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Presenter and architect George Clarke switches on the lights of the UK’s Tallest Living Christmas Tree at Cragside

George Clarke switches on the Christmas lights of the UK's Tallest Living Christmas Tree at Cragside
George Clarke switches on the Christmas lights of the UK's Tallest Living Christmas Tree at Cragside | © National Trust / Sheila Rayson

TV presenter and architect George Clarke switched on the lights of the UK’s Tallest Living Christmas Tree at Cragside on Wednesday 27 November, officially kickstarting the property’s countdown to Christmas.

The spectacular tree is a giant redwood (Sequoia wellingtonia). At a staggering 42-metres tall it’s twice the height of the Angel of the North.

Dressing a tree this tall takes industrial thinking especially when using over 1km of lights. A team of five people used a huge cherry-picker to reach the top of the North American conifer to attach the lights. Two foresters and a cherry picker operator took to dizzying heights in the basket, while two other members of the team checked the lights and helped with instructions from the ground to ensure the lights were straight.

Children from local Rothbury First School were among the first to see Cragside’s very own illuminations and helped to kick start celebrations with a programme of festive songs by lantern light.

George Clarke says: "Cragside is one of my favourite National Trust properties. It is spectacular inside and out, a real wonder of innovation, vision and creativity. So, it was an absolute honour to be asked to help open the Christmas festivities at Cragside by switching on 2,000 lights on the UK's Tallest Living Christmas Tree. At a whopping 42 metres, that's about 10 double decker buses stacked on top of each other!

"William and Margaret Armstrong planted this amazing giant redwood tree and, thanks to the National Trust's staff and volunteers, it's still giving joy to so many people, 160 years later. When it's decorated and when it's not! It's a proper Christmas treat but also a living link between the past, present and future visitors who'll be just as awestruck as us. So as much as I love the National Trust for all the amazing buildings they look after, I also love them for the landscapes and trees they care for too. I really recommend coming to see these for yourself."

In 1864 date, Cragside’s creators, William and Margaret Armstrong, began transforming what was once a heathery moorland into a fantasy mountain landscape. In additional to planting millions of trees and rhododendrons, the Armstrongs also planted a Pinetum. Each tree – mostly native to North America - was hand-picked for its colossal size once mature. Today, the Pinetum is filled with giant redwoods, Scots pines and noble firs, some of which are the tallest of their kind in the country.

The creation of the UK’s Tallest Living Christmas Tree celebrates these giants of the tree world. The decorated giant redwood can be found on the edge of the Rock Garden, where it dwarfs the Victorian house.

Property Curator Clara Woolford said: “From articles in publication like The Garden and Gardeners Chronicle, we know that the Rock Garden was well established by 1872 which dates the tree to be around 150 years old.”

Adding lights to the grounds is not new to Cragside. In 1884, the Royal Family visited the estate in Northumberland after hearing tales of a ‘Geordie Genius’. To commemorate their arrival, Armstrong decorated the hillsides in thousands of lamps. In the then Newcastle Daily Chronicle it was said that ‘Ten thousand small glass lamps were hung amongst the rocky hillsides, and an almost equal number of Chinese lanterns were swung across leafy glades.’

Cragside was the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity, and William Armstrong was a pioneering innovator and early adopter of technology. To that end, it was important that Christmas at Cragside was as environmentally friendly as possible.

The team at Cragside have used the latest technology to light the tree. The light bulbs are efficient LED’s that are illuminated using portable power stations that are rechargeable, noiseless and most importantly fume-free.

Visitors will notice that the lights have been hung in lengths rather than wrapping around the tree as you would at home. This means the branches aren’t stressed by the weight of the lights, helping ensure the tree isn’t damaged and can continue to delight visitors for many years to come.

The house team has taken inspiration from the great outdoors to present ‘Spirits of the Forest’, which imagines that the House is under an enchanted spell. The house is being reclaimed by the woodland: imagine trees bursting out of tables, ivy cascading down walls, rivers flowing through rooms and woodland animals roaming the halls.

A lot of foliage was needed to create this magical immersive woodland experience. The gardeners have been drying flowers from the beds in the Formal Garden since summer to ensure there was plenty for display. When pruning, the gardeners kept cuttings and foliage has been foraged from across the grounds to dress the rooms.

“We’ve really gone wild this year when developing this year’s festive theme,” explains Clara.

“The Victorians are credited with bringing evergreen trees inside at Christmas and this celebrates the tradition on a bigger scale. We’re really excited to welcome visitors from this weekend to experience the magic of Spirits of the Forest.”

The magic of Christmas at Cragside begins on Saturday 30 November until Sunday 5 January. Cragside is open 11am-3pm (last entry 2pm). Entry is £15 adults, £7.50 children and £37.50 for families. Under 5s and National Trust members are free. Discover more at nationaltrust.org.uk/cragside.

The UK’s tallest living Christmas tree would not have been made possible without support from Stihl and Gustharts who provided the portable power stations to illuminate the tree, Light Legends who donated the lights and A1 Access who helped with the installation by providing a cherry-picker and operator.