Letter: Bring back the Victorians!

We totally agree with David and Sheila Craven that Brighouse Christmas Market was not as good as in previous years and were extremely disappointed when we visited the Brighouse Victorian Christmas Market (as it had been advertised in various newspapers), on both the Saturday and Sunday, when my friend Norma, my husband and I dressed in Victorian costume.

As well as the three of us, only two singers, a few stallholders, very few shopkeepers, a very young girl in a Steampunk outfit, and a gentleman dressed as a Victorian undertaker were in costume. We have donned our Victorian outfits for the past three years and have always looked forward to this event but felt very let down this year by the lack of the “Victorians” in Brighouse as it lacked a great deal of the atmosphere of previous years because of this.

We spoke to many stallholders and shopkeepers, who all told us of their disappointment when, just one week before the event, they were told that it was just a Christmas Market and were asked to wear Christmas clothing and hats. We imagine that quite a lot of income will have been lost this year as fewer visitors and re-enactors attended. We also spoke to a number of visitors, some of whom asked to take photographs of us, also told us of their disappointment that there were so few people in Victorian dress as they enjoyed seeing them and had expected more this year.

Could we please urge the Brighouse Business Initiative committee to think again and reinstate the “Victorian” part of the Christmas Market and let the re-enactors come again in future years to brighten up the streets of Brighouse in all their Victorian finery?