Day 97 - Christmas in Morton in Marsh

Work day, so time to dig back into the archives and write about something we neglected to cover in a previous post...

The town of Morton in Marsh held a Christmas light switch-on evening earlier this month. Phil and I chose that day to take a long hike from Chipping Campden back to MIM...it was the day I got a minor electric shock from a farmers fence...I'm still a bit bitter about that particular moment in time.

We made it back to Moreton in time to take a look at the Christmas market that was underway up and down the High Street. This included having a lovely hot roast sandwich supplied by the local butcher. We milled about waiting in anticipation for the town to be lit up. The posters for the event had said this would happen at 4:30 ("half four" as they say here). It was a rather chilly afternoon, so we meandered in and out of shops to keep warm. A large lorry (semi-truck) had been set up as a makeshift stage, and various carol groups regaled the growing town as we wanted for the main event.

A rather young, thin Santa appeared with his two slightly taller elves and one reindeer, and we began to think this was it -- time for the lights. The crowd was now shoulder to shoulder. But, nothing.

The crowd begins to gather before the sun has even set to enjoy carols, a Christmas jumper contest and jokes from the emcee...and then the light switch-on when darkness appears.

Phil and I were touring the shops again to continue our attempt to stay warm, when we heard a voice over the loud speaker say the countdown was about to start. We found a spot against a wall that gave us a great view of the stage and the side of the High Street on which we live. "Ten! Nine! Eight!"... it was about to happen ..."Seven, Six, Five, Four"...the crowd was counting down in unison at the top of their lungs..."Three, Two, One!"

We could hear the crowd begin to "ooh" and "ahh" and then clap. But we saw nothing. What was everyone looking at? What had we missed?

We looked around and could see that on the side of the street we had our backs to, lights had suddenly appeared edging all the tops of the buildings. Very pretty. Unfortunately, the side of the street we had been looking at had a technical failure. It took the town about a week to get it sorted, but eventually both sides of the High Street were lit.

A bit of a disappointment at first. But now, when we take an evening stroll (which is about 3:30 now, since that's when it gets dark), the town looks very festive. Sort of makes you wish it could look like that for the entire winter!

Source: Cotswolds.com