THE COMMUNITY will shine with festive cheer as villages across Saddleworth turn on their Christmas lights.
In Greenfield, primary school choirs will be accompanied by Boarshurst Brass Band at their tree lighting event on Chew Valley Road on Friday, November 29 at 6.30pm.
Mandy Gorey of Greenfield Post Office will do the countdown to the switch-on and refreshments will be available afterwards at Greenfield Conservative Club.
On Saturday, November 30, Wake Up Delph will launch into the festive season with a family extravaganza including a life-size snow globe that residents can have their picture taken in from 2pm in St Thomas’s Church car park.
Delph Band and Oldham Scottish Pipe Band will entertain, there will be carols in the village centre and the lights switch-on outside the Swan Inn at 5.30pm before a fireworks finale. Please note: the village will be closed off to traffic from 4.30pm.
On the same day, the lights on the Christmas Tree in Lees, which is across from the Legends Pub, will be turned on at 4.30pm.
On Sunday, December 1 in Dobcross, the DVC invites residents to join them at the Band Club from 4.30pm where there will be mince pies and mulled wine.
Children will be able to make a personalised decoration to dress the tree before the switch-on in the Square at 6pm, after which everyone is welcome back to the band club.
And in Grotton on Sunday, their switch-on will take place at 6pm at the junction of Oldham Road and Grotton Hollow.
On Friday, December 6 in Springhead, the tree at the junction of Ashbrook Road and Oldham Road will be lit up at 6pm.
The Saddleworth Round Table will host their annual Winter Wonderland event in Uppermill in the Square and Museum on Saturday, December 7, with entertainment, fun, games and a switch-on at 4.30pm.
In Diggle, the annual Christingle service and carols along with the tree lights switch-on will be held on the village green opposite Diggle Chippy on Sunday, December 8 at 4pm.
And in Lydgate on Thursday, December 12, the lights switch-on, supported by the Rotary Club of Saddleworth, will take place at the junction of Oldham Road and Stockport Road from 6.30pm.
Meanwhile, a Christmas Tree Festival at St Chad’s Parish Centre in Uppermill will see a dazzling display of trees decorated with a Christmas Carol theme by businesses, churches and other groups.
The festival will run on Friday, December 6 from 7-9pm, on Saturday December 7 from 10am-6pm and on Sunday, December 8 from 12noon-4pm.
Admission is free and there will be light entertainment and refreshments on sale, with proceeds going towards the 800th anniversary celebrations of St Chad Church in 2015.
And another Christmas Tree Festival at St Mary’s Church in Greenfield will be held over seven days from December 7-14 after being opened by Councillor Graham Sheldon.
For the first time ever, 15 trees will be erected inside the church and decorated by local businesses, with each including a charity box for their supported local causes.
And the church will be filled every evening from 6.30pm with entertainment including shows from primary school children, choirs, a film night and a Thanksgiving service, with mulled wine and mince pies on sale. For more details, please check next month’s paper.
