The organisers of Haddenham Festive Trail would like to thank everyone who took part and/or supported this year's event.
The Festive Trail was first set up during lockdown in 2020 and run this year by a small team of volunteers from Churches Together in Haddenham, supported by Haddenham Community Christmas Tree and Scarecrow Festivals in aid of local schools and Christian Aid.
Despite December's wet, windy weather and ongoing restrictions, the spectacular lights and displays shone brightly and spread great joy throughout the village. This is what some people said:
"Wow what an amazing selection of displays. So difficult to choose. We drove the entire route this evening to see them in their true glory. Very well done to all the participants, Haddenham looks amazing."
"Some lovely displays again this year."
"We loved following the trail over Christmas.
"Haddenham St Mary's School children loved seeing their decorations on the church door."
Residents were given the opportunity to vote for their three favourites and having counted and verified the votes, we are delighted to announce the results:
The most popular entry was A little bit of Christmas Magic in Printers Piece, created by the Harding family.
Fiona Harding said "Families who live in our road tell us they love seeing the Christmas lights, so we do more and more each year – I even sent my husband up on the roof this year to add extra decorations! We love watching and listening to people as they stop to look at the house – it gives us so much pleasure to do this for the children".
The second favourite was The Snowmen can't find Santa...can you help?, in Rosemary Lane, entered by The Burton Family.
Mike Burton told us that he used his jigsaw and some hardboard to create the 4 large snowmen and the family enjoyed creating a display that brought fun and joy to people walking past. Their first Grandson arrived 3 months ago, which made this year even more special.
Haddenham's third most popular was Hand me a Ho Ho Ho in Handley Drive, created by Leigh and Matty, who decided to enter for the little ones around the area.
Matty said "there are lots of children living round here now and they have had to cope with the noise and mess of building works so we wanted to do something fun for them. Our neighbours also did a great entry (Gonk Actually) and we're thinking of teaming up with them next year to create an even bigger display between our two houses!".
Festive Trail organisers are very grateful to Haddenham Garden Centre for generously donating prizes for the 3 most popular entries, which will be presented to the winners next week.
All 55 of the official entries (plus many other extras around the village) were fantastic, but a few displays that also received multiple votes and high praise deserve a special mention. These are listed below in order of entry number:
No 3 – "Snowing on Flint Street" by the Roberts Family
No 4 – "Christmas Dalek and Mini Reindeer" in Longwall by Adrian Marshall
No 11 – "Twinkle Corner", terraced houses before the Station by The Twinklers
No 14 – "Gonk Actually" in Handley Drive by Mowgli
No 19 – "Santa's Joy Ride" car and reindeer in Townside by Unfoxy Coxy
No 21 – "Festive Fauna" in Wykeham Way by Cherry Waller
No 35 – "Christmas Tree Lights" in Townsend Community Orchard
No 39 – "Winter Woodland Wonderland" in Stokes End by The Cliffords
Many people commented on the "magical" feel and wonderful community effort of the lights set up collectively by residents in Long Wall, which although not an official entry, was very much appreciated by all. One person told us: "If there was a prize for the best street display, that should go to Long Wall which looked fabulous!".
The final amount raised has yet to be finalised, but we expect it to be around £500, which will be divided equally between the three Haddenham schools and Haddenham Christian Aid. Any final donations are very welcome and can be made as follows:
1.Via our fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/mary-miller-2
2. By cash or cheque payable to Mary Miller posted or delivered to 6 Long Furlong, Haddenham. Cash and cheques will be paid into the Festive Trail bank account and divided between our 4 causes.
3. By bank transfer to Festive Trail bank account at Lloyds Bank:
Sort Code: 30-90-38 A/C No: 69698560 Ref: FestiveTrail21
Happy New Year Haddenham, from the Festive Trail Team!
Francesca, Mary and Sharon
On behalf of Churches Together in Haddenham
Francesca Flaxton
On behalf of the organisers
Editor: There are more photos to enjoy in the Galleries section of this website.
