Issue 451 – Young and Old come out to celebrate Christmas

Westbury’s Christmas programme of events has continued to draw both young and old to its various featured attractions across the festive period.

Among the highlights so far was the opening of the fourth annual Christmas tree festival, held at All Saints Church on Friday 11th December.
On a bitterly cold night crowds of people attended the launch in the 14th century church to see the 46 Christmas trees on display that had been decorated by schools, businesses and local groups.
The Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, John Bush, formally opened the festival.
Mulled wine and other refreshments were available, and a crowded church was entertained by performers from Matravers School, Bratton Silver Band and Westbury’s Sing Alive choir, led by Sian Penlington.
The tree festival organiser, Roy Inwood, said, “It was an excellent evening I thought. Everyone that I’ve spoken to has said they enjoyed it.
“The children from Matravers were very good, especially Lauren [Medway] who was fantastic, I think she could go places. The choir were very good, as were Bratton Silver Band as per usual. We had more trees and more people than last year, I think it was an excellent evening.”
John Bush, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, said, “I’m amazed at the enormous amount of people who have been so creative as to do this. So much effort has gone into each individual Christmas tree it makes it a wonderful occasion.”
Roy added that he would like to say thank you to all the performers and those that attended, and especially the patrons of the festival for their support and for taking time to make their trees look so fantastic.
On Saturday 12th December the High Street was closed to traffic for the annual Christmas street events day. A synthetic ice rink, children’s fairground rides and a climbing wall were brought in. A Christmas food market next to the library sold a variety of goods, including freshly baked bread, cheese, Fairtrade products and home made sweets.
Bakery stallholder Matthew Chard said, “It’s been really good so far. It’s credit to the town. You go to some places and these things are barely supported but it’s always a pleasure to come here. People are interested and it’s nice to have time to talk.”
Mayor Sue Ezra said, “I think it was quite nice, it was quite well supported during the day. I think people had a good time, I certainly know the children on the ice rink did.
“There was a good turnout of people, I think it being a dry day has a lot to do with it. It was good considering that parents have a lot of other things to do on a Saturday.”
Forthcoming events include carols by candlelight in the Market Place on Friday 18th December and a full programme of church Christmas services.
For more details please consult your ‘Christmas in Westbury 2009 Booklet’.