It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas
Everywhere you go …
Meredith Willson
I may be biased but I do think London does Christmas rather well. From the lights in the West End to light trails in some of our most beautiful parks and gardens, from shop window displays to those in people’s homes … from late November (please no earlier!) the whole city starts to take on a festive air.
So for Ann-Christine’s Lens Artists challenge theme of ‘Holidays‘ I simply want to share a selection of photos I’ve taken in my home city over recent Christmas seasons. And I’ve thrown in a few of our own home decorations too!
My feature photo was taken this year and is of the view looking down Lower Regent Street from Piccadilly Circus.
Kings Cross Station, 2024
By Tower Bridge, 2016
Hays Galleria, 2019
A detail from the Hays Galleria tree, 2019
Covent Garden, 2005
Carnaby Street, 2022
Shopfront in Mayfair, 2024
Syon Park light trail, 2015
Christmas at Kew Gardens, 2023
Palm House, Christmas at Kew Gardens, 2023
Christmas at Kew Gardens, 2023
Our front door wreath (taken in 2020 but we use the same one every year)
A favourite Christmas tree ornament, also from 2020 (and again used every year)
Christmas cake, 2024 (made and iced by me!)
An Ealing front garden (not ours), 2022
Post box topper, Ealing, 2022
Finally, almost, our annual Christmas Eve tradition, helping with Plan Zheroes collection at Borough Market, redistributing food the traders were unable to sell before the Christmas shut-down to nearby charities hosting meals for those in need
(This photo is from the 2023 collection and shows some of our volunteers and others from the charities)
And now definitely finally, I’m taking you back to Christmas 1961 with two old family photos!
With my younger sister, Christmas 1961
77 Comments
Annie Berger
What a sweet collection of photos, old and new, Sarah! I agree with you that London certainly does know how to ‘do’ Christmas based on your photos over the years. The cake you made looks good enough to eat, BTW!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Annie 🙂 I use Nigella Lawson’s Christmas cake recipe and they always turn out well!
Leanne Cole
I love the photos of you when you were growing up Sarah, such fun. I think my mum has one of me on Christmas day and I’m wearing the new bikini I got for Christmas?
London looks incredible with all the Christmas lights, reminds me of the Christmas we had in Copenhagen.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Leanne 😊 I can’t imagine wearing a bikini on Christmas Day! Well, not in the UK at least.
grandmisadventures
so beautiful! London is famed for their incredible Christmas decorations. I think I could happily just walk up and down all of the streets and marvel at them.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Meg. Many people do just that, or ride the buses down the best decorated streets.
Alison
Lovely gallery Sarah, especially the last two. You like like Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret
Sarah Wilkie
Haha, only from behind perhaps! Thank you Alison 😊
Egídio
What a celebration! Fantastic photos and colorful expressions!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Egidio – happy to share our celebrations with you 😊
equinoxio21
You have every right to be biased. Wonderful “décorations” indeed.
Compliments on the cake.
And thank you for a lovely photo of you and Sis’. 👏🏻
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you enjoyed seeing festive London – thank you 😀
Rose
Oh, that photo of you and your younger sister, simply adorable. 💞 It does appear London does Christmas well.🎄🎄
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Rose 😊
Sofia Alves
London definitely does it very well, Sarah and you captured it beautifully. I love that you shared some of your traditions too.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Sofia 😊
norasphotos4u
Love all the festive beauty!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Nora 😀
Teresa
I love Christmas in London!
Sarah Wilkie
That’s good to hear Teresa 😀
Tanja
Great gallery. Christmas suits London
Sarah Wilkie
It does indeed – thanks Tanja 😀
Leya
Oh, wonderful London lights! Carnaby Street robins are my favourites of the lights. Then, how absolutely lovely with your 1961 photos. A great take on this challenge! Happy Christmas!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much, and Merry Christmas to you too!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
My favourite two photos are obviously the last ones! You both look so cute. I too have pictures of me and my sister at Christmas 1961 but they are not nearly such good quality (tiny squares from a Brownie camera).
Sarah Wilkie
I think my father must have had quite a good camera but these have been very much tidied up and edited 😀
Anne Sandler
Beautiful festive scenes and wonderful family memories.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂
Ritva Sillanmäki Photography
Sarah lots of festive trees and lights, but the photos from 1961 are my favorite.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Ritva, glad you like them 😀
thehungrytravellers.blog
Absolutely couldn’t agree more, London always does it really well. In my working days I always found myself in London several times during December and it never failed to create the right excitement and feeling of “”season”.
Sarah Wilkie
Good to know you agree Phil 😀 Bet it doesn’t feel quite as festive in India, but having seen Michaela’s tiger photos on Facebook I’m sure you’re having a wonderful time!
Monkey's Tale
London does look very festive! Love the pictures of you and your sister. Maggie
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Maggie, it was fun compiling this gallery and looking back to childhood Christmases
margaret21
I’m prepared to allow your post to be my first foray into Christmas. I don’t like that it starts too early these days , so people are fed up with it when it finally arrives. But good on you and all your friends at Plan Zheroes. Heroes indeed. A lovely photo of you and your sister. You’ve hardly changed!
Sarah Wilkie
I don’t like Christmas starting too early either, but once we’re into December I’m ok with it, though it’s still too early for home decorations imho!
margaret21
Absolutely. Our tree will have to wait!
Image Earth Travel
You’ve got me with this post, Sarah! I’m a sucker for Christmas lights.
The photos with your sister are so precious!
You’ve inspired me to look in Brisbane for something similar to Plan Zheroes. Westerners waste so much food it’s obscene, and this is after the food gets to the stores. Sadly, farmers waste even more through no real fault of theirs…I should know, my father was a farmer.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😊 I hope you can find something similar. My husband founded this charity with two other people about 15 years ago and we’ve diverted so much food from landfill and ensured it reached people who really needed it!
Image Earth Travel
Wow, that’s a long time to be involved with a charity. Maybe I should start one up as like I said, we waste too much food in Australia, because of what supermarkets.
Sarah Wilkie
If you did decide to do something like that drop me a line via my ‘contact me’ link and I’ll put you in touch with my husband to get some tips
Image Earth Travel
That’s very kind and thank you.
I looked online after our chat here and lots of not-for-profits exist in Brisbane and across Australia doing the same.
With so many, I still need to ask, then why do we still have so much food waste…
Graham Stephen
🕯️🎄🕯️
love the peek back to the 60s, sarah!
✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣❊✣
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Graham 😊
Easymalc
A fabulous eclectic mix of Christamas images Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Malcolm, glad you enjoyed this 😊
Natalie
What a fantastic photo collection, Sarah. I love the variety of Christmas decorations that you shared and how you ended the post with the photos of you and your sister.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Natalie ☺️
photobyjohnbo
Your holidays photos bring thoughts of the season, Sarah—like windows into cherished traditions and festive warmth, all the way back to 1961.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you John, I love that idea of windows into tradition 😀
the eternal traveller
Just once I would love to have a winter Christmas and London would be a great place to see all the lights. You and your sister look very cute all dressed up for the festivities.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you 😀 We do get a lot of tourists at this time of year, for the lights and also the shopping.
the eternal traveller
Shopping is not our thing but I would love to see the lights.
Rebecca
What a wonderful trip down memory lane, all the way back to the 1960s! You were adorable as a kid, and it’s also great to see all of the festive decorations you’ve seen in London during this past decade. The Christmas decorations are gorgeous, but what really caught my eye was your winter wonderland-esque Christmas cake– so white, snowy, and fluffy! Have a great holiday season ahead, Sarah!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Rebecca ☺️ Actually that cake isn’t as soft as it looks! That’s traditional royal icing applied in peaks with a spatula – much easier than trying to get it smooth 😁
Alli Templeton
Sounds a lovely Christmas you have planned, Sarah. If you get out into the Northumbrian wilderness do give it my love! 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Will do!
Amy
Wow!!! Great volunteer workers. I love these two precious photos, Thank you for sharing!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Amy. Our volunteers run those food collections throughout the year, five days a week, but Christmas Eve is extra busy because the market closes down for the holiday season so there’s a lot more food.
Alli Templeton
Wow, Sarah, I have to agree that London does look rather spectacular in all it’s festive regalia! A fantastic glimpse of the lights and decorations on display. Well done for the Christmas cake too, it’s looking great! Are you staying home this year or are you off somewhere?
I love the last two photos of you and your sister from Christmas past – you both look so cute! Happy memories… 🙂
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Alli ☺️ We’re spending Christmas Day with my sister and her family, including my one year old great niece. Off to Newcastle a few days after for New Year.
bushboy
It is rather fabulous Sarah
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Brian 😀
Yvonne Dumsday
What a magnificent collection. I don’t even think Christmas until after my birthday but your photos are prompting me to get int the Christmas spirit. I love your door wreath. 😊
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Yvonne 🙂 I don’t like to start too early but once we’re into December it’s OK I think!
Heyjude
My daughter often goes into the city to see the lights. They do look amazing. And certainly cheer up such a dreary month.
Sarah Wilkie
Definitely bright and cheerful, although what I didn’t show you are the crowds which can take the edge off the fun! Thank you Jude 🙂
Wandering Dawgs
Sarah, what a beautiful collection of festive Christmas trees, lights and decorations. I love it!
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Beth 🙂
Dawn M. Miller
They are rather grand.
Lovely post, especially with the addition of you and your sister.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you very much Dawn 🙂
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
The Christmas pictures of you and your sister are precious. So proper. London at Christmas is a beauty.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Suzanne 🙂 I was quite pleased how well those old photos ‘scrubbed up’ so to speak!
Tina Schell
Fantabulous!!! I loved this Sarah, I love Christmas lights and these are spectacular. And, I might add, beautifully captured. And I truly loved the 2 closing images – a wonderful tradition followed by a wonderful memory. Loved every minute of your post.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tina, I’m very glad you enjoyed this so much 😊
restlessjo
What a lovely selection, Sarah. I would be inclined to agree about the London lights. Even all those years ago when I lived there I loved them and window shopping was always a treat. Those Carnaby Street robins are lovely, and I have a similar angel on my Christmas tree. Here’s wishing you a joyful festive season xx
Sarah Wilkie
And the same for you too Jo, thank you 😘