As the sun gets low in the western sky at 3pm GMT on Christmas Eve the traditional start to Christmas gets underway. In the candel-lit chapel of Kings College, Cambridge a boy soprano chorister steps forward and sings the first verse of "Once in Royal David's City" solo and unaccompanied. The song continues with increasing volume as the organ, alto singers, tenors and bass singers and the congregation join in each succeeding verse. I have lost my Christian faith and I am an atheist but the magnificence of this occasion never fails to raise the hairs on the back of my neck. It makes me so proud to be an Englishman. Radio coverage on BBC Radio 4: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b018xqcv
