A MOTHER and baby composed one of the most striking images in my mind during the Christmas holiday.

It wasn't the nativity scene but it was profound. This modern Madonna or Mary was in a Barnstaple café holding her baby tenderly in her arms, oblivious to all that was going on around on a busy shopping day.

She sang softly to him, giving his cheeks a caress every now and again. Their adoration for each other was plain for everyone to see, the baby rapt in the warmth of his mother's love. She was untroubled by the busy time and place, and her attention to the infant offered a timeless example.

No one could imagine that a child instilled with such faith and focus ever suffering the pain, anger and anti-social drive that afflicts some of our youngsters. I'm driven to write about this after having some of my house windows broken by what some are likely to call "mindless vandalism". I have to assume that this wasn't mindless, but was a bad case of "Bah Humbug"at the sight of my Christmas tree visible through the windows that were smashed.

Whoever was responsible I guess wouldn't have felt the need to do it if they'd been lucky enough as babies to experience the love I described earlier on. It's the action of someone who feels alien in the world instead of welcome. And all I hope for in the New Year is that people take seriously the number of youngsters who appear to have no touchstone of family or self-discipline to help make them into responsible adults. Mind you while I may be concerned about the mental state of these vandals I'm also angry at what's happened and annoyed at how long it takes to mend the windows in the freezing cold. Add to that the fact that no-one in the glass business seemed to be interested in working until January was well under way and my bright vision of the new year was slightly tarnished.

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I DID brave the weather to go down town on New Year's eve and we made our way to The Square at midnight, admiring the high-class fancy dress that North Devon seems to embrace at this time of year.

There were four members of the Jackson Five, huge wigs teetering around on platform shoes; a spectacular Zebra Girl; a perfect Superman; a few lady-boys; some girl pirates; and did you see the bloke dressed as a giant Whoopee Cushion?! And then there was one lad risking hypothermia as he wandered around in -2C completely bare-chested.

It was altogether another example of Barnstaple's public welcome and congratulations are due to the organisers who put together the bands, the stage and the fireworks to keep up our sense of occasion and tradition.

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AROUND the corner the Strand was heaving too. It may not be café corner quite yet, but when the wind's not howling up the river it's a lovely part of town. And, I see from some new scaffolding, it's going to be even more lovely. At last something's moving at the old Inn on the Strand, the building that in my view has walked away with the title of Eyesore of the Year for the last decade. Binn on the Strand more like, I'd suggest. I've not gone exploring what exactly is planned but I'm guessing that the well-known proprietor has finally got tired of being nagged into doing something about it. Looking back at the way he welcomed with such enthusiasm his new next-door-neighbour, Wetherspoons Watergate, I suspect the success of JDW has offered some inspiration for the Inn and we can only wait expectantly for what the Inn might become.

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DESPITE warnings to the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust and Sodexo it looks as if we're in for a bout of industrial action that can't fail to damage our local health services financially and/or directly its services.

Unison, the union for, among others, porters, caterers and cleaners, has reluctantly decided to lead hundreds of workers into a strike at the North Devon District Hospital and suspended its normal relationship with the trust. Once again we have to wonder how it is that the highly-paid management of these organisations has allowed it to get this far? It's extraordinary to hear from a union spokeswoman last week that the healthcare trust managers weren't able to meet them until today. The official mediators, ACAS, made themselves available through the Christmas/New Year period so why couldn't our local health chiefs? Hopefully we will have an answer and also an agreement between the two sides which avoids harming hundreds of patients.