THE ghosts of Christmas past have visited a County Durham home which has been given a Victorian make-over for the festive season. 


Inspired by A Christmas Carol, photographer Angela Gill decided to give her decorations a Victorian twist.


Every year, vintage loving Miss Gill, 43, chooses a different theme each year to decorate her Coxhoe home.


This year, inspired by her grandparent’s old-fashioned home and a desire to surprise her mother, Pat Gill, who had been in hospital for three months after breaking an ankle, she decided to hark back to the beginning of the last century. 


She said: “I’ve got everything done up with Victorian items and old furniture, with taxidermy and lots of ornaments.


“This year I’ve done it right through the house.


“I’m absolutely delighted with it and when the kids came over they were loving it as well. My mam absolutely loves it as well.”


A stuffed fox and squirrel, an old wash board and gramophone, as well as handmade wreaths and garlands are among the things used to decorate the home to give it an old fashioned feel. 


She has been planning her décor since August, and has been hunting for old furniture and decorations online as well as from house clearances. 
She has given the house an authentic Victorian kitchen, moving out modern-day appliances like the cooker, fridge and freezer to a smaller pantry so as not to spoil the look.


It was finished in November, as a surprise for her mother coming out of hospital. 


After finishing the decorating, she has been working with some friends to act of scenes from A Christmas Carol for a photo shoot and to give children a small taste of life in Victorian England. 


She added: “The children have learned how to pose with serious faces while waiting for the camera to go off, learned how the gramophone works and wore Victorian costumes.


“It was a brilliant day.”


The house was built in 1904 and Miss Gill’s grandparents bought it in the 1920s.


She said: “They didn’t really change anything so it was quite old fashioned. When I was growing up in the 1970s it was bit different and I wanted to get it back to the way it was with it’s original features.”


She added: “I wanted to get the house nice in memory of my grandparents. 


“I sadly didn’t get to meet them but I heard so many lovely stories about them off my dad, and I think its important to remember our history.”


Last year Miss Gill transformed the house into a 1942 winter wonderland based around the song White Christmas, which spent 11 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts that year. 


Another year, she went back to 1928 - the year her dad was born and Mickey Mouse was released.