Tree lights
The inspiration for the tree lights originally came from a village in East Lothian called Longniddry, where each winter a tree at the heart of the village is beautifully illuminated. It seemed that something like this would be of benefit to the residents of Alwoodley.
There was much discussion within the Parish Council followed by further discussions and meetings with the Leeds Lighting team, but eventually the idea became a reality.
The first tree to be selected is on what we now call the Village Green. It was considered to be the ideal starting point for this project with its proximity to the Jubilee Garden. The lights came on for the first time at Christmas 2013 and were switched off in Feb 2014 …… the PC had taken the decision that these lights were to bring some sparkle throughout the gloomy winter months.
The positive feedback from many local residents certainly encouraged us to take the idea to the next step.
During the course of 2014 we determined that the next tree to be illuminated should be in an equally significant location …… a tree at Alwoodley Gates was selected and approved by Leeds City Council. Although this tree is not actually in our Parish, it is in Harewood Parish. However this tree was the closest we could find to mark the NE corner of the Parish boundary and Harewood Parish Council had no objection to us using one of their trees.
We went through the same process again in 2015 resulting in lights at the SE corner of the Parish – this time the tree was directly outside the Moortown Sorting Office on Harrogate Road.
Each year as this project has been rolled out the feedback has become ever more complimentary and in 2016 the Parish Council began the process once again with a view to having a tree illuminated at the SW corner of the Parish where King Lane and Nursery Lane meet. We hope this will brighten up the area where three of our local schools are located.
This will essentially complete the tree lights programme for the foreseeable future.
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ALWOODLEY FESTIVE LIGHTS
Tree lights
The inspiration for the tree lights originally came from a village in East Lothian called Longniddry, where each winter a tree at the heart of the village is beautifully illuminated. It seemed that something like this would be of benefit to the residents of Alwoodley.
There was much discussion within the Parish Council followed by further discussions and meetings with the Leeds Lighting team, but eventually the idea became a reality.
The first tree to be selected is on what we now call the Village Green. It was considered to be the ideal starting point for this project with its proximity to the Jubilee Garden. The lights came on for the first time at Christmas 2013 and were switched off in Feb 2014 …… the PC had taken the decision that these lights were to bring some sparkle throughout the gloomy winter months.
The positive feedback from many local residents certainly encouraged us to take the idea to the next step.
During the course of 2014 we determined that the next tree to be illuminated should be in an equally significant location …… a tree at Alwoodley Gates was selected and approved by Leeds City Council. Although this tree is not actually in our Parish, it is in Harewood Parish. However this tree was the closest we could find to mark the NE corner of the Parish boundary and Harewood Parish Council had no objection to us using one of their trees.
We went through the same process again in 2015 resulting in lights at the SE corner of the Parish – this time the tree was directly outside the Moortown Sorting Office on Harrogate Road.
Each year as this project has been rolled out the feedback has become ever more complimentary and in 2016 the Parish Council began the process once again with a view to having a tree illuminated at the SW corner of the Parish where King Lane and Nursery Lane meet. We hope this will brighten up the area where three of our local schools are located.
This will essentially complete the tree lights programme for the foreseeable future.
Christmas lights
In addition to the tree lights the Parish Council also initiated the installation of column lights on seven lampposts at the junction of King Lane and The Avenue. These were installed for us by the Leeds Lighting team for the first time Christmas 2013 and also received favourable feedback. However we had not been able to select which motifs were used.
During the course of 2014 we commissioned a bespoke motif featuring the Parish Council logo and each year since this has been fitted to one of the lampposts on the edge of our Village Green. The choice of the other motifs still lies with the Lighting team.
There is a possibility that at some time in the future we may choose to commission more bespoke motifs to compliment the tree lights.
