ON Saturday Broad Street will once again be a hive of activty for the turning on of our Christmas lights, generally accepted as the best in the area.
The illuminations went up on Sunday and will flicker into light at 5.30pm when the Mayor, Councillor Michaela Ellis, will lead the countdown around the Christmas tree in The Shambles.
During the afternoon Alan and Lyn Vian will be running their lantern workshop with prizes for the best lanterns being awarded before the Christmas parade moves off for the lighting up ceremony.
Lyme Regis Junior Band will be playing carols around the tree and Father Christmas will arrive as usual on the fire engine.
Last year it absolutely tipped it down just as the parade was starting but that didn’t stop thousands turning out to witness the town’s first Christmas event.
I am sure the crowd will be just as big this coming Saturday when Christmas 2010 officially gets underway in Lyme.
This provides me with an opportunity to say a big thank you to Barbara Austin and her hard working Christmas Lights Committee.
It was Barbara who decided some years ago that the Lyme Christmas lights were a bit of a disgrace. So Barbara being Barbara decided to do something about it and has since raised the necessary funds, these days around £8,000, via grants and fundraising efforts to make sure Lyme’s main street looks as festive as possible every Christmas.
I suspect it gets harder every year to finance the lights but somehow Barbara and her team manage to come up with the cash
The cost of the set pieces get more expensive every year and the displays have had to be limited to the main street only.
But I’m sure Lyme will maintain its reputation as one of the most festive looking towns in the area.
The turning on of the Christmas lights signals the start of all the town’s festive activities, which will include Christmas fayres at the Woodroffe School, Marine Theatre and Woodmead Halls, a Christmas Special from the Lyme’s Got Talent finalists, a charity Christmas Cracker event and Lyme Regis Town Band’s Christmas concert.
EVENT OF THE WEEK...
OVER the hill to Axminster for Event of The Week. We’ve just launched a new series of weekend papers in South Somerset and East Devon so on Thursday evening Jackie and I went over to Axminster to cover the Operatic Society’s production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s Showboat.
I’ve lost count of how many times over the years I’ve written reviews on the various shows at Axminster Guildhall, still the finest public hall in East Devon. The first one was No, No, Nanette in 1965!
In those days local stage shows were very much home-grown affairs. Today, accomplished stage performers travel around a bit and appear in a number of shows.
The evening was made all the more enjoyable for me because Lyme-based Brian Rattenbury and Kelly Apps (nee Street) were two of the principals in Showboat and were undoubtedly stars of the show.
I have known Brian all my adult life. As lads we played football together and spent many happy hours in the company of Joe O’Donnell at the Ship Inn.
With Brian and Joe around the pub was always full of laughter and one of their party pieces was a mock fight which was so realistic that visitors often thought it was the real thing.
Memories of this came flooding back at Showboat with Brian playing the role of Captain Andy Hawkes, the part taken by Joe E Brown in the film version. In one scene Brian had to reenact a fight, playing the part of both aggressor and receiver. It was hilaraious, the funniest thing I have seen on the local stage, and it brought the house down. Brian’s portrayal of Captain Andy was faultless, as was Kelly who took the lead role of Magnolia Hawkes.
A member of the talented Street family, Kelly has appeared in many local shows over the years but this was probably her biggest acting role. Her’s was a word perfect performance and her voice seems to get better every year.
We are indeed fortunate to have such talent in our midst.
Lyme asides ...
CONGRATULATIONS to the girls down at the Tourist Information Centre for their success in being judged as one of the best TICs in the country.
It’s an honour greatly deserved. Led by Lorraine Knowles, they run a very happy ship and provide a great service for the tourism industry in our town.
“Service with a smile” must surely be their mantra.
I only hope they are not used as a pawn in the forthcoming Monmouth Beach discussions between town and district council.
A BIZARRE historical link has emerged from renovations being carried out at the Rock Point pub in Lyme Regis.
Building work in the attic revealed a piece of wood which carried the inscription, scribbled in pencil: “Empress of Ireland, sunk in St Lawrence, Canada, 1914, death toll 1,073, captain saved”.
The Empress of Ireland was an ocean liner built in 1905 which carried mail between Britain and Hong Kong, via Canada.
Whilst steaming on the St Lawrence river in May 1914 in fog The Empress was struck amidships and the 1,073 casualties made it the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history.
Why this should come to be described on a piece of wood in a Lyme Regis pub is a complete mystery. Any theories?
No comments:
Post a Comment