These wonderful images of Christmas time in Liverpool and Merseyside bring back happy memories of the most magical time of the year, with some dating back almost a century.
From festivities during the war, to decorations that used to light up the city centre every December - including the controversial love heart tree - these lovely photographs are sure to get you feeling nostalgic before Father Christmas arrives.

1. Christmas in Liverpool over the years
Christmas shoppers on Lord Street, Southport, 1931. | Getty Images

2. Christmas in Liverpool over the years
Liverpool Royal Infirmary Christmas 1931. Ward 8 decorated on theme of ‘our Empire’. | University of Liverpool

3. Christmas in Liverpool over the years
Nurses and a patients at the Liverpool Stanley Hospital at Christmas, 1937. A nurse next to the enormous Christmas tree is holding up a toy dog, probably to get the childrens’ attention for the photo - a tactic that has often been deployed for festive family photographs over the years! | National Museums Liverpool

4. Christmas in Liverpool over the years
Christmas lunch for gunners of 289th Battery, 93rd Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery, at New Ferry in 1940. | Mr Taylor, War Office official photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons