FORGET tinsel - this Christmas it's all about Tinsley.
At least that's what Stannington photographer Mike Bellwood and his family are hoping.
The Bellwoods - Mike, Eileen, and their three children Eleanor, aged 17, Owen, 14, and Rosie, 11, are keeping the memory of the Tinsley cooling towers alive with a collection of Christmas cards featuring the lost local landmarks.
Mike said: "It has always been a bit of a tradition in our family that each year we would create our own Christmas cards.
"It's something which started during the war when my father used to send pictures home to his mum and dad.
"Having used the towers as a backdrop for wedding photographs, and the fondness many people have for them, they seemed the obvious choice for the 2008 Christmas card.
"As soon as the card was created with Santa stuck in a collapsing tower, the rest of the family joined in with ideas and before we knew it we ended up with eight different designs."
Rosie, who attends Bradfield School, is not too sure about the design which shows Santa trapped in a falling cooling tower though. She prefers the picture with the Christmas tree and stocking.
Now the family is working on a couple of more designs suitable for use year-round.
But it's not only Tinsley cards that are available this Christmas.
If it's a stocking filler you're after then why not give someone a permanent memory of the towers - a book being sold to raise money for two worthy charities.
E.ON has joined forces with the University of Sheffield's archaeology consultancy to create the book and commemorative postcards which will raise money for Neurocare at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital and the Rotherham Hospice.
It covers the early history of the site and the construction of the towers.
The book and postcard sets, priced £5, are available from the two charities, Rare and Racy and Blackwells bookshops.
Log on to www.tinsleycoolingtowers.co.uk to view the Bellwood family's cards.
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