With every street tree decorated to make sure Santa doesn't miss the road

Festing Road in Putney is taking Christmas very seriously. Every one of the twenty two trees which line the street , which goes down to the Thames, has been decorated. The idea came when three year old Lila Tate asked her neighbour Hugh Thompson a few weeks ago, whether Santa was coming this year.

“This is a street where we do things together- parties, planting, commemorative stones-it seemed such a sweet simple idea, we make a street fit for Santa, a street which he wont miss”.


Pablo Agosti takes pride in his tree

With all the activity- lights, baubles, model robins, gilded barbie dolls and traditional tree decorations going up, the street which in the summer is famous for its blooms now has another reason to be proud. Since every tree has been individually adopted, each tree decoration is different. A wide range of creative talent has been exposed.

Street organiser Hugh Thompson says: ”We get a lot of enthusiasm for our street activities but decorating the trees has been the most popular. This has been an idea which appeals to kids of all ages. Everyone likes the fantasy of Christmas,and everyone likes the idea of doing things with others. I hope other streets take up the idea.”

First all the houses in the street were emailed,then there was a meeting and a map of the trees was drawn up. Houses then adopted trees and where necessary some houses shared a tree. Already some have learnt that their bindings, which work in doors,were not suitable for outdoor winter conditions. While several trees have battery powered lights one is using solar power.

Fifty years ago David McKee made the street famous with his Mr Benn cartoon character. For the BBC cartoons he renamed the road Festive. Now the present inhabitants have taken that name to a new level. And as two year old Raffa Corbett says,”Wow”. Next door six year old Pablo Agosti (in picture) says. ”This is awesome, we cant to this in Spain because we don’t have trees in the road.”

Meanwhile Lila Tate says, ” Santa isn’t going to miss our road now, it's great.”

December 13, 2018