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 Here are a few links to sites I feel are worth a visit. Featuring lighting suppliers, historical info, other Display Sites (with an emphasis on fellow UK-based light addicts) and even a downloadable program.
However, since I don`t get too much spare time to work on this corner of my bit of the internet to verify and maintain all the links here (as no-one likes a list of dead links!) I would prefer to keep this list fairly short- therefore if you havn`t had enough Christmas lights for one evening yet, please look in the Links sections of the few display sites I have here for a much longer list of other places to go. I welcome hearing from others with display sites- especially if you live here in the UK as I currently know of only a handful of British display sites. Chances are, if I havn`t seen your site anywhere else yet, I may even list it here! Fellow Lighting Enthusiasts... A Broadway Christmas (homepage.ntlworld.com/john.cairns4) Another UK-based display, this one is located in a small village by the name of Trimdon in the North East of England, they have been lighting up since 1995. With photos of this and last year`s shows, plus some displays of friends and family featured too. There was also a web-cam but apparently technical issues have caused it to be takern off-line. Bill`s Antique Christmas Lights Site (oldchristmaslights.com) For those of you interested in the history of Christmas light sets- right from the very beginnings up until the end of the 1940s, Bill Nelson`s wonderful site gives a detailed account of the development of Christmas lights in the US and features a great many examples of the sets in Bill`s collection. There are features on some of the more important and interesting lights, a section looking at vintage advertising and even some details of Christmas lights from the "pre-electric" era. I would highly reccomend a visit. Cotswold Christmas (cotswoldchristmas.net) The site of Darren Jeffries in Cirencester, UK, with lots of photos, videos and details of the past two years lights as well as a diary of preparations for the coming season. A very impressive display comprising of over 20000 lights in 2004, most of them imported from the US. With computer control being introduced for 2005, the displays get bigger and brighter every year. Planet Christmas (planetchristmas.com) The Home of Computer Controlled Christmas Lights. This site by long-time lights enthusiast Chuck Smith shows you what happens when Computers and Lights combine. See examples of Chuck`s displays (including videos), a big gallery of other displays submitted by visitors from around the world, and visit the message boards to chat with other enthusiasts, whether it`s about display tips or how to get started on your own Computerised shows. The Christmas House (thechristmashouse.co.uk) The web site of a display based in Birmingham, UK. They have been decorating since the early 1990s and it just keeps growing- for 2001 they are even adding some computerised control to the display. There are photos of the last few years displays as well as some advice on how to get started with your own lights. The Murrays Christmas Wonderland (geocities.com/mxmaswndland) Situated in the West End of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (northern England), Les Murray`s Christmas Wonderland has been brightening a corner of the North since the Millenium celebrations of 2000. With ropelight, figures and even glowing daisies, it is worth a look! His new site features some photos from the last 3 years, plus a bit of background info too. Lighting Suppliers... Christmas Treasures (christmas-treasures.com) USA supplier based in Oregon but offering worldwide shipping. Huge selection of seasonal products arranged by manufacturer, but searchable by general keywords too. Includes the Forever Bright range of LED sets in many styles and colours. Festive Lights (festive-lights.com) UK based supplier of many outdoor lights including a wide selection of trees, ropelights, figures and more. Including the still hard-to-find LED ropelight, either in straight lengths or in the form of spiral trees, silhouettes and even 3 dimensional figures. Unfortunately, those who don`t or won`t have Flash won`t be able to get in, unless you use this link direct to the storefront. Downloadable program... NOTE: Always scan files downloaded from the Web with up-to-date antivirus software before opening them! Holiday Lights (Downloadable program file- 536kB) Christmas lights for Windows! This program is freeware as far as I know- so I`m putting it here for the rest of you to enjoy. It doesn`t need installing or any registration- just run it and you`ll get flashing Christmas lights around your screen (yes they can be turned off when its time for some real work!). Just click the link and choose "save to disk", put it somewhere you can find it. It should fit onto a floppy disk too. Copyright 1994-1996, by Don Metzler / Barefoot Productions. If you`re interested in lights in general, you may like my other web sites.... Hand Made in Wales (homepage.ntlworld.com/c.millinship) Lots of sites, mostly related to lighting - torches, LEDs, antique bulbs and of course this one about lights displays! One or two other things thrown in for good measure too. All hand made in Wales by yours truly, no web design software was used in the creation of those pages. |
