Close-knit Chesterfield community welcomes visitors with Christmas street art

Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus, shepherds with their flocks, gift-bearing kings with camels and an angel decorate eight homes on Hillside Drive, Walton, and will remain in place until Twelfth Night.

The silhouettes are the work of professional dressmaker Mary Senneck, who is a retired teacher. She said: “They took a very long time to make, about 30 to 40 hours.”

Mary, 67, drew the designs on squared paper and then made the silhouettes using material from Fred’s Haberdashery in Chesterfield. She said: “I cut them out twice and ironed them back to back to make the fabric stronger and stuck them up with double sided tape because we want to use them again.”

The designs were a focal point of the close-knit community’s fundraiser for Ashgate Hospice. Mary said: “We had an evening of carols and mulled wine which attracted about 100 people over the course of the evening.”

Hillside Drive neighbours Pam Garvey, who works at Ashgate Hospice, and Anne Bell, a patient at the hospice, helped to organise the event which raised £800.

Mary added: “We’re a really strong, friendly community and it was lovely to do something to bring everyone together. I headed up the crafty things and also helped to decorate the trees with lots of lights.

"We did an afternoon tea for Cancer Research during the summer.”

Mary, who has lived in Chesterfield for ten years, said: “It’s a glorious town to be part of – so friendly.” She moved from Surrey, where she was head of maths and IT at a school, to be nearer to her family.

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