It may be a little on the short side for a town centre Christmas tree but traders in one Yorkshire town could be having the last laugh.
The diminutive council-funded tree in Hebden Bridge had a few people needled, while others shrugged their shoulders and carried on shopping. There was talk of crowdfunding for a better one, and chat online about the meaning of Christmas and why big isn’t always beautiful.
And then the story about the tidgy tree hit the news, including a mention on the Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2.
At this point, the online debate appeared to take a turn, with size worries withering away. One local said the TV exposure about the weeny tree was the “kind of publicity money can’t buy”.
(Image: Nigel J Lloyd / SWNS)
Others raised a debate about the real meaning of Christmas and why a puny tree wasn’t the biggest problem on the planet right now.
Shopper Faye Blosse said: “Christmas is always magical in Hebden Bridge so I understand when people saw the size of the tree, they may have felt disappointed – it is much smaller than previous years.
“But seeing the Christmas lights up in the streets and the town heaving, with all the independent shops bustling, I don’t think it’s going to make a huge difference for the town’s Christmas tree.”
For the record, council chiefs did explain why the tree had ‘shrunk’ compared with previous years, saying that it was standardising the height of it Christmas trees to 20 feet.
Calderdale Council’s cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Councillor Jenny Lynn, said the authority decided to “standardise” the trees provided across the borough.
She said: “Calderdale Council supplies, installs and decorates 18 Christmas trees across the borough and provides further festive lighting in town and village centres,” she said.
“We know how much people value these decorations and we work hard to ensure that they bring festive cheer.
“Work begins each year in the summer to plan for the Christmas period and this involves our engineers visiting each location in the borough to ensure a tree can be installed safely and securely.
Get breaking news in Yorkshire straight to your phone
Get all the latest big and breaking Yorkshire news straight to your mobile via WhatsApp by clicking here.
If you don’t like our community, you can leave any time. We also treat members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. Read our privacy notice here.
“This year, it was their professional judgement that the trees should be around 20 feet tall and standardised across the borough.
“By standardising the height we order from our supplier, we can ensure there’s some consistency in size of trees across the borough.
“As natural products, there can of course be some variation in the shape and size of each tree, but they will all be around 20 feet high.
“We’ve chosen traditional styles for our trees and these will be decorated in time for the light switch on events in each location. There are also some wonderful community decorations and Christmas events planned across the borough.”
Read More: World News | Entertainment News | Celeb News
Yorkshire
