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Forget about Franklin Road for Christmas lights.
You only need to travel as far as Northwood Close in Warkworth, which is fast becoming one of the town’s most popular display destinations, with around 24 households taking part.
It runs every night from December 1 to 31, switching on at 8pm and off at 11pm.
Resident John Peel said he started the tradition when he moved up from Auckland with his wife Faye a few years ago, and began by handing out decorations to his neighbours for their homes, lawns and fences.
“We used to do a big display on Sandringham Road and our house stopped traffic there every year. It started about 20 years ago when my grandchildren asked if we could put some lights up and it went from there.”
Now Peel has built up quite a collection including: lighted Santas, Christmas trees, reindeer, gift boxes, bells, and his favourite piece – an incandescent six-metre train worth $3000 that has smoke coming from its stack and four glowing carriages.
Not to mention Peel’s tunnel of lights, a new addition which he designed and built himself using metal stakes, water pipes and a boxful of shower curtain hooks that was set up at the Mahurangi Winter Festival of Lights earlier in the year.
Overall, Peel estimated he’d spent about $20,000 on his collection so far, and counting.
“It’s one of those terrible obsessions. Every year I say I’m not going to buy anything, and then…
“The display has grown to the point where basically everybody on the street now has a piece from me in their front yard, as well as their own decorations.”
He added, “At the moment we’re getting around 100 people visiting each night, but that will grow as Christmas approaches. We welcome everyone to come have a look, and walk through the tunnel. No charge of course.”
Despite the scale, Peel said modern lighting had kept costs manageable.
“Really it’s cheap. Because they’re all LED lights these days, it would be around $50 for the month to run.”
He said the motivation behind the display had never changed.
“It’s about keeping the magic of Christmas alive for kids as long as we possibly can. They come along in their pyjamas and it’s becoming a nice tradition. It’s something they’ll probably remember for the rest of their lives.”
In our final issue for the year, we’ll be shining a light on more Christmas displays. So if your street is putting up decorations contact editor@localmatters.co.nz
