Week Five

Sunday No 5 - how time passes! It also makes us realise how much there is still to do…

Actually, the day went very well again, and we have been so fortunate with the weather. The repairs to the Cracker were quickly finished, and the last major items - Angel, Cracker and Snowmen - were put up. We also loaded all the lanterns up and went around town installing them. One machine then went into testing mode, with Pump Street and most of High Street connected up, and dud bulbs changed.

The last item was the installation of new wiring by the Falcon, where we have installed an extra crossing of festoon, and at the same time wired up a new section of twinkling clusters in Pump Street. That sounds simple, but it isn’t - this section is at a new voltage of 36 volts which means an extra, new transformer and dedicated wiring. But we hope it will look fantastic!

We were fed and watered in style on Sunday! Tea and cakes from the Briggs household, tea and chip butties at the Falcon (thank you, John, Jane and everyone) and then sausage rolls and cakes from Pat! We have been really well looked after - thank you so much. You have no idea how welcome it all was.

Next Sunday is the erection of the tree, dressing it with lights and ornaments, lighting the other trees in the square - that will take one machine a full day. The other machine will be out testing every circuit, replacing any defective bulbs, and calculating energy consumption. There will still be some more stuff to do in the week leading up to the switch-on, an event eagerly anticipated! Let us hope and pray that Covid-19 does not increase any more and put paid to the plans.