Big Switch On a big success

There was a huge turnout for last night's Big Switch On. The village centre was packed as the count down started just before 6.30pm.

Santa led the children of St James' school into the Square and our commentator pronounced Audlem to be: "The Best Village in Cheshire", a sentiment that attracted a huge roar of approval.

Audlem's Big Tree sponsors, Trixie and Norman Bonnell and family, had the deserved honour – reserved for Premiership footballers and survivors of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me out of Here elsewhere – of switching on the lights and, to the relief of all, everything worked perfectly.

The St James' church bell ringers had rung and the band Steamhead braved the cold before decamping to the Lord Combermere where they became an enjoyable and impromptu warm-act to Jim Kirkpatrick and John Gunstone's live music later in the evening.

The village's pubs and shops were packed. "You can't get into Mandi Boo's and Gravity" said one fervent shopper. "Why, are they shut?, a wag observed drily. No, they were open just like the other shops and, quite literally, packed.

It was the first ever Big Switch On in Audlem and the village was bedecked with fifty trees lit up by ADAS including birches that had never seen illumination before. One senses that the event will be a permanent fixture in the Audlem calendar after last night's success.

After seeing last night's crowds, speculation began immediately on whether the ever-popular Carols on the Square on 22nd December can attract as many. But, then again, who is counting? Last night was simply a great community event.

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