Every town and village in our county has made England what it is today. Taking pride in our county also means good stewardship. We do not own it. We borrow it, cherish it and sustain it for future generations. My parents brought me here 74 years ago. There is nowhere else in the world I would rather see out my days. But there is plenty to do before then.

From Wiltshire Life December 2021 issue.