Upstairs in the Town Hall Father Christmas received a seemingly endless stream of young fans. Downstairs there was a craft market to appeal to every pocket. In the High Street there were stalls selling food and gifts – and as much hot food as a very cold evening demanded.
Everyone we spoke to said it was Marlborough’s biggest crowd ever for the switching on of the Christmas lights. It was exhilaratingly cold and an exhilarating evening full of fun and good cheer.
Louisa Davison of We Love Marlborough (organisers of the upstairs happenings) assured us that this was the one and only Father Christmas, not just some passing stand-in. Having seen the great man, children were busy making Christmas crowns and Wiltshire Wildlife Christmas cards.
The Community Choir sang and the Phoenix Brass Band played. A very loud Martin Cook warmed up the crowd and Mayor Edwina Fogg introduced the switch-on. At or about seven o’clock the big plunger was finally produced on the Town Hall steps and young Tai Hopkins and Emma Blunden joined Marlborough’s Citizen of the Year Ian Philpott to plunge the plunger.
The lights duly came on – to general applause and some gasps. Tai is from St Peter’s and Emma is from Preshute School, and Ian was one of the founders of the Marlborough Players and is a leading light (pun intended) in Marlborough of the Devizes Conservative Association.
On such a very cold evening what probably stole the show was the amazing array of hot food and drink available along the High Street among the more than forty stalls assembled by the Communities Market – not forgetting the Sausage and Mash stall inside the Town Hall.
You could – and many people did – buy barbecued-on-the-spot Hinton Marsh Farm sausages, festive cones from Mr Roast Potato, chicken and veg biryani from the Oxford Delhi (obviously another intended pun), hot roast chestnuts, hot coffee from the Coffee Gang, mulled apple juice (non-alcoholic) from My Apple Juice, mulled cider (less non-alcoholic), churros, beef chilli from Charlotte Anne, hot chocolate from Sweet Hearts catering…and some other treats that probably escaped attention as the crowds surrounded the market’s stalls.
To add to the occasion there were a couple of young students selling mince pies and goodies to raise funds for their gap year turtle guarding in Costa Rica – they won’t need their scarfs for that trip. Also out on the High Street there were light sticks, flashing ears and balloons.
Away from the High Street there was a bouncy castle and fun for the smaller members of the crowd outside Ducklings toy shop – complete with a bevy of ‘swanlings’ dressed for Christmas. We did overhear one young person say she wouldn’t take her shoes off to go on the bouncy castle because her feet would get too cold. Really! The younger generation…all she needed was a cup of hot chocolate.
Marlborough Christmas Lights: Santa Claus is coming to town
