Our CEO, Paul Clement's, latest blog:
Oscar Wilde once said: “the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.”
So, when the installation of your Christmas tree prompts a virtual clean sweep of coverage in every daily newspaper and news channel, you would think that you would feel marvellous.
Not so, Trafalgar Square which has been mocked for having a tree that might “make a willow weep and a sycamore, well, sick” (The Daily Telegraph, 4 December 2019). The Norwegian Spruce is an annual gift to our capital from the city council in Oslo but, this year, it feels more like one of those gifts that you open on Christmas morning and pray that the sender has left the receipt in the packaging so that you can return and exchange it in the store.
Rather unhelpfully, a London Council spokesperson said that the reason for its thin and sparse appearance was that it is the tallest ever sent from Norway and the consequence of greater length is restricted girth. Maybe Oscar Wilde should have also warned that not talking is sometimes better than opening your mouth and putting your foot in it?!
Anyway, whilst Trafalgar Square is receiving much publicity, but for all the wrong reasons, Ipswich Cornhill’s Christmas tree is being talked about as more fulsome - both in height and width – and better lit than ever this year. With the buildings around it also illuminated, it really is a stunning spectacle. And, as if that were not enough, the town also has a second Christmas tree on the waterfront.
Enjoy the celebrations!
