LOCALS were wowed when Rick Astley made an appearance via video at Hereford’s light switch-on this year, but he’s hardly the first celeb to come to the city to join in with our festive celebrations.
In 1999 a huge crowd braved a bitterly cold night and an almost citywide blackout to see Michael Starke and Louis Emerick, who starred as Sinbad and Mick in Channel 4’s Brookside, switch on the Christmas lights for that year. The pair stayed in the city for a number of hours after the ceremony, signing autographs and exchanging banter with the masses.
Only a year before, in 1998, Gladiators Hunter and Wolf had the duty of turning on the lights.
The duo reportedly instantly endeared themselves to locals and earned a rapturous reception, especially from the many youngsters who had gathered in eager anticipation.
Nothing was too much for the gladiators, who stuck about to pose for photographs, sign autographs and mingle with the crowd, much to the delight of their fans.
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It’s not only icons of the small screen who’ve been involved in our Christmas jollity over the years, the star of the 1968 classic film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty itself, rolled into the city in 1989.
The star car was driven to that year’s light switch-on by Father Christmas, accompanied by Hereford Times competition winners Stuart Roberts and Sophie Watkins, as over 1,000 people looked on.
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