The Christmas tree on the Strand was the subject of unwelcome attention recently when about a dozen light-bulbs were stolen over the holiday period. Robin Payne of R & S Paine, the electricians who helped install the lights, remarked that the special bulbs cost £5 each.
Peter Costick who co-ordinated the project was at the Heritage Centre at Strand Quay, when he saw them being taken by two young men, but when he went over the road, they ran off, abandoning two bulbs at the base of the tree.
“It is annoying”, he said, “but in the context of the whole lighting scheme covering Station Approach, Strand Quay and Cinque Ports Street, it’s quite miniscule. As it was everything went brilliantly, the lights stood up to the atrocious weather we’ve been having, and some senseless idiots could have wrecked a whole lot more”.
Peter Costick will continue to manage the Heritage Centre until April this year, when he will be standing down, to be succeeded by his deputy Paulene Ashmore. He will though retain a custodian role with a strategic overview of the whole Centre.
Photo: John Minter