Britain’s oldest Christmas fairy lights out after 55 years when bulbs finally blew
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.”
Mom worried she was going to miscarry after IUD was left in during pregnancy
A mom was worried she would miscarry her second child after doctors were unable to remove her IUD during her pregnancy.
Heather Hinson, 33, found out she was expecting her second child on May 17, 2023.
The news came as a shock to Heather and her husband, Jon Hinson, 34, a photographer, as she had an intrauterine device (IUD) – a small, T-shaped piece of plastic inserted into the uterus to prevent pregnancy.
After finding out she was expecting, Heather went to the doctor to get her IUD removed but they were unable to take it out – because the strings on the device broke.
Doctors told Heather they would have to wait until her son was born – which increased the chance of miscarriage – and she worried she would lose her baby.
On January 15, 2024, Heather gave birth via c-section and doctors were able to remove the IUD successfully at the same time.
The proud mom snapped a photo of her little boy with her IUD in his hand to mark the occasion.
Mom-of-two Heather, a photographer, from Orlando, Florida, US, said: “I was shocked and in denial when I found out I was pregnant.
“Our second son was not planned – that was a huge shock that I did not expect at all.
“When I found out I was pregnant I went to the doctors to get the device removed but they were unable to remove it.
“They told me to wait until I had given birth, I felt very upset and thought I was going to miscarry.”
Heather and her husband, Jon, were shocked to find out they were expecting their second child – 11 years after their first child.
Heather had an IUD fitted nine and half years previously and the device is supposed to prevent pregnancy by releasing copper into the womb.
Heather said: “I was in shock and denial for the first trimester – I had a hard time feeling that it was real.
“At first, I thought it was a mistake and the test was wrong.”
After finding out she was pregnant, Heather went to the doctor to get her IUD removed.
During the procedure, the strings on the device broke and the doctor was unable to remove the IUD with Heather told it would need to be left in until she had given birth.
She said: “Doctors tried to remove it but the strings broke so they couldn’t remove it and they told me to wait.
“I was very upset, I was crying. I called my husband on the way home distraught.
“I Googled it and it said there was a 50 per cent chance of me losing the baby.
“I thought I was going to miscarry.”
The UTSouthwestern Medical Center says leaving the IUD in during the pregnancy can increase the risk of miscarriage or preterm birth.
Heather said: “I had a couple of issues during the pregnancy, it is rare to still have an IUD during pregnancy and doctors don’t have a lot of information to go off when they leave in it.
“I had blurry vision which I struggled with a lot during the pregnancy.”
On January 15, 2024, Heather gave birth to her second son – who was born at 10.28am, weighing 7lbs 2oz, at AdventHealth Daytona Beach – via c-section.
Heather said: “They scheduled the c-section a week before my due date.
“They took the IUD out as soon as they delivered my son.
“I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him for the first time – we cried a lot.
“He came out and he was super healthy.
“He is 11 months now, he is doing great and thriving – we love him so much.”
Estate agent’s festive advertising technique – snapping the GRINCH in properties
A savvy estate agency is advertising properties with a festive twist – by dressing up as the Grinch and lurking in every room.
Dennis Matse-Orere, 40, and his wife, Leila, 30 – who run Legacy Property Consultants – had a bright idea to help advertise their properties in December.
They dressed up colleagues as the Grinch and got snaps of the properties with the Dr. Seuss character posed inside.
CEO Dennis and head of marketing Leila had seen a similar idea done by another firm featuring a non-Christmassy character.
They decided to give the marketing technique a go for themselves, but with a festive twist.
They managed to convince a string of their landlord clients to let them snap new property pictures with the Grinch inside them.
Incredibly the strategy has proven to be a triumph – with some listings getting as much as an 840 per cent rise in clicks over non-Grinch listings.
Leila, from St John’s Wood, London, said: “I was thinking about how we could differentiate our ads on property portals to stand out.
“We saw another agency featuring a panda character in their listings – and suddenly we had a flood of ideas.
“I said ‘why don’t we do the Grinch?’ – and Dennis, who wouldn’t usually agree to something like this, said ‘why not?’.”
They reached out to a selection of landlords whose properties they represent across North West and central London and asked permission to photograph them featuring the Grinch.
Some weren’t keen, but one agreed – and that listing garnered THOUSANDS more views than any of their other listings.
Soon other landlords had got on board – and now Legacy Property Consultants have a string of Grinch properties.
She said: “At first, telling the landlords that we wanted to photograph a Grinch in their property wasn’t the easiest thing.
“But the more we could do, the more examples we had of how well it worked.”
Leila said she and a selection of her colleagues, Patrycja Anna Lis, Sergio Freitas and Anil Can Vural, have all donned the Grinch suit in the spirit of the campaign.
She added: “The stats – it’s nothing we’ve ever seen before. They’re going crazy.
“We had two or three properties rented out within hours of us posting the listing online.”
Incredible photographs of a kingfisher capture the bird’s ‘vibrant wonder’
Incredible photographs of a kingfisher mid-flight and diving for food capture the bird’s ‘vibrant wonder’.
Peter Wilkinson, 60, took these stunning photos of the bird in Kirkcudbright, in Dumfries and Galloway.
Peter, who is now retired, said: “It was the first time I had visited this hide with a specific diving perch set up and it wasn’t long before a kingfish showed interest in it and started to dive.
“Unfortunately we were not blessed with the Scottish sunshine, but nevertheless it provided a great spectacle for over two hours.
“With my settings tuned and locked in, I set the camera to capture at 30 frames per second, remotely releasing the shutter from 20 feet away, hidden to avoid spooking the bird.
“The kingfisher doesn’t look as though it belongs in this country with its vibrant plumage and always draws me to photograph it.
“You can never get the perfect shot, but it very rewarding trying.”
From growing up in the English Lake District amongst the rivers, woods and hills, without a camera, Peter initially started photographing sports in his youth alongside a photographer for the local newspaper.
It was during the COVID-19 lockdown, when he was forced into enjoying what was immediately on his doorstep.
Peter had discovered he had a real passion for photography again and the ‘challenge’ of capturing wildlife became a real goal for him.
He added: “Now essentially retired, I have more time to ‘wander’ and a network of friends has developed sharing knowledge of wildlife activity in the local area.
“The bucket list of animal to capture is reducing, but the opportunity of always ‘getting a better shot’ never diminishes”.
The photographs were taken on on 2 December.
A British mum and son spent just £100 on day trip – to AFRICA
A British mum and son spent just £100 on day trip – to AFRICA.
Melanie Evans, 42, thought a quick day out to Morocco would be the perfect way to get a taster of the country, to see if she liked it.
She hopped on a 5.45am flight from Manchester with 12-year-old son Max landing in Agadir at 10am local time – where they were immediately hit with 27° heat.
The pair had just seven hours for sightseeing before they caught a flight from Agadir–Al Massira Airport at 9:35pm on November 30 – landing at 00:30 in Manchester.
But it was enough time for the pair to check out an impressive number of local sights.
Melanie, who has also completed day trips to Barcelona, Milan, Dublin, and Belfast, said the weather was the big draw to Morocco.
Melanie, a car salesperson from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said: “It was just lovely being with my little boy.
“We enjoyed the day, but it felt as though, in one minute, we were in Morocco; the next, we were in Aldi, doing the food shop.
“As soon as we landed, we got in the taxi and headed straight to the beach, where we chilled for a few hours.
“We then got a cable car up to the Kasbah and got some lunch at McDonald’s.
“He was playing away on the beach, which was nice to see, and he loved it.”
She added: “I’d go for longer. It was good to have a little taste of what it is like.”
Costs:
Flights are £57.57 for two returns
Airport parking – £12
Taxi in Morocco – £20
Cable car to the Kasbah – £20
McDonald’s – £11
= £100.57
Woman finds 11lb mushroom – which feeds family for a week
A woman found a huge 11lb mushroom while out walking – and took it home to eat for a week.
Alissimon Minnitt, 27, was with her dad near North Marston, Bucks., when they spotted a large white object across a field.
Assuming someone had fly-tipped, Alissimon initially thought it was a fridge or plastic waste.
But, after touching it to confirm, she realised it was in fact a large puffball mushroom – which weighed a whopping 11 pounds.
Alissimon carried it to her parent’s home where she was staying for the week – and the mushroom fed her and her parents for the remainder of her stay.
Alissimon, a musician based in Chesham, Bucks., said: “I was so shocked when I realised it was a mushroom.
“It honestly was about twice the size of my head.
“It was a freaky coincidence as well because my dad and I were just talking about another mushroom we’d found in the area seven years ago while on our walk.
“And then there was just another massive one right there!”
The family made four different dishes with the mushroom, including a mushroom-base pizza and a mushroom ‘roast’, which Alissimon froze and took home with her.
Alissimon said: “I was surprised by how much we were able to get out of it. The mushroom roast my mum made was so good so I took some of it home frozen.
“It’s continued to keep me fed for a further month, though I’ll only have it a couple times a week.”
TfL jet-washed Banksy artwork off bridge over fears it would attract graffiti
A valuable Banksy mural has been deliberately destroyed by transport workers amid concerns it would ‘attract more graffiti’, it emerged today (tues).
The mural – featuring three, black monkeys swinging along an imaginary rope – was stencil sprayed on a span of concrete railway bridge in London.
However today it emerged that railway workers had deliberately removed the artwork using a high pressure washer.
The removal sparked horror among Bansky lovers who could not believe that the artwork which first appeared in August had been destroyed.
Horrified onlookers in Tower Hamlets, east London, spotted workers removing it from the bridge last week.
The bridge, which carries the London Overground’s Windrush Line between Shoreditch High Street and Whitechapel, is located on Brick Lane.
Pictures from the scene afterwards show some graffiti remains – but the Bristol artist’s piece is gone.
Now, after an investigation by online publication The Tab, Transport for London has admitted it is behind the removal of the artwork.
A Transport for London spokesperson said: “There are rules in place around graffiti or unauthorised art on the TfL network and there are good reasons why these must be followed.
“Sometimes graffiti or unauthorised art can attract more graffiti, which encourages trespassing and anti-social activity that poses a danger to the operational railway and customers, so this piece had to be removed.”
A protective cover had previously been placed over the monkeys, which some thought meant the piece would be staying in place.
The three monkeys were part of a series of Banksy artworks painted across the country’s capital this summer.
Other works included a painting of a gorilla letting out animals near London Zoo, and a goat on the side of a building in Richmond, south west London.
Some thought the three monkeys might have been a reference to the Japanese proverb ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.’
On social media, users expressed their disappointment.
One user on Instagram said: “It doesn’t make any sense what they did, just look how people love it, many tourists coming to Brick Lane must be very disappointed now!”
Another commented: “A tragic aspect of British life – rules over joy and entertainment. Very puritanical move! “
Terminally ill dad converts wheelchair into Santa’s sleigh to raise funds
A terminally-ill dad dressed up as Santa and had his wheelchair converted into a sleigh and pulled by pals dressed as reindeer to raise money for his care.
Dad-of-one Dwayne Wells, 38, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) in June 2023 and given between two and four years to live.
At the weekend Dwayne – who suffers the same condition which killed rugby legend Rob Burrow – dressed up in festive garb for Xmas Santa dash.
He was joined by friends and Rob Burrow’s close pal Kevin Sinfield for the dash in his home town of Saddleworth, Gtr Manchester.
The event was held to raise £100,000 to fund adaptions to Dwayne’s home to make his life more comfortable for him and wife Kerry.
After Dwayne had trouble completing the 2km dash last year on foot, they decided to transform his wheelchair into a sleigh to make it work.
Kerry, 36, said: “We built a sleigh to stick around his wheelchair, we had the closest male relatives as reindeers pulling the sleigh.
“There’s me dressed as Mrs Claus, our daughter dressed as an elf, and various other elves from our closest support network.
“We started the 2k race at the front, leading the way with the Nordic Walkers because we’re a lot slower, to prevent us getting crushed in the stampeded of Santas.
“We’re promoting the fact that we are fundraising and we’re a local family that needs a bit of help.”
Dwayne head of commercial at a bus company, first noticed something was wrong after hurting his thumb removing a crows’ nest from part of the family’s home in Spring 2022.
But when his injury still hurt by Christmas, he went to his GP who initially thought it was carpal tunnel.
When it hadn’t got any better in a couple of months he went back and was sent for further tests.
Dwayne bought himself a Ukulele to learn to play the couple’s wedding song, Lava.
But as time progressed, he couldn’t use the chords and lost the ability control his hand movement.
In June 2023, just a week after the couple’s honeymoon in Lanzarote, Dwayne was sent for further tests.
Doctors have since confirmed that Dwayne has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a fatal form of motor neurone disease.
It causes the progressive loss of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement and Dwayne has been given just four years to live.
Rail firm worker Kerry said: “I just broke. I said ‘you need to come home’.
“Then he had a two-and-a-half hour drive back from the North East to home, with me on my own as well at home with this horrible news.”
Dwayne’s condition has now declined to the point that he can’t walk unaided or use a knife and fork.
The couple’s house has steps at both the front and back doors, meaning it takes Dwayne around an hour to leave the house.
The family is now facing more than £100,000 in costs to alter their home to make it fully wheelchair accessible.
Just changing the entrances will cost a whopping £53,000.
Kerry said: “We’ve lost what made us us, the fun. We were constantly at the theatre, going out shopping or going out for tea.
“We had a spreadsheet of all our favourite restaurants and were ranking them, and making our way around the country trying different things, documenting things so we could go back in the future.
“Now, we don’t really have that on the horizon.”
Visit https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Purple-Dwayne-wells to donate.
Mum donates 67 inches of hair in charity’s biggest ever donation
A kind-hearted mum-of-four had her hair cut for the first time in six years to donate a record 67 inches of her locks to charity.
Generous Ruth Tripp, 38, gave the longest ever single donation to the The Little Princess Trust, which makes wigs for children who have lost their own hair.
She’s not been to the hairdressers once in six years and waited until her hair reached the floor before she braved the chop.
She has set a record for the longest ever hair donation to the charity and is now waiting to hear from Guinness World Records to see if it’s a world record.
The mum-of-four said: “My hair got to the floor and I knew I needed it to come off as it was just going to get damaged.
“I knew it would be harder to look after so I thought it would be better to give it away now, so somebody could actually use it and make the most of it.
“I didn’t think it was that much hair because I’m so used to having long day, I didn’t think it could be a record.
“I had no idea.”
Ruth has always had long hair and decided to start growing it when it was already at the bottom of her back, around six years ago.
She said: “My son was in the neonatal unit when he was born and the charity there who would always go ‘look at your hair.’
“I thought I could cut it off to raise some money.
“But rather than just cutting my hair off, I thought it would be best to donate my hair as well and I found The Little Princess Trust.
“I then thought about how much I would eventually have cut off and just thought I should go for it, so had it all cut off.”
Ruth, of Devon, would wash her locks using normal shampoo and conditioner, but it would take a “few hours” to air dry.
She says that young children would often say she’s got “princess hair” – which made her even more determined to donate her locks.
Ruth said: “People would say ‘it’s not all yours, is it?’ but it is.
“If I took my hair down while I was out, then children would say ‘mummy look at that princess hair’ and they would ask to have hair like that.
“That’s what children want, they want hair like that – so I knew I should give it to someone else.”
Ruth had her hair cut during a family fun day, where she raised money for The Little Princess Trust and Supporting Neonatal Users and Graduates (SNUG).
She then went to The Little Princess Trust’s headquarters in Hereford, where she delivered her hair and saw how the charity make the wigs.
Ruth, an accountant, said: “It was really good, I delivered my hair to them and they were so pleased.
“I saw the place where all the wigs were made and the salon where they fit them on the children – it was really good.
“Instead of posting the hair, I thought I would post it and make sure it got there safe and was delivered safely.
“It’s quite a bit more than what other people donate so I didn’t want it to get lost in the post.”
Wendy Tarplee-Morris, the founder of The Little Princess Trust, said she “never thought” someone would date 67 inches of hair.
She said: “We always encourage our supporters to grow their hair as long as possible to help us make wigs for children with hair loss.
“But I never thought I’d see the day when someone would donate ponytails measuring 67 inches.
“We are so grateful to Ruth for her extraordinary efforts for The Little Princess Trust and the young people who receive our wigs.”
The previous Little Princess Trust record was set in 2023, when an anonymous supporter donated 52 inches of hair.
Visit https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/fundraising/big-hair-chop or https://www.justgiving.com/page/james-tripp-1723635961995 to donate.
Toddler in 24/7 pain due to facial growth has had life-changing surgery
A toddler born with a rare growth on his head causing 24/7 pain has undergone a “last chance” life-changing surgery.
Little Emmanuel, three, was born with a condition which led to a large mass developing on the side of his head as he grew.
The tot’s family, from northern Sierra Leone, saw it grow bigger and bigger until his face became distorted.
He was also left in agony 24/7 – but doctors were unable to treat the growth, beyond offering him pain medication.
His parents, Manteneh and Yirah, would be asked about their son’s unusual condition daily and Yirah had to stop working to care for his son, leaving them struggling financially.
But after the family heard of international hospital charity Mercy Ships, which had their ship Global Mercy docked on the coast of Freetown, Sierra Leone, they sought help.
Emmanuel was diagnosed with lymphangioma – an abnormality of the lymphatic system that occurs during pregnancy – often not apparent until after the child is born.
After preliminary visits, Emmanuel went under the knife in April 2024 to remove the growth and was able to go home several days later.
Yirah said: “I was so worried for him. After they took him away for surgery, I couldn’t eat any food.
“When he came home from surgery, it was like we had just given birth to Emmanuel.
“The entire community was very happy for my son’s surgery. People around us were saying that Emmanuel is a newborn baby!”
Manteneh explained that shortly after her son was born, she noticed a white-coloured swelling around his ear.
Unsure of what to do, she compressed the area with warm water, but things began to worsen.
Manteneh said: “We went to so many local hospitals and clinics, but they sent us home.”
In the UK, Emmanuel’s treatment would have been available on the NHS, however in Sierra Leone, due to high unemployment rates and high inflation, families often cannot afford basic medical care.
Emmanuel’s lesion on the side of his face expanded until it was a large lump, causing him pain.
Though uncommon and noncancerous, the lump had the potential to cause facial nerve damage and distort the shape of his face.
Manteneh said: “Sometimes I got ashamed when people saw him and asked, ‘is that a boil? What’s the problem? Why is his jaw like this?’. I did get embarrassed.”
The family heard a public service announcement that Global Mercy was coming to Sierra Leone and moved to Freetown in June 2023 to start treament.
Manteneh said: “I didn’t know if it would work, but this was our last chance.”
Emmanuel’s doctors on the Global Mercy planned to remove the growth with maxillofacial surgery, requiring at least two preliminary visits for injections to harden the tissue, making it safer to remove.
After several visits, Emmanuel was ready for surgery and the big day was April 9.
Luckily the surgery was a success – and Emmanuel was discharged a few days later and made new friends to play football with.
Since surgery Emmanuel has healed and lives a pain-free life – unrecognisable from his former self.
Mollie Felder, a volunteer maxillofacial nurse on the Global Mercy, said: “If the mass continued to grow, it could have pressed on more of the surrounding areas, potentially causing problems such as facial nerve compression, which would affect the way he is able to move his face, and even cause facial disfigurement.
“It caused caused emotional strain on his mother, as well as the child, in part due to stigma and discrimination surrounding such visible differences and lack of knowledge as to the cause of these anomalies.
“If he continued to experience social isolation due to his condition, it could affect his development given his young age.”
Another volunteer surgeon, maxillofacial head and neck surgeon Leo Cheng, said: “I’m addicted to the indescribable joy and smiles of patients and parents after their transformative surgery on board.
“And I will keep volunteering for as long as I am able.”
