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28 October 2014
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December 2003
More bulbs than Blackpool
House on Wigton Road in Carlisle
House on Wigton Road in Carlisle

It's that time of year again - Cumbria's residents have gone loopy for Christmas lights.

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Send us your photos »

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Gallery
Photos of Christmas lights around Cumbria - email us your pictures!

Gardening
Paul O'Neill gets the Christmas decorations out for another year.

Cockermouth lights
Photo sent in to the BBC Cumbria gallery for December.

BBC Homes
Lots of Christmas ideas from the BBC Lifestyle team.

Features
Entertaining articles from the BBC team in Cumbria.

Competitions
Your chance to win some great prizes.

WEB LINKS

Fairy Lights safety
Information from the UK Government.

Antique Lights
A collector's website dedicated to the history of using electric lights as decorations at Christmas.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.

FACTS

Electric Christmas tree lights were first used in 1895. The idea for using electric Christmas lights came from an American, Ralph E. Morris. The new lights proved safer than the traditional candles.

31 Brits died between 1996 and 2001 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

Apparently, in the Harry Potter books, it is possible to enter the Fat Lady's painting (??) with the password "Fairy Lights".

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Houses in our county are festooned with acres of cable and millions of twinkling lights. Garages and gables groan under the weight of glow-in-the-dark Santa & sleighs.

The house on Wigton Road, Carlisle
Another view of the house on Wigton Road, Carlisle

This house, on Wigton Road in Carlisle, is very nearly a landmark in the Christmas season.

Eddie and Iris Wilding have been decorating their house for the past eight years. The collection has grown and grown during that time -the first decoration was a Santa's sleigh that sits on the garage roof.

They love seeing the hundreds of people that stop each year to have a closer look. Iris has never yet told Eddie how much it costs them - she hides the electricity bill from him!

So, your house or one in your neighbourhood might not be quite as bonkers, but we'd still like to see a photo!

News imageWatch Eddie and Iris in Video Nation

Send us your photos

How do you light your house? What do those in your town or village look like? Have you seen any that look really tasteful? Or any that are seriously tacky?

Email your photos to: [email protected] or post them (with an SAE) to:

BBC Cumbria
Annetwell Street
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA3 8BB

Not got a camera? Email us to tell us where the good, the bad and the ugly Christmas decorations are and we'll get there with a camera ourselves.

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