Cecil Court At Christmas

This season’s greetings are from Toby Morison, and his cracker of a card comes in with a bang to illustrate what draws visitors from far and near to Cecil Court every Christmas. It’s the world of arts and culture in miniature - things you want, things you’ve never seen before, perhaps things you never even knew you could have. There are treasures to hunt and wonders to explore.

For the 10th anniversary of the Christmas card, illustrator Rebecca Gibbon has pulled out all the stops with this delightful scene featuring beloved characters from children’s literature helping to decorate the street. Mostly helping - Paddington seems to content sit and read, while the Cheshire Cat looks on from atop the (saved) gas lamp. Whether you’re a helper, a reader, or someone who likes to sit and watch, all are welcome on Cecil Court.

Cecil Court’s second Christmas in the grip of COVID-19 celebrates the spirit of perseverance. Peter Bailey’s warm and wonderful card sees Father Christmas, that hero of the self-employed small businessperson, with his reindeer making a trip to the street they know has something for everyone.

Cecil Court is the perfect subject for one of Adam Dant’s beautifully observed scenes of London life, as a choir of Christmassy characters gathers by the light of the gas-lamp to embody the spirit of the season in literature and song. Adam is another good friend of the street: of the people, and in his love of London and what makes this city great.

Paul Birkbeck is a longstanding friend and visitor whose knowledge of and affection for Cecil Court shines in this beautiful illumination. Each letter is picked out with the care and rich colour of a mediaeval manuscript, showing the wonderful things Cecil Court has to offer the Christmas visitor – and the more you visit, the more you know.

These carol singers lift the spirits of shopkeepers and residents alike as they gather under the gas-lamp in a snowy Cecil Court scene. Rosie Brooks’ long association with the world of opera and with clubland came together that year to make her our artist of choice – and now Rosie’s a firm friend and favourite of Cecil Court year-round.

Portrait artist and longstanding friend of Cecil Court Emma Wesley opens up her paintbox of delights for this year’s Christmas card. Full of magic and mischief (and some very familiar dogs), Emma’s rich and vivid picture invites you to step inside for your own adventure. Who knows what you might find…

It’s been a dark and difficult year for us all. Children’s author and illustrator James Mayhew’s card for 2020 is a ray of hope. The street is quieter than usual, but Mr Tumnus is doing his festive shopping in a jaunty scarf that he can also use as a mask. This won’t be an endless winter – we will have Christmas.

This enchanting view of Cecil Court is so replete with detail and allusion that I had to hang the original artwork on my wall at home to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. Drawn in one Christmastime by the carol singing, Dominique Densmore quickly understood what makes Cecil Court such a special place.

This detailed and fascinating image brings together the past and present of Cecil Court. We never ask to have the gas-lamp included, but it’s here again as the focal point of Stephen Walter’s wise and witty memory map. You might recognise Stephen’s famous work on the lost Rivers of London from Ben Aaronovitch’s series of novels, or you might have spotted it in a Cecil Court shop window.

There’s a lot happening in this subtle and slightly spooky picture of Cecil Court, by artist David Roberts. We first came across David’s work in Chris Priestley’s Tales of Terror, and we knew that he was the right person to capture the strange magic of Cecil Court at Christmas.