A (not so) brief history

For those keen to know more about the lights, Roger Wilkins - a member of the team for more than 50 years – gives us a more in-depth insight.

The lights started in 1965

There is no-one left in the team who has been in the team that long, but we must pay tribute to Tony Watkins of Bromyard Electrics, then known as Watkins and Delahay, who I believe was there to erect the first cables, and was, until recently, available behind the scenes for when a fully qualified electrician was needed. He also built the first animated set pieces; items well remembered and much liked. However, Dave Tinton has recalled drilling holes for the first mounting hooks, Les Day was probably in charge, with Bill Morris and Peter Garett early - and key - workers.

I first became acquainted with the lights in 1967, helping as a fourteen year old after my father John, who was to be for very many years the driving force behind the lights, was moved to the town as manager of the National Provincial Bank in the new year in '67. So it seems that I am the longest serving member of the team, and great fun it has been!

If this short tome is to be dedicated to anyone, it must be to the two key people for so many years were crucial to lights, Gala and so much in the town; John Wilkins and Bill Morris, that huge character who instilled a fearlessness in tackling any project, and masses of common sense, plus endless supplies of ginger biscuits!

Bromyard in the 60s was a very different place to what it is now; around one third of the current population, still a market town, the railway closing in 1964, little industry and no industrial estates. The future certainly looked bleak, and it needed a lot of vision for the future. In 1967, the Chamber was to start the Gala, but it was some years earlier that proposals were made to have Christmas Lights. These were proposals to try and put the town on the map, and both the Gala and the Lights a have been very important over the years in achieving just that.

Bill Morris was for very many years the proprietor of Morris's coaches. Pretty eccentric, he was a large man, given to launching into jobs with aplomb, and when told "Rome wasn't built in a day" replied with, "I wasn't foreman on that job". He could lift enormous weights, and got away with murder! But he was the person who drove the team on, always up the top of the (usually massively heavy) ladder. My introduction to the lights was that sight. But there were also others; at that stage Les Day was running Maynes Ironmongers in the Square, and the equipment was all stored in his stores which are now the Garage in Rowberry Street. Peter Garrett was there working away; he went up one side of the street with a ladder, Bill on the other. There have been so many people over the years, and I will list those we can remember later.

It may be worth describing the first installation in some detail, as it formed the backbone of the system for years, in some ways until the present day; indeed, we are still using some of the lampholders, although that is all. It was very well engineered.

Basically, it consisted of a zigzag of galvanised steel span wires (the stuff which is used in Hop Yards to suspend the strings) hung off galvanised hooks, rawlplugged into the walls. The festoon cables were of rubber, with "Ashley" lampholders. These are screwed onto the cable, and have pins which dig into the conductor wires.

The lamps were fifteen watt Osram lamps, smaller than ordinary lamps, and incredibly rugged; they lasted long than any filament bulbs we have had since, or probably which have been subsequently made. There were three feed points; on the old electricity pole in the Square, one in the basement of Pumphries (the department store; that part of the property is now the Indian Restaurant) and, lastly, in Lila James's greengrocers - now Caleb Roberts. There are, by the way, now eleven feeds, all off spurs from the streetlighting supplies.

The basic system for suspension is not unlike the original, only now we use shield anchors or resin bonded hooks (which are physically tested on a three year cycle) with new work in high tensile, and now stainless steel cable.

One memory I have of the early days is that of the switch-on. Until quite recently I never witnessed the speeches and event in the Square, but was usually somewhere up town, on another feed. I was often in the cellar in Pumphries; someone in the square was on the phone to the shop cashier (Mrs Thomas) who shouted downstairs, and the manager jumped up and down on the floor to signify that I could throw the switch!

And so the system was born. It was all erected off ladders; every fourth holder had a wire on it which was looped around the span wire, and when there were enough loops hung on the cable, they were pulled across. So dud bulbs could not be replaced, unless they were reachable from a ladder.

Around 1970, I think, Hereford (not for the first time) abandoned their lights, and we purchased some of their cable, and three very basic plastic crowns. The festoon cabling was extended into Cruxwell Street, and the crowns hoisted across the street in three places. The cable was not of the best; it had moulded-on lampholders, which had a habit of breaking off the pins on lamps, and also shorting out. But we did persevere with it for a while.

One other early memory was that of the three-day week. Christmas 1973 was not a good time, and electricity production was cut as a result of industrial action. Using mains electricity for Christmas Lights was banned. As ever, we had a plan; a PTO-driven generator was set on the floor in the workshops of Bromyard Electrics, and Tom Bemand's little Fordson Super Dexter tractor coupled to it, and a pipe led the exhaust outside. We had our switch on, even though we could only generate enough power to illuminate the square and immediate area, and the lights were also powered up on a few more days as well.

It was pretty clear that we needed some form of cherry picker. Our first ones were neither elegant nor particularly safe! The first was a very large set of steps on the back of Maynes Bedford truck. It was never quite high enough. The end of it came when we were progressing up High Street, when the steps hit a long projecting bracket. I was between the legs, the steps collapsed, and I was stuck in the middle of a wooden sandwich. Not good.

If you thought that wasn't safe, try the next one. Farmer Tom Bemand, a lovely man and a great helper, brought his Fordson Power Major with Horndraulic loader. It was a very basic loader, with a piece of wire keeping the forks level. An old door was put on the forks, and then an old ladder tied to the upstand which prevented bales slipping down the loader. The young ones of us clambered up the wobbling ladder, whilst John Bedford hung on to a trouser leg. It was pretty lethal, but even when Tom died (shortly after an operation) we carried on with the same system, but now with Eric Gibbs and an International tractor. That was the start of a very long association with the Gibbs family, right up to the present day. But it worked; and we are here to tell the tale.

The third machine was one of Bill Morris's creations. He had a jib on the back of an old Bedford tow truck. He mounted a box on that. Sadly, it was not self levelling. It was also lifted by a valve in the cab, and lowered by a valve at the rear. Hardly convenient! The worst moment was when Bill set off up the street with the lifting mechanism in gear, and two of us yelling him to stop was we were lifted into the cables at ever-increasing speed! We survived..... again. Version two, some years later, was self levelling and a considerable improvement. But none of those contraptions can compare with the marvellous machines we use now, with the great help firstly from the Gibbs family, but then, and very importantly, from the Evans stable; the start of the most important involvement to date, with Dick Evan's son Richard (know to us all as “Roo”) becoming the creator of so many brilliant set pieces.

In the early 70's, Tony Watkins created three set pieces which were to be very popular for some years. These were a big six-pointed star, erected on the old electricity pole at the top of town; secondly a big swinging bell in the square, and thirdly the first Robin, in the Square. They were basically made of plastic conduit pipe, using pinprick holders. The controllers were old electric cam machines, with cooker switches thrown in! Then came the first crown, made of steel reinforcing bar, made by curving it around an oil drum. It has only just been dismantled, and featured amongst other things old tar and fabric insulation tape. That stuff, and old black Bostic, were indispensable accessories!

In 1979, Happy Xmas arrived, of similar build to before, with electric cam controller. The idea came from some lights in Mijas, Spain, which I saw on my honeymoon. It is an old favourite, for years on the Dentists at the bottom of New Road. The electrical load often cooked the controller! More recently it has used on Flowerdews, but has a computerised controller, and is run at low voltage with LED lamps. It is, however, the oldest surviving set piece, but it’s days are probably now numbered.

There were other minor items, including a circle (seen on old postcards of the Square) stars and suchlike. Also, Bill made two huge Angels which were erected at the entrance to the Car Park which was where the Leisure Centre is now. Indeed, when the lights were started, there was a row of buildings there, including the Green Dragon pub. A few years later and those buildings would never have been demolished - they were a part of the old street scene of Bromyard.

The timing is not easily remembered, but we decided to extend the system down Church Street. This is more involved than it appears, as it needs a power feed to be erected every year from back in the Square. Always the quietest part of the system, it was a bit controversial when we populated it with colour changing LED lamps, with the whole street changing colour at once. The lamps became a bit wayward, with odd lamps doing odd things. Not as intended, but fun to watch! One of those lamps exploded in my hands once.....

By this time, probably the early 80's, we were getting quite organised, with reasonable access, and a growing system. We had some superb discs with illuminated Christmas paintings, hand painted by an artist who has since left the area. They were very beautifully done, but sadly now very tatty, and no longer in use.

We bought some commercially made set pieces at about this time, and in particular, a lot of moulded lanterns. Bringing the story forward, these looked very attractive, but were very fragile. The ones you see now are all made by the Evans family, with fibreglass mountings, new metalwork and brackets. There are no less than fifty of them in use. It was a massive piece of work. Other items included the bells and Christmas trees, and some small frame units, especially candles, which were bought new.

Pump Street and Cruxwell Street were the next extensions. Indeed, in 2020 we finally extended Pump Street to the bypass, using a demountable pole. Now we were into a much improved cabling system; called "Woodside" it is quite expensive but again based on the pin-prick design. It has stood the test of time very well, but more of that again later!

When Tony Watkins decided that the three old set pieces were past their sell - by date, we were all pretty depressed, not realising that, as a result of that, Roo Evans was to start on creating the major set pieces which have become such a feature of the display. The first was the new replacement six-ponted star, and then the Robin, which is a great favourite with many. The third, and by far the most complex to date, was the Snowmen, incorporating computer control (built by Roo – sadly he has forgotten how he did it!) for the first real time. Things were really beginning to move ahead.

Then, about five years ago, another bombshell arrived on the doormat. Herefordshire Council had decided to adopt a Code of Practice, produced by the Institute of Lighting Engineers, for the erection of displays such as ours. Reading though it made us think there was no way we could carry on, but, as before, one setback lead to a major improvement.

A testing regime for the testing of wall bolts as a very good idea, although it has resulted in our five Sunday setup period being extended to six. However, there were many recommended standards which were frankly inferior to ours, including Edison Screw lamps (which we knew could unscrew), sealed lampholders (which inevitably fail, and are less reliable than the vented, mainly "Woodside" design) and other matters. Wondering whatever to do, we decided to pick up the phone to the then boss of the biggest illumination display in the country - Blackpool. Richard Ryan was to prove exceptionally helpful, and it all resulted in the first invitation to visit Blackpool, and look behind the scenes at the display and also their workshops. He is a great enthusiast, and that year he came to Bromyard to turn on our lights. Not only that, but he came early and became one of the Light Brigade for the day. We are in regular touch with Blackpool, and indeed regularly source materials from them. We know that the equipment they source has to be of the best quality - if it can stand the rigours of the Irish Sea coast it can withstand Bromyard. Richard is, by the way, now runs a decorative lighting company, with clients over a wide area, and we keep in regular touch with him as well.

That visit made us think that we should follow their example and convert the whole system to low voltage - 24 volts, and replace our filament lamps with LEDs. It has been a very major piece of work, involving transformers and new feeds, with a lot of expenditure and learning involved, but it has been well worth it. It is safer, much cheaper on electricity consumption, and relieves us of much of the electricity regulations. It is also a hugely more reliable system, especially as the quality of mains lamps had markedly deteriorated over the years. It also meant that, like Blackpool, we could retain our reliable, vented lampholders.

Then came a very big surprise. Following on from an award from the Chamber, we learned we were to be awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service in 2011. Presented to us by Lady Darnley, it was followed up with a visit to a Royal Garden Party for four us. Quite an event, and really quite moving. We are very grateful for those who put us forward, and very grateful indeed for the award.

Since then, Roo has stepped into top gear, with firstly the Crown - for obvious reasons. Then came the Cracker, and then a new Merry Christmas. The train came next. The use of low voltage LED ropelight is universal, along with computer controllers designed and made here in Bromyard. We do have some commercially made set pieces, including some scrap ones from Hereford which we have refurbished, and some from Leominster which we inherited when their system was changed. However, they have all been completely rebuilt to 24 volts, and home-built controllers (based on “Arduino” units). This came to a head with the “Merry Christmas Bromyard”, which was donated by Blackpool – but David Wilkins made the “Bromyard” bit, completely rewired it and installed a controller. However, it is interesting that people don't realise that the big pieces are designed and built here.

A little word about our controllers. Our expert on electronics, Kevin Lovell, decided that our controllers could be greatly improved, and instead of a number of units wired together in a fairly basic way, all our units are now built up on bespoke PCBs, engraved “Bromyard Christmas Lights”, but still using the Arduino units, and are as professional, we believe, as any comparable controllers anywhere.

David Wilkins has entered into the fray in designing the Santa and Tree on the dentists, and is responsible for the design of the 2019 envelopes. Roo has also built the drama piece on the Falcon, in honour of Sylvia Silver. However, most of the Brigade also get involved for hours help build these things.

We all agree that it is a great fun erecting the lights, although it can wear a bit thin at times - finishing off in sleety rain, frustrated at things not going well, cold and tired, for example. But when the weather is good, it is great. We start at half past nine at the stores, and don't stop for lunch. However, there are some very kind people in town, with tea, coffee and suchlike, especially at the Fox and Badger, where we were given a drink and cake every Sunday. We were so saddened at the death of Jim’s wife Elin, but she left a request for us to be fed and watered. Very humbling. Others also bring out drinks from time to time – so, so welcome!

The best moment must be the switch-on. Whoever pulls the big switch really does turn on some of the lights, through a relay system. The switch is a smaller copy of that used at Blackpool - a creation by Richard Orgee. But there are also people throwing switches at three other points immediately, followed by a sprint around town to turn on the other lights. Walking back down from the top of the town, seeing every one walking through and gazing at the display, makes you realise how much they are appreciated. It is also great to hear about people talking about OUR lights, because they are a part of Bromyard, and is wonderful that people are proud of what we have here.

The great sadness is of course when we go around on twelfth night and turn them out. Many a time have traders said how bleak it looks, the night after. But the strip-down is usually done in a day, and then the planning for the next year starts once again.

We are often asked how we can do this here, where no other town in the area can do it. It is a combination of history, a very keen gang of people with excellent camaraderie, and also those with their relevant skills - from long term competency, and also from individual qualification. And all unpaid. It is also down to those who organise the fundraising and actively go and ask for donations; to the many and varied organisations who have made donations and organised fundraising; even to the donations at funerals. It is quite humbling for those on the mechanical side of things to think that even at a time of tragedy, people think of donating to the lights. We receive no money from Herefordshire Council. However, the Town Council has been generous in giving us enough to pay the insurance, and an occasional grant for new work, which is really very generous.

The largest amount of money comes from individual and business donations; it would be invidious to name names, but they are a mixture of big and small. Donations at funerals have been significant. There have been dinners and bingo sessions as well. A big thank-you is due to more people than could possibly be individually remembered.

Lastly, a little about the organisation. From inception, the lights were run by the Chamber, but wih ever-increasing responsibilities, it became clear the the protection of a limited company was essential. The Chamber felt that it was not in a position to take that on, so a few years ago the Light Brigade, now a company limited by guarantee (and not-for-profit) assumed responsibility. The Chamber joins us in a joint committee to organise the switch-on day. However, with Health and Safety as it is, paperwork has become overwhelming for some of us; method statements, Health and Safety paperwork, running a limited company and suchlike, whilst the switch-on day involves planning, risk assessments, stewards and much else.

The Brigade remains a wonderful group – a dozen or so who much enjoy being together and doing all this work. Two recent recruits include a senior manager from the oil production industry, and an electronics expert – a great asset if ever there was one! Long may it all continue.”

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