Twelve days in Trafalgar Terrace

Festive season, December 2009

By Christine Clark-Lowes, North Laine resident

It was back in August [2009] that we first had the idea to decorate our houses for the festive season and, as there are twelve of us in our twitten Trafalgar Terrace, the seasonal song 'Twelve Days of Christmas' seemed to fit the bill.

We each chose a 'day'

All the residents agreed to put something in their window or outside, so each of us just had to decide which 'day' we would have. We didn’t want to be predictable and have the days in sequence – the houses aren’t numbered 1 to 12, so which end to start? It was down to first come, first served. Because we have a pear tree in our garden, we naturally chose to represent the First Day (a partridge in a pear tree); another resident is Scottish, so he chose the Eleventh Day (11 pipers piping); and as for the rest? Well, it was whatever took their fancy!

A get-together to work on our displays

After all the 'days' had been allocated, our next landmark was early December, when we had a get-together to work on our displays – a fun evening of eating, drinking, folding, shaping, drawing and glitter glueing. Some displays were finished on the night and others remained works in progress, to be made ready to install the week before Christmas.

Children sang as they passed by

One by one up went the displays and by Christmas Day all were in place, with many of us putting up lights either in our windows or gardens to add to the festive feeling. It was exciting to see all our finished handiwork and, as one resident remarked, very interesting to see how each of our personalities was reflected in our creations! What was great too was hearing comments from passers-by, especially the children who sang “and a partridge in a pear tree” outside our house. Presumably they were singing each one as they went along the twitten. One lady I spoke to remarked that it was “a lovely community thing to do”, which just about sums us up.

Thanks for taking part

Thanks to all our neighbours for taking part, especially those who made extra displays, and thanks also to Francis Clark-Lowes and Henry Bruce for the photos.

[Previously published in the North Laine Runner, No 202, January/February 2010]