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A Brief History

The Christmas lights were started in 1963 by Mousehole-based artist, Joan Gillchrest.  A string of coloured bulbs were put along both quays to make the village a bit brighter at Christmas time. 
From those early days the displays grew very quickly, having caught the imagination of a couple of village carpenters who made up and donated items to the displays.  Some of their designs, like the sea serpent, are still featured at Christmas although they are not the original pieces.  The sea serpent has been remade several times as the weather in December and January can badly affect the displays. The original serpent was made for the 1973 display, but as this was the year of the power cuts, although the lights were all put up, they were only lit for a short period at the end of the Christmas.


Following  a major storm on 15th Dec 1989 (the night before switch on) a lot of the items in the harbour were damaged. Some of the 'Bulks' that close of the harbour were smashed out  by the sea and items on the Quays were washed into the harbour. By switch on time on the 16th Dec the team had reconstructed most of the items, but as the storm continued the items were not put back up. Switch on that year was held at the bottom of Fore street as the waves crashed over the quays. By the end of that week everything was back up and running including the newest display, the Whale, which fortunately was scheduled to be put into the harbour on switch on day, so missed the storm.


The 'lights' celebrated their 50th 'Golden' yearn 2013. From our humble beginings to present day we have had many unpaid volunteers helping us. As we've passed such a milestone, those who have helped on the lights over the years can especially enjoy the legacy they have left for the village and community. 

Present Day
Our largest set piece is the 'Merry Christmas / Happy New Year' which is approximately 160ft (50m) long x 20ft (6m) high and contains nearly 1000 bulbs. 
In total, we estimate over 7000 bulbs are used in our displays, plus ropelighting and Low Voltage light systems. We have 20 strings of lanterns with around 50 lamps in each set and over 40 set pieces all made by our Volunteer team. The amount of cable used is in excess of 5.5 miles.
Our annual running costs are around £20,000 which is primarily met by donations from the public and fund raising events throughout the year.


We estimate that during the time the lights are on Mousehole will receive over 30,000 visitors.
Our most ambitious project undertaken is the Celtic Cross located on St Clement’s Island. Originally powered by a 110 volt sub-sea cable it was introduced as our Millennium project. For Christmas 2009 the Celtic Cross was refurbished and converted to being powered by a wind generator.  During the Valentine day storm of 2014 the whole cross was lost to the sea. We have replaced it and now it's powered by Solar PV cells. We have had tremendous support from The Ship Inn, Mousehole, and St Austell Brewery to enable us to carry out this work. Thanks also go to Bolitho Estates who kindly allow us to use this part of their land. 


Switch on VIP's

1963-No official switch on 1964-Mrs.J.Gillchrest 1965-Mr.W.McClary

1966-Mrs Goddard 1967-Mrs.M.Williams 1968-Mrs.Jarman

1969-Mrs.D.Yglesias 1970-Mr.J.Drew 1971-Mrs.J.Pender

1972-Miss.Ross 1973-Mr.F.Richards* 1974-Mr.F.Richards

1975-Mr.B.Swanson 1976-Mrs.J.Gillchrest 1977-Mr.B.Pearce

1978-Mr & Mrs MacFarlane 1979-Mr.W.Trevaskis 1980-Mrs.M.Williams

1981-Mr.C.Greenhaugh 1982-Rev.Cadman 1983-Mr.G.Jeffrey

1984-BBC's Blue Peter 1985-Mrs.E.Keates 1986-Mr.J.Pender

1987-Mr.R.Waters 1988-Mr.D.Williams 1989-Mr.W.Williams 

1990-Mr & Mrs M Maddern 1991-Mr.N.Bawden 1992-Mr.A.Perry

1993-Mrs.J.Gillchrest 1994-Rev.Stevens 1995-Mr.R.Harding

1996-Mr.T.Waters 1997-Mr.R.Harry 1998-Mrs.J.Harris

1999-Mr & Mrs Harvey 2000-Mrs.E.Webb 2001-Mr.J.Guard

2002-Mr.F.Wallis 2003-Mrs.J.Madron 2004-Mr & Mrs D.Redhead

2005-Mr.C.Roberts 2006-Mr & Mrs R.Pascoe 2007-Mr & Mrs Dancy

2008-Mr.N.Brockman 2009-Male Voice Chior 2010-Mrs.A.Keates

2011-Mr & Mrs R.Pomeroy 2012-Mr.R.Smith

2013- (50th Year) Mr.D.Penrose, Mr.S.Purnell & Mrs.D.Burroughs

2014-Mr & Mrs J.Bryer 2015-Mr & Mrs M.Brockman 2016-Mr & Mrs W.Thomas

2017-Mr & Mrs R Ward 2018-Reverend Julyan Drew

2019 - ????

2020 - CANCELLED DUE TO COVID 19 PANDEMIC

                                                                                                                                                                                       

* 1973 - Due to national power cuts, the lights were not switched on as usual.

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