Opinion : Have you seen the Christmas lights in Wycombe High Street?

A short while ago the Christmas lights were put up in Wycombe High Street.

Regular readers will know of my yearly grumble about the lights ‘being the same as last year’. Indeed my good self has got fed up with seeing the same tired old lights being put up in the same place every year.

However this year, to my complete amazement, the lights in the High Street are different as you can see in the picture above.

I have a sneaky feeling that the lights are not ‘new’ and they may have been re-purposed from displays that were once situated in other parts of town but, unless my good self is starting to develop problems with my memory, it would seem that at least this years display in the High Street is going to be ‘different’ to last years.

This is surely good news.

What’s more it seems that this year a special website has been set up to promote events and businesses in High Wycombe throughout the festive season. The Christmas in High Wycombe website seems a thoroughly good idea. Indeed it’s good the see the town being promoted in such a positive way.

It may be a bit early to be talking about Christmas, indeed the switching on ceremony for the Christmas lights isn’t until Thursday 21st November 2019, however my good self is lead to understand there will also be free parking in selected car parks in Wycombe town centre on that day too. At least the Christmas lights were up before the shops started selling Christmas related goods which makes a change.

Years ago Christmas celebrations used to be very different, indeed in the 1970’s father Christmas used to arrive in Wycombe on a special train from London Marylebone after which there would be a parade along the High Street to Murray’s department store where he would take up residence in a grotto.

Christmas in Wycombe may not be on the scale that it once was in yesteryear but, in my opinion, sadly the whole concept of Christmas as a festival has been degraded over the years through being over commercialised by shops trying to make as much profit as possible.

What do you think?

My blogs are published regularly here on the WycombeToday.com website.

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