One of the signs that Christmas is close is the turning on of the Christmas lights in Regent Street and Oxford Street in central London.This year the lights were switched on by Bill Nighy, Ashley Jensen, Kelly Clarkson, Matt Cardle and Emma Bunton on the 8th November.The switch on this year was also accompanied by a firework display and a gospel choir.The lights stretch down the length of the grand Georgian thoroughfare of Regent Street in London's Mayfair.I can remember visiting the Christmas lights as a child in the late 1970s and many Londoners view the switching on of the lights as official start of the Christmas shopping period.Although the lights are now a firm fixture on the Christmas calendar there history does not extend back as far as the famous Blackpool illuminations.The Blackpool illuminations started back in 1879 at the creation of electric light.The Regent Street lights are relatively new comers with the first set of lights being installed in 1953.There had been Christmas trees in 1948 and partial lights from 1949 but the first full set of lights came in 1953.The lights in the more popular but less grand Oxford Street first started in 1959.A number of different celebrities have had the pleasure of pushing the button to turn on the lights in Oxford Street.The celebrities chosen to switch on the lights are like a history lesson in English popular culture.In 1982 it was Daley Thompson the athlete and other notable people have included Bob Geldof in 1985 and the various soap stars and pop bands.The lights in both streets have carried sponsorship for a number of years with West End shows such as Scrooge, films such as Flushed Away, mobile phone firm Nokia, ASDA and even Birdseye frozen food.The lights are paid for by the traders in the two streets and because of the harsh economic climate in England in the mid 1970's there were no Christmas lights between 1972 and 1977.This year's Oxford Street lights are giant twinkly snowflakes and in Regent Street we have branded lights for the family film Arthur Christmas.The twin thoroughfares no longer have a monopoly on Christmas lights in central London.There are now impressive displays in a number of other locations including St Christopher's Place, Carnaby Street, Marylebone, Convent Garden, St Pancras Train Station and Trafalgar Square.The lights in Trafalgar Square focus around the huge Christmas tree which has been in place since 1949.A tradition that pre dates the Regent Street and Oxford Street lights.The tree is a free gift from Norway to the London and is always decorated in a Norwegian style.The UK provided safe haven for the Norwegian Royal Family and Government during the Second World War and the tree is sent every year as a token of the Norwegian people's thanks for the help provided in those dark days.London's Christmas lights give the city a magical feel during the run up to Christmas and if you are in London during December it is always worth a trip to see them.The lights in Oxford Street and Regent Street intersect at Oxford Circus and this getting out at Oxford Circus tube station.This is a great place to start exploring the Christmas lights in London.You can then walk down Regent Street, see the Carnaby Street lights and carry on down via Shaftsbury Avenue to Trafalgar Square.It is a lovely half an walk through the magic of Christmas.Tony Heywood .
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