It's been fire and ice for me recently - from walking on hot coals at Nottingham Castle to walking on ice last night at the brand new rink in Nottingham's Old Market Square. I was there to help turn on the city's Christmas lights and launch the Salvation Army's Christmas Toy Appeal.

I was in esteemed company too - not only was the real Sheriff of Nottingham there (the splendid Cllr. Brian Grocock who's doing great things for the post of Sheriff) but the Lord Mayor, Will Sherriff from Nottingham Rugby Club and Olympic Gold medallist and Notts canoeist Dr Tim Brabants (pictured above) . Oh, and Santa, of course!

The city always puts on a good show for Christmas and we were live on both radio and TV as well as having thousands of people there in person to enjoy the show, the skating and the annual festive German Christmas market which hopefully means lots of toys for the kids and a good start to Christmas for all!

There's a Nottingham Evening Post article online here and they have a selection of pictures from the event here (which is where the photo of me and Dr Tim Brabants comes from) and the ITV Central News live TV report here for a few days at least - their report starts at 25m 35s in.