Christmas. The North-East of the UK. The houses.
They have to be seen to be believed.

 

Following the rants about exterior decorations etc., I went to see some friends in Middlesbrough. The people there seem to love doing their houses in the "best possible taste" (© Kenny Everett) So we decided we had to go on a tour and take some photos of the "better" examples...
All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.
The quality isn't the best because of it being at night. But you get the idea...
photo of taps outside the Triangle
This house is quite impressively nasty when viewed end on as you approach it. From dead on the front, it's really quite dull - they've bunged everything on the end of the house instead. And why not?
External vie of Urbis urban museum
 Yes, Santas and Snowmen are even populating the garage roof here. I wonder what happens if the little buggers breed?
Manchester's Cathedral Gardens, behind Urbis
 The only way to describe this is "green". While the photo doesn't capture the horrow adequately, remember, we saw this house from the other side of Redcar Racecourse! Oddly, the reflection of the lights in the car roof shows the true horror far better.
View from the base of Cathedral Gardens, showing the water feature/fountain.
 A winner in the "cheesy bungalow" category - decor for those without a second floor.
Massive Windmills piece on Exchange Square
 The photo doesn't really do this justice. I particularly liked the caravan in the front - you'd have thought they could've gone the whole hog and done something to that as well...
All the same, it's still remarkably naff/nasty.
"Messenger of Peace" by Barbara Pearson
 I haven't decided if the central shape on this is some form of Thalidomide Angel or is meant to be a Christmas tree. That's transubstantiation for you.


And then there's this...

The winner of "cheesy house decs 2002"...


Floor Mosaic at the Triangle
 Words fail me on the sheer horror that is this house. You come round a corner on the road to be faced with something that looks like neon daylight. House, garage, chimney, garden - it's all been done. An absolute winner, no matter how much we tried to find anything else that would beat it.

I'm sure there'll be more of these next year. The little buggers breed...