CHRISTMAS comes but once a year, but when it comes it also brings, to one veteran Cardigan councillor, a lot of stress, frustration and aggravation.

There was precious little festive cheer in evidence at Cardigan Town Council’s Tuesday night meeting when Cllr John Adams-Lewis expressed his dismay that this year’s Christmas town lights greeting at the top of Grosvenor Hill was confined to the words ‘Merry Christmas’.

What particularly enraged Cllr Adams-Lewis was that he had made the same complaint that the town’s Christmas lights message was not bilingual the previous year.

“Where is ‘Nadolig Llawen’?” an incensed Cllr Adams-Lewis, who always addresses the council in Welsh, asked fellow councillors. “It’s important that the lights spell out ‘Nadolig Llawen’ with ‘Merry Christmas’ after it. Welsh should always come first.”

“I feel very strongly about this,” he continued. “Cardigan is a Welsh town so we should have this welcome to people in the Welsh language.

“I’m sure they have greetings in Welsh as part of the Christmas lights show in Newcastle Emlyn. So what’s good for Newcastle Emlyn must surely be good enough for Cardigan as well.”

Town mayor Cllr Sian Maehrlein confirmed that – despite the original intention to rectify the omission of the previous year – last year’s oversight had somehow been repeated.

“We did promise to include a message in Welsh last year and did try to source one,” she told colleagues. “So I must apologise to you, John, that we have not done so – Christmas really does come round again before you know it.”

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh offered to speak to organisers of Carmarthen’s Christmas display to find out where they sourced their Welsh greetings, while town clerk Eleri Maskell also pledged to make enquiries with other town authorities.

Members agreed to form a Christmas Lights committee next September to plan the content of the town’s festive illuminations in the run-up to Yuletide.

Back in May 2022 there were complaints that some of the town’s Christmas lights were still in place on Bridge Street five months later with one resident suggesting that the festive illuminations had long since worn out their welcome.

This prompted the council to seek to re-organise their Christmas lights display, including addressing issues of storage and maintenance.

Meanwhile, Cllr Richard Davies reported on Tuesday night that the gobo, a small disc used in lighting fixtures to create a projected image or pattern on the walls of Cardigan Castle, was showing signs of age.

“The image is losing its focus,” he said. “Gobos don’t last very long. They seem to have a lifespan of about three years and then that’s it.

“We need a replacement to project something colourful there. It doesn’t have to be a message – a colourful picture would do.”