For years Sowerby Bridge use to have 2 trees in the middle of the town, but for quite a few years there has not been a tree,, people have tried, with little trees in small areas so that there was something.

This last year has seen the Sowerby Bridge Development Board come to life and one member of the board felt that Sowerby Bridge deserved a Christmas Tree.

The following is taken from Gaza's wall on Facebook

I and many others saw the feedback and comments with regards to the Christmas tree and lights situation in Sowerby Bridge in December 2018 and agreed with many that it was not good enough.

I think the street lights this year are very much improved but I have always thought we could do better with a tree in the centre of Sowerby Bridge.

Calderdale Council have donated a tree which is currently in the small park in Bolton Brow/ bottom of Gratrix Lane and will be relocated to a central location in the New Year for planting to grow appropriately for December 2020 and beyond.

In the meantime, I have taken it upon myself to arrange a Christmas tree which is now firmly secured and displayed in the grounds of Christ Church at the bottom of Tuel Lane in Sowerby Bridge.

There are a number of messages of thanks to those that have helped to get the tree in place:

Cilla, Andrew & Dawn Denham and their family from Tommy Topsoil of Hubberton who have kindly donated, free of charge, an 18 foot Christmas tree;

Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing Association (of which I am Chairman) for their kind sponsorship of the lights;

Sowerby Bridge Development Board (our Town Board, of which I am also a Board member) for also sponsoring the lights;

Chris & Shaun from The Hogs Head public house for their kind sponsorship of the installation of the tree socket at the church grounds, which we will be now able to use annually;

Angela Dick, Peter Henry & Helen Pedley from Christ Church who have helped with the installation and dealing with insurance and other queries;

Andrew Murray for his time and effort to ensure a timely pre-Christmas installation of the tree and socket at short notice;

Richard Robertshaw and Dave Clay from Calderdale Council for their help and support with regards to various Christmas tree related queries; and

Lumalite of Mytholmroyd for providing the lights at a discounted price and Robert Whitaker of Norland for his help with installation.

I hope you all agree with me that the tree is in a prominent location and is of size and scale appropriate for our town.

The lights have been installed this morning and now just need checking in the dark for positioning later this evening. I have some additional light sets to add on if and when required.

There are a number of events at the church over the next two weeks and Fire & Water community choir are planning a “carolling around the Christmas tree” event and invite the town to join them. Whilst the date and time is still to be confirmed, the provision date is Monday 23 December at 18:30.

Should anyone else wish to contribute to the cost and ongoing running costs involved, please do get in touch as all support would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again to all that have supported.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all.

Gaz Baigent

At last Sowerby Bridge has a Christmas Tree