'Why our village nativity only has two wise men'

Singing the carol "We Three Kings" might not be appropriate in one village, where the life-size nativity only has two wise men.

Kath Greenan, chairwoman of the Bamford Old Folks Club, in Derbyshire, said the group raised money for the nativity figures to represent the nativity scene on their village green.

But they bought two wise men - rather than the traditional three - so the extra money could be spent on activities and trips for elderly residents.

"The nativity scene is a symbol and it's important, but the real important thing is to look after the people who live here," she said.

"It's part and parcel of living in a village and helping to provide activities for old, and sometimes lonely, people who live here," she smiled.

Mrs Greenan, 72, remembered the village green nativity being a tradition dating back to her childhood.

They provided the ideal backdrop for the annual brass band and carol concert, but the old mannequins had become tired after decades of use.

"They had got extremely battered, some of them had got arms missing, one of them had a hole in its face - we thought we can't put those out again," she told BBC Radio Derby.

In 2017, the group raised £2,000 through jumble sales, plant sales and appeals to buy new life-size figures from a company near Torquay.

"We could only afford to get a limited number of figures," she explained. "We decided that would have to represent the nativity scene."

This year, people have been puzzled by the absence of a third wise man.

"There's been a lot of stuff on Facebook saying 'where's the third wise man gone?' Well, there never was a third one," she clarified.

"There was this story going around 'somebody has pinched it, let's go and look for it', but it doesn't exist."

Mrs Greenan would like to complete the trio, but said there were bigger priorities for her group of volunteers.

"The money that we raise, we use it to provide events for the elderly people in the village and we struggle to do that," she said.

"We had a Christmas dinner last night for all the people over 65 in the village and we take them on trips out," she said. "It's been going for 80 years.

"It's part of Bamford community spirit."

Follow BBC Derby on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected] or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.