From the Light Brigade

New from the construction gang - three Sundays in!

Today, 20th October was our third Sunday working out on the streets. The first was, of course, going through the routine of testing the wall anchorages, a third of which we do each year (thankfully, this time with only one failure out of fifty-something). The second Sunday saw one machine out, with the festoon (the zig-zag of coloured lamps) put up for a good half of the display. Today, the festoon to all but the top of town was finished, and a good few set pieces installed as well. We are really grateful to have new recruit Rob bring his machine to help us - a great addition - so it was flat out today.

However, a great deal of work has been going on behind the scenes for some time; firstly the mountain of paperwork; but then with the maintenance and construction of the set pieces. Despite the fact that they are all made with LEDs, there is a lot of maintenance, and probably three quarters of the set pieces are having to have repairs carried out, especially to ropelight - a very fiddly and time-consuming job if ever there was one. And then, of course, there is designing and building of new additions, which there will be as usually, but we are not breaking cover with that information just yet! Behind the scenes, hidden from view, a few of us are spending many midweek hours in the workshop with cables, ropelight and soldering irons at the ready. All good fun, of course!

This picture sees electronics guru Kevin getting to grips with Santa’s malfunctioning beard…….