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Christmas Illuminations


Stuart0742

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Get Dickens to turn on the lights.

Well, last weekend, Scoooby Doo turned on the lights in Chesterfield

If a cartoon dog is capable of switching the lights on then getting a long deceased Victorian author to do it shouldn't be that much of a problem.

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I haven't been to look at the city centre's lights so far this year.

I, along with 12,000 other people went to the switching on of Meadowhall's lights. (Well, I went for the free concert)

Here are the few photos I managed to get of their illuminations before I was approached by security!

The guy was very reasonable, he told me that they usually ask people to erase the images from the cameras there and then , but it was obvious that I was only taking photos of the lights so he wouldn't ask me to this time.

From what I can recall, it looks like Meadowhall haven't invested in new lights this year either.

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Here are the few photos I managed to get of their illuminations before I was approached by security!

The guy was very reasonable, he told me that they usually ask people to erase the images from the cameras there and then , but it was obvious that I was only taking photos of the lights so he wouldn't ask me to this time.

Wonder what the next security step will be, blindfolding people .. perhaps ..:rolleyes:

Great photos, and thanks for posting.

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Here are the few photos I managed to get of their illuminations before I was approached by security!

The guy was very reasonable, he told me that they usually ask people to erase the images from the cameras there and then , but it was obvious that I was only taking photos of the lights so he wouldn't ask me to this time.

From what I can recall, it looks like Meadowhall haven't invested in new lights this year either.

So what do they do if you are using a proper camera with a roll of film in it? <_<

OK, so with a digital camera you delete the images they don't want you to have as requested.

They obviously don't know how easy it is to retrieve a deleted image from a memory card! B)

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OK so the big wheel or "Sheffield Eye" which has graced the Goodwin Fountain end of Fargate for the last 2 years has now gone.

Have they brought back the large Christmas tree which used to stand at this location previously to replace it then?

Well yes and no

They have replaced it with this

At first glance it looks like a tree, - but its not a real tree is it? It looks too flat and conical.

Close up you can see it is hollow inside like a giant Indian wigwam made to look a bit like a tree.

Walk around the front to where the sign is and then you get it.

It is a novelty Santa's grotto built into a tree, witha novelty and rather extortionate price tag to go and see Santa as well.

The best grotto used to be on a cleared bomb site towards the bottom of The Moor.

As for the real Christmas tree this year this is opposite it and the other side of Surrey Street just outside the Town Hall.

..and compared to previous years trees and and even to the santas grotto tree it is a small tatty little twig of a tree by comparison.

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Found this wonderful short film of Our illuminations in the sixties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPwWYHJ2D6U

As the closing titles say

When Lights were Lights

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As for the real Christmas tree this year this is opposite it and the other side of Surrey Street just outside the Town Hall.

..and compared to previous years trees and and even to the santas grotto tree it is a small tatty little twig of a tree by comparison.

Well, to be fair, not that small, just dwarfed a bit by the wigwam tree opposite it (Santas Grotto).

It does look a bit smaller than the ones that used to stand on the Goodwin Fountain site, but again to be fair we do this year have TWO Christmas trees, - the other being down the Moor outside Sainsburys where last year they had that metal sculpture tree (that was good, I haven't seen where they have put that this year though).

The total size of both trees (Town Hall and Moorfoot) which are very similar in size and appearance, would exceed the size of a single tree stood at the top of Fargate.

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OK it's the time of year to bring this topic up again. Any new members who have pictures of illuminations past please post them and anyone who has taken any of this years the same applies. Are this years lights any different??

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OK it's the time of year to bring this topic up again. Any new members who have pictures of illuminations past please post them and anyone who has taken any of this years the same applies. Are this years lights any different??

I think they are the same as last year

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Ok, I know it's a long shot but does anyone else remember, or have any pics of, a kind of Santa's grotto type affair that used to be erected near the Goodwin fountain in the 80's? I always remember posting my letter to Father Christmas there.

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Ok, I know it's a long shot but does anyone else remember, or have any pics of, a kind of Santa's grotto type affair that used to be erected near the Goodwin fountain in the 80's? I always remember posting my letter to Father Christmas there.

Last year the Santa's Grotto near the Goodwin Fountain site was in a large wigwam tent like structure made to look like a Christmas tree (it was actually bigger than the real Christmas tree which stood close by) so did not look like a traditional Grotto.

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I think they are the same as last year

Yes they are, except that they have moved them around a bit to different locations so that it looks a bit different.

The Christmas tree outside the town hall is a short fat thing, wider along the base branches than it is tall so it looks a bit daft.

Further, it is not actually as tall as the ordinary tree which is permenantly growing outside the town hall.

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Once again plenty of "Blue"

In 1968 all Christmas lights used incandescent fillament lamps, - the 100W bulbs that you can't buy any more because they "waste energy". These always have a low colour temperature and light up with a "warm" white colour. The only way to get colours was to use coloured glass or painted glass on the bulb itself. Blues do not work very well at this, but red, orange, yellow and green do.

These days with high intensity, high efficiency halogen and LED bulbs producing colours is much simpler, - even high intensity ice cold colours like blue. So they have become more fashionable in recent years. They are good, the "cold" white gives a good impression of winter icyness. However, I personally dislike light of this intensity and colour temperature. It seems to be becoming used more and more in car headlights and I don't like it.

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If it is much simpler to produce colours why are we not seeing a vast array of them creating jawdropping displays instead of these walls of blue

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You verbally abusing my Tinywifelette again ? he he

... is a short fat thing, wider along the base than it is tall so it looks a bit daft. ...

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If it is much simpler to produce colours why are we not seeing a vast array of them creating jawdropping displays instead of these walls of blue

Probably because, as previously stated, for outdoor lights, they want the icy cold blue - white look of winter.

With indoor lights you still get the traditional reds and greens to a large extent.

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You verbally abusing my Tinywifelette again ? he he

No, I'm not verbally abusing anyone.

But if you want to compare your wife with a Christmas tree go ahead, be my guest.

lol

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These days with high intensity, high efficiency halogen and LED bulbs producing colours is much simpler, - even high intensity ice cold colours like blue. So they have become more fashionable in recent years. They are good, the "cold" white gives a good impression of winter icyness. However, I personally dislike light of this intensity and colour temperature. It seems to be becoming used more and more in car headlights and I don't like it.

I like the blue lights , it does give the impression of a cold frosty night but I do agree with you about the car lights.

I was told they are illegal , is that true?

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