By Andrew Brown
Southport’s majestic Christmas tree is bringing some festive cheer back to Southport after we all suffered Christmas in lockdown last year.
It’s stunning LED colour displays are mesmerising, and have been delighting people since it was installed.
The tree, standing proud in the Town Hall Gardens on Lord Street, is 18 metres tall and is covered in 25,000 LED pixels. An SD card inside creates light shows that are enjoyed by children particularly, and bring some welcome brightness to these dark winter nights.
Environmentally friendly, it is much kinder to the environment than adding to the world’s ongoing problems with deforestation by chopping down a huge, healthy tree.
The illuminated Christmas tree was installed by Southport lighting firm IllumiDex, commissioned by Southport BID.
Southport has now become a very sparkling town, with the tree adding to the stunning ‘boulevard of light’. This project saw 300,000 lights created along both sides of the mile-long Lord Street boulevard earlier this year. The work was also carried out by IllumiDex, in another Southport BID scheme.
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
The two are also responsible for putting up the beautiful Christmas decorations in Southport town centre, including the cones at the Fire Station end of Lord Street, the stars at the Ribble end of Lord Street and the illuminated ‘Welcome to Southport’ signs at either end of the boulevard.
There are yet more lights at Victoria Park in Southport, which is currently hosting the Winter Light Trail by Luminate, a 1.2km long light trail which is full of surprises.
Lots of local businesses have also come on board by hosting their own lighting, at venues including Remedy, Pavilion, the Masons Arms, Ra bar and others.
Lord Street in Southport in lights. IllumiDex UK Ltd has installed lighting along Lord Street; lighting at remedy; and the Southport Christmas tree. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
Southport has been well and truly lit up! And it is great to see.
It sends out a message that Southport has a vibrant night-time economy, whether that’s for Christmas shopping, nightlife, meals out or staying in local hotels and guest houses. It’s a town that definitely doesn’t close at 5pm.
Southport BID has also created a series of other festive attractions in our town this year, including a Gingerbread Trail, a Trail Of Trees, a Digital Winter Wonderland, a Christmas Grotto and lots more.
Watching the IllumiDex team install Southport’s Christmas tree was quite something to watch.
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
They began work at 6.30am in the morning, overseeing the careful loading of all the elements of the Christmas tree into a wagon from Davenport Haulage from Burscough.
The many component parts are then unloaded into the Town Hall Gardens and assembled piece by piece.
If they ever held a Meccano championship in the UK – these guys would win hands down!
IllumiDex are experts at what they do, The walls in their offices are covered with safety certificates and qualifications. They are the only firm in the UK to hold an NVQ in Christmas Decorating. They have an impressive list of successful projects to their name.
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
Plans for the installation of the Christmas tree were booked in months ago, and agreed with Sefton Council and other partners.
IllumiDex brought down a team of seven people to carry out the work, in addition to experts from Spain to keep an eye on the work, a team from Ainscough which brought the crane, and hauliers from Davenport.
It takes a small army to install this attraction, all experts in what they do, with months of planning and safety plans in place.
Throughout the day and night it was fascinating to watch the team unload all the different sections and components of the tree. Each section was completed individually before a crane was used to lower each section into place. Of course on top was the star!
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
IllumiDex also installed illuminated Christmas decorations on the Atkinson, with three lit-up trees on top of the entrance and a number of illuminated festive wreaths.
The team toiled until the early hours of the morning, returning the next day to complete their impressive project. It was great timing for The Old Bank, a new business which opened its doors opposite the attraction the following day.
Previously, I used to notice the tree was not there one day, and then the next day there it suddenly was, as if by magic.
Watching the installation take place, the magic definitely happens but it is underpinned by months of careful planning and lots of hard work by many people.
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
The result? A beautiful, colourful, eye-catching tree that’s become a real talking point among local people, and a much photographed image across social media. In this day and age, that counts for a lot. We all want to see more visitors coming into Southport to enjoy our shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, taxis, attractions and other businesses. Help us to let people know!
We’d love to see your pictures of the Southport Christmas tree too. Please post them into our Stand Up For Southport Facebook group, or anywhere across social media, along with the hashtag #southportchristmas
We can all play our part in making Southport a real focus of attention across our region.
IllumiDex UK Ltd Director Steve Clayton said: “Installing this tree is a massive undertaking! But it looks fantastic.
“We have had a really positive response from people, they love it, especially the children.
“Last year people were queuing to be able to walk through it and look up and see all the light displays. It’s a real talking point, you see so many great pictures of it on social media.
The Southport Christmas tree has been installed in the Town Hall Gardens by IllumiDx UK Ltd in a scheme commissioned by Southport BID. Photo by Andrew Brown Media
“It is bringing people into town. There must have been an extra 10,000 to 15,000 people coming into Southport last year to see the tree, and hopefully they’ll stay in town and spend money doing some Christmas shopping or enjoying a meal or a coffee nearby.
“It is very environmentally friendly too – it makes much more sense than chopping down a beautiful 30 metre high real tree and shipping it over from somewhere like Norway, only to throw it away once Christmas is over. We shouldn’t be chopping down trees in that way, not when forests around the world are vanishing at the rate they are.
“We have had a brilliant reaction from people who have seen the tree since it has been here, they love it.”
Do you have a story for Stand Up For Southport? Please message Andrew Brown via Facebook here or email me at: mediaandrewbrown@gmail.com
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