Christmas display lights
STUDENT BACK WITH ANOTHER BRIGHT IDEA
IT’S only just December, but this house in Newcastle is getting everyone in the Christmas spirit.
The semi-detached home on Apsley Crescent in Kenton is covered in more than 1,600 colourful lights.
That does not include the hundreds more bulbs in the front yard.
Rob Austin, 22, is the man behind the festive magic.
Rob, a community and youth work studies student at the University of Sunderland, first put up a big display last year.
He managed to persuade his parents Dawn and Steve to let him dress the front of the house in decorations once again.
This time around it took a full three weeks of planning and three days to build.
After the full switch-on on November 24, the light show is going down well with the neighbours. He said: “Everybody loves it. “When I was building the display it didn’t matter who walked past they were all saying they were really excited for it to be switched on.
“It was about trying to make sure it was better than last year. I’m really thrilled this time with how it has turned out.
“It’s just about everybody enjoying Christmas. Hopefully we get lots of visitors and then the plan for next year is to do it for charity.”
On top of the 1,600 bulbs on the house, there are even some moving lights with reindeer and a seesawing Santa Claus.
Rob said: “As a kid we used to always have a big Christmas and it was always about family.
“On the off chance I bought a rope light on sale and I just bought more lights after that.
“I’ve already started to see what I can buy for the display in 2018. I’m always looking for Christmas lights even when it’s the middle of summer.”
Rob said the lights will stay up until New Year’s Day. Until then