Skip to content

Winter wonderland on Derry street renamed in honour of Christmas

Santa's Grotto may be out of action, but children on Racecourse Drive in Londonderry are enjoying a winter wonderland right on their doorstep.

The street, in which almost every house is adorned in fairly lights, has been temporarily renamed Christmas Drive.

It comes after parents got together during lockdown in March to ensure the young people were not disappointed by a socially distant festive season in which the usual events and activities would be cancelled due to Covid-19.

3 December 2020

Explore More

A woman with dark hair pulled back from her face wears a chef's whites. She is standing next to her cake shop window display, which features a large, iced igloo and cake penguins.

The gravity-defying stunt penguins made from cake

Hull & East Yorkshire

An aerial image of The Shard with white Christmas lights shining

Gareth Malone turns on The Shard's Christmas lights

A man places the final gold bauble on the Covent Garden Christmas tree

Watch: How Covent Garden gets its Christmas tree

Aerial view of Oxford Street in central London showing the twinkly stars over the street with a double decker bus and cars driving with their lights on

Watch: Oxford Street Christmas lights switched on

Gillian Kearney speaking at a police press conference. There is a green PSNI banner behind her and four microphones in front. She is in uniform and has blonde hair, which is tied back.

Increased police presence in Derry after attacks

Northern Ireland

Knitted orange order style doll with an orange sash and black bowler hat

'Today means so much to me'

Northern Ireland

Eastwood affirms allegiance to King 'under protest'

Northern Ireland Politics

Given up for adoption, Billy Scampton didn't know he had a sister. But the Derry man was overjoyed to meet Shannon Leet from Ontario earlier this month.

'All the years of sadness were swept away'

Northern Ireland

A woman who feared she was having a heart attack said she spent nine days in a hospital staff room because of a shortage of beds

'Nine days in a hospital staff room was dehumanising'

Northern Ireland

Women taking part in Boxing Day dip

Watch: Hundreds take the plunge in Boxing Day dip

King Charles

Watch the King's Christmas message in full

Nigella Lawson

Watch: Nigella on that microwavé pronunciation

Entertainment & Arts

Smiling crew member of HMS Tamar

Navy crews send Christmas messages to loved ones

Hampshire & Isle of Wight

A milkman grabs bottles next to a Merry Christmas sign

Watch: London workers on Christmas Day 1949

Lights at Blenheim Palace

World Heritage Site lights up for Christmas

Ady Dayman

'Pork pie for breakfast is our Christmas tradition'

Hospital patient Eva with a pair of gifted pyjamas

Charity gives pyjamas to sick children

Nativity scene in Manger Square

Bethlehem nativity scene shown with rubble and wire

Daria Tarasevych

Ukrainian refugee: 'Gingerbread is my meditation'

A pair of alpacas on leads

Alpacas visit patients in hospital over Christmas

Gloucestershire

A man fishing

'Worries drift away when you're out on the water'

Thomas Campbell, who suffered with addiction, set up the fishing group as a safe space for men.

Drone shot

Drones helping Foyle Search and Rescue operations

New additions to the team include a new flagship heavyweight drone with thermal imaging.

Tree

Christmas tree project helping bereaved families

Two Christmas trees are erected in Londonderry and Strabane to help remember those lost in 2020.

Keyframe #1

'The kids think it's a pirate ship'

In recent weeks locals have noticed a former fishing trawler stranded on the River Foyle.

GAA

GAA has 'given me a new lease of life'

GAA for Mothers and Others is a scheme to get women off the sidelines and playing Gaelic football for their local club.

Kalize McGuigan

The 'Bumbleances' cheering up critically ill kids

The ambulance service, available in the Republic of Ireland, is hoping to expand to NI.

Children in Londonderry helping pack a shoebox

A children's cross-border Christmas shoebox appeal

The project is part of Team Hope's Shoebox Appeal 2019, which sends items to children in Africa.

Present

Toy swap makes second-hand Christmas 'special'

One mum's mission to help low-income families cut costs and waste this Christmas.

Keyframe #1

'I don't want to go blind on a waiting list'

A Derry woman on a cataract surgery waiting list fears she will go blind before getting treatment.

MLAs in Stormont assembly chamber

A dramatic day on the hill

After the first meeting of Stormont's assembly for nearly three years, watch how the dramatic day unfolded.

Christine Deehan

'He could have been easily shot dead'

A family recounts the ordeal of a gun attack at their home in the Waterside in Londonderry.

ARC Fitness clients planking

The addicts ditching drugs for dumbbells

A former addict is helping others to kick their habits through a unique personal training programme.

Springtown camp monument hut

'The people of Springtown never forget each other'

Springtown Camp was a US naval base in Derry where people lived for more than 20 years.

Keyframe #1

Londonderry monument to open after 46 years

The Royal Bastion and plinth has not greeted visitors full-time since an IRA bomb in 1973.

Keyframe #3

The youth festival organised by young people

Rewire youth festival involves hundreds of events over a 12-day period.

Bridget Desmond

'Fitting honour' for shirtmaking pioneer

A woman whose entrepreneurship laid the foundation for one of Ireland's best-known shirtmakers has been officially commemorated with a blue plaque.

Alan McBride

'Hurt is hurt and pain is pain'

A man who lost his wife and father-in-law in the Shankill bombing has told of his shared pain with the families killed by at Greysteel.

Londonderry duo arrive back from around the globe yacht race.

Yacht race Derry duo return home

Londonderry duo to arrive back from around the globe yacht race.

One of the portraits by Colin Davidson

Silent Testimony: reflecting loss in art

The touring exhibition by renowned Belfast-based portrait artist Colin Davidson reflects on peoples experience of loss during The Troubles.

999 call

999 calls of people trapped in cars

999 handlers take calls from people trapped in their cars during floods in the north west.