It might seem too early to be kicking off the festive season but a beloved local landmark has had a makeover and is once again wishing people “Happy Christmas”.
College students first painted those two words on the crossing between Yorktown Road and High Street in Sandown in 1967.
In February, hundreds of residents called for the fading piece of graffiti to be repainted – with people coming forward to share what the sign meant to them.
Sandhurst Town Council and Network Rail have now collaborated to redo the graffiti in its original form.
Harriet Fraser, who lives in Sandhurst, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that her uncle Martin Malorie was one of the seven college students who painted the bridge in the 60s after leaving a Christmas party nearby.
She said: “They went to the Rose & Crown pub and then to a house for a party.
“My grandad was painting something in the garage and the boys took it with the piano.
“They wheeled the grand piano to the bridge and then dangled down and painted it.”
Mrs Fraser said the landmark is often used when giving directions in the town and she was “really pleased” to see it repainted.
“It’s a really happy message throughout the year,” she said.
The original graffiti was painted over by Network Rail but in 1988 Ian Langston and his friend repainted it.
Mr Langston said he was 23 at the time and was discussing the landmark at the New Inn, now known as the Village Inn pub.
He said: “The pub regulars all bet my friend and I one pound from each of them if we repainted it.
“We went to my friend’s Dad’s house, got a large paint brush, a broom handle and sticky tape. Off we went – it took about an hour.
“We did one side each, hanging over the top, whilst being held by the trouser waistband.”
Mr Langston said he was delighted it had been repainted as it was “part of his legacy”, and something he would be telling his grandchildren about.
In February, Bracknell Forest councillor Guy Gillbe, suggested the bridge be repainted, saying it had become “iconic”.
The cabinet member for planning, transport and countryside said: “I love the memory of coming back in the car and seeing ‘The Happy Christmas Bridge’, and it was that feeling of coming home.”
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