Two weeks to go
So, the switch-on is less than two weeks away – and how is it all going?
Well, so far, so good, but there is still a lot to do – including erecting the Christmas Tree, which takes one gang all day. We have two or three set pieces to go up, the whole system to be de-bugged (okay, making sure it all works and changing all the dud lamp bulbs), some more cabling to be done - indeed next Sunday may not be enough, so we may well be out one evening as well. But the work to date has gone on very happily, especially with two lifts in operation, for which we are hugely grateful.
It seems strange to have the stores three parts empty, but that has made space for the construction of a new set piece (or possibly two – if we can). Quite a number of smaller additions have been fashioned as well. The trouble is, the more we make, the longer it takes to put it all up. But down in a quiet corner of Bromyard, and up on a certain farm, secret work has been going on; designing, laying out, hours (and hours) of forming ropelight, yards of cabling, and some programming too. Since we started again over a month ago, there has been almost daily activity behind the scenes. A lot of repair work has been done to the older stuff too. Many burnt fingers from soldering!
There has been some time for reflection this year. Two of our crew have been very poorly, and of course we have lost Brian Johnson and Richard Orgee, who both did a huge amount for us. Even Edgar Whiteley has been missing much of the time (unknown for him) and we do wish him a speedy recovery. So our crew has been a bit smaller this year. We are always on the lookout for additions to our number – so if you are interested, do get in touch.
We are especially in need of two or three more stewards for the switch-on. Training will be given. The whole event – indeed the whole lights operation itself – is done by volunteers, who have been with us from two to fifty-eight years. Please, please, if you can spare us two or three hours on the 15th, again, please do get in touch.