Haughton knitters give village a woolly Christmas makeover

A partridge in a pear tree features on the First Day of Christmas

A group of knitters has shown its community some Christmas love with a woolly makeover to their village green.

The Haughton Ladies Who Knit, from Haughton-le-Skerne, near Darlington, have brightened up its dreary bollards with festive spirit.

Among those on display are the "12 Days of Christmas" by Carol Clayton.

"A partridge in a pear tree, that's lovely, but by the time you get to the 12 drummers - I was up until after midnight," she laughed.

Two knitted turtle doves

Three French hens

Four calling birds

Mrs Clayton started her contribution to the group's Christmas display in August after she saw a design in a knitting book and was keen to praise her fellow knitters for their efforts.

"I started it so I had to finish it," she said.

"It all looks marvellous and when we were putting it out, people were coming up to us to say how lovely it looked, and how happy it makes them."

Five gold rings

Six geese a-laying

Seven swans a-swimming

She said the hardest part was creating the 10 lords for her "leaping" creation.

"It has a lot of extra bits to it because they are lords, so they had extra clothing and you had to do all the little detail," she added.

"Because they were leaping they couldn't just be stuck on the top, they had to look like they were leaping."

Eight maids a-milking

Nine ladies dancing

Carol says the most difficult one to knit was 10 lords a-leaping

The knitters got together in 2022 and have created special scenes for the Coronation of King Charles III as well as Remembrance displays and one for the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

"The Coronation went down an absolute storm, we were shortlisted for the 'stronger communities award'," added Mrs Clayton.

"All of our group work hard making some fantastic stuff - it's a team job, we all work together as a team."

Once it is taken down, the "12 Days of Christmas" will be washed and stored ahead of 2024.

The 11 pipers piping

And finally, the 12 drummers drumming

A postbox topper featuring a festive scene