Mousehole Harbour Christmas Lights

The tiny fishing port of Mousehole (pronounced Mauzel) in Cornwall is a charming place to visit any time of year. In the summer, its picture-postcard circular harbour and fishing boats are a draw for tourists. They stroll the narrow streets with ice-cream in hand, occasionally dipping into tea-shops, most of them blissfully unaware the whole village was destroyed (except for a single house) by a Spanish attack in 1595.

A street in Mousehole

Heading down to the harbour

In the cold depths of winter, the visitors don their warm jackets and return at night for one of the notable events on the village’s calendar: The Mousehole Harbour Christmas lights. For over 40 years now, the lights have been a highlight (no pun intended) of the Festive season in Cornwall.

The big reveal!

Mousehole Harbour Lights (December 2015)

A Christmas Sea Serpent!

The harbour wall along North Cliff

Christmas pudding and baubles on the North Cliff wall

The Mousehole Harbour Lights consist of nearly 10,000 bulbs. They are illuminated between 5pm and 11pm, from mid-December until just after New Year, with one sad exception. Every year on December 19^th at 8pm, the lights are turned off for one hour, to commemorate the eight crew members of the Penlee Lifeboat (all from Mousehole) who lost their lives performing their duty on that day in 1981.

The animated message above the village is 150 feet long

Looking across the harbour to South Cliff

The harbour’s eastern outer wall

Looking back from South Cliff

One big candle on the Harbour Office

After braving the cold to see the lights, there’s plenty of opportunities to warm yourself back up, with a hot chocolate or perhaps a festive mulled wine. And if you’re hungry, there’s always some locally caught fish, or even a Cornish pasty, to be had. With chips, of course!

A Christmas Mouse in Mousehole

This post was inspired by the photo themes of Festive from The Daily Post and Cold from Jennifer’s Weekly Weather Challenge, together with Jo’s Monday Walk and Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge.

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