Misty November mornings and smoky November nights…
Bonfire night beckons…
© Lisa Shambrook
Last Saturday, November 5th, was Bonfire night for the UK, a celebration of catching Guy Fawkes way back in 1605 before he blew up parliament. With politics the way it is today, it’s a surprise we still celebrate this (tongue-firmly-in-cheek)! Guy Fawkes led the Gunpowder plot, in an attempt to assassinate King James I and replace him with a Catholic head of state. They placed 36 barrels of gunpowder in the cellars beneath parliament, but one of the group informed parliament and the plotters were captured and foiled. Thus, we have a bonfire and a ‘guy’, an effigy, on top to burn.
© Lisa Shambrook
I love firework displays, not so much the idea of fireworks across several weeks, my dog is very scared of the bangs outside, and I’d like to only see fireworks available for official displays. After all, a good display costs hundreds and hundreds to put on, and as I have very high expectations in life (lol) I don’t like the disappointment of damp squibs!
© Lisa Shambrook
So, we dress up warm and cosy, just after the clocks have gone back, and venture out into the November chill to watch firework displays and have fun!
Did you enjoy Bonfire night?
If you’re not British when do you get fireworks?
The Last Krystallos 
Australia has those laws – no fireworks available for the public. Only used for displays.
Holland explodes. They are only allowed to buy fireworks for the 3 days up to and including New Year’s Eve, and allowed to set them off from 10am New Year’s Eve, until, I think, 2am. But of course it goes on into New Year’s Day – although not as violently. I hate it. You also hear people using up their old ones in the buying period too.
Groups of kids walk the streets all day on New Year’s Day with bags of fireworks – usually from age 8 upwards. They throw them everywhere. Hubby lost his motorbike due to someone throwing one in the garden & the cover catching – many years ago – although that did turn out to be a 33 year old! (who came and confessed with a very pale face, and fortunately we were able to claim off his personal insurance – something all Dutch people have). Last year there was a bit of trouble when some kids threw some into a gutter of a house and it caught fire. Lots of uproar in the village, but little came of it – seeing as they all do it, and the parents don’t seem to care enough.
There are organised displays in the cities too, but I have never been. I instead have to tolerate the streets all around me going off instead, the second midnight hits. Although the Dutch also do this thing of going round and visiting your neighbours during the midnight blasts, shaking hands and giving best wishes (Beste Wensen) and lots of cheek kissing.
The thing I detest the most are the Chinese firecrackers – HUGE strips of them of a couple of metres long, they sound like machine gun fire. Holland tried to ban them, but as people could go over the border into Belgium to buy them, they gave up. There is a HUGE trade in illegal fireworks here, too. They seem to prefer them to be noisy rather than pretty.
This year I get to be in the UK for New Year’s Eve! Can’t wait! 14 years of this nightmare and I finally get a break! Yay!
(forgot to say, people don’t tend to do them in their gardens, they all come out onto the streets, in front of their houses and set them off – they do, do clean up afterwards too)
Wow! That makes the UK seem tame! I’d like the Australian rules, and even the Dutch rules with times, though around here it’s been relatively quiet this year, I think people can’t afford fireworks right now, and with the world as it is…a damp squib is how we feel!