Britain’s oldest Christmas lights have failed to shine for the first time in more than FIFTY years – after the bulbs finally blew.
The tree fairy lights – bought for just £3 from Woolworths by Vina Shaddick in 1969 – had been lit for 54 consecutive years without a single bulb ever being replaced.
But her son Ross-Farr-Semmems, 45, who inherited the lights after his mum died six years ago, says they have finally given up and won’t be on display for the first time.
Ross said the first bulb went at the end of last Christmas and he replaced it – but now fears he ‘disrupted’ the circuit and another six have now blown.
Ross, a music teacher from Plymouth, Devon, said he hasn’t dared touch them again since and they are now carefully wrapped up in a box.
He said: “”It is very very sad they are not up this year and it is the first year they haven’t been on display.
“It just felt they would be going on forever and it feels like the end of an era.
“Towards the end of last Christmas one bulb went out. A few years ago a lovely lady in St Austell had seen the story and sent me a few old bulbs she thought may well match them.
“I found one that I thought might match the original and put it in. But when I put it in it shone a lot brighter than the others. I thought ‘this is not good’ and before I knew it another six had gone out.
“It must have put more stress on the rest of the circuit so I turned them off and left them. I daren’t do anything with them anymore.
“They are now in a box and I have bought myself new bulbs that match the originals.
“I am trying to be brave enough to see if they work – but I am not holding my breath.
“I just feel if one is playing up it changes everything for all of them.”
Ross said he had now safely stored the lights in a nice box to have a go next Christmas and if he can repair them he said he’d love to make it to 60th anniversary.
He added: “I will definitely keep them – my mum is no longer with us and she did buy them in 1969. I am not into hoarding but like to keep a few little things – and they will definitely go in my box of little things to remind me of mum.
“It is not just all those Christmases – it is also the exciting journey we have had. Finding out everyone was interested in our old little lights and being in the papers every year. It was exciting. To have them come on when I met my now wife Ruth and when the boys came along.
“Three generations of us have now enjoyed those lights and they are definitely staying in the box – to remind us of all of that.
“It was always going to end at some point and we may well have reached that point.
“I hope not and if we can make it to 60 – that would be amazing. Let’s see next Christmas.”
Ross, who has two children with his wife Ruth, aged two and three, said they like to “grab and break everything” so was already reconsidering how they displayed decorations this year.
He added: “At some point I’ll have to find time to have a go and put extra bulbs in.
“But I still have a degree of optimism for future Christmases – I’ve got enough new bulbs to go in but it would be a shame if I had to change every single one but that would probably be wise for the circuit.
“Some previous reports said we had only changed one bulb previously – but that was wrong – we have never changed a single bulb and they were all original until the first one went at the end of last Christmas.”
Ross said although he is a fan of all Christmas decorations – he said it would be almost impossible to replace those lights.
He added: “I don’t think we’ll ever reproduce those quality of lights. They were just a different quality from a different age.”
