Bonfire Night
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Sooty faces and scorched spuds!
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I used to love Guy Fawkes, going from house to house for 'penny for the guy'.
We used to collect planks of wood for weeks to make our bonfire then we would take turns to guard it so no one pinched the wood!
We used to roast spuds on the bottom of the fire and we wouldn't know it, because it was so dark, but we must have looked a sight getting on the bus with out sooty faces from eating them!!
There was always a big fire with fireworks at the Deneside Park. I miss that over here in Canada as we don't have a Bonfire Night.
Kind of weird when you think about it - we used to cheer when the guy finally burnt to pieces!
My husband is from Yorkshire and he remembers November 4th being 'mischief night' - pretty mild mischief, but they had fun!!
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Flames searing the skin of the night
Ron Kenyon, who was born in Hartlepool, emigrated with this family to Canada in 1932. Here he tells of a visit home to blighty on Bonfire Night of 1935.
The story is taken from Ron's book, The Magic Years, which tells the story of his life as a newspaperman. Underline
Mother and I landed in Liverpool on Guy Fawkes' Day, November 5, 1935. Fawkes had secreted gunpowder into the cellars of the House of Commons in 1606 to blow up Parliament.
The attempt failed, though the English celebrated it with more fervor than they did any military or naval victory - whether out of gratitude for the parliamentarians saved or in the hope that some latter-day Fawkes would do a better job has never been clear to me.
Kids crowed with delight as rockets soared from backyards, landing on other people's roofs, and shrieked with joy at the thunder of bangers of a size prohibited in Canada.
Carpet of bonfires
Bonfires spewed sparks like tracer bullets and Catherine wheels seared circles of flame into the skin of the night.
In Britain, in November, it gets dark about 4.30pm so even the smallest children could expose themselves to maiming and third degree burns without staying up past bedtime.
As mother and I hurtled through the countryside, a carpet of bonfires unrolled before us. The sky was streaked with rockets. We were being welcomed home to the heart of the mightiest empire the world has ever known, burning itself out forever, its embers falling in glittering sparks upon the roofs of the world.
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Sky rockets - and guys in lipstick!
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Guy Fawkes used to start months before November 5th for me!
I was born in 1945 so my bonfire experiences were through the fifties.
We started collecting stuff for the bonfire as early as the school holidays in July and August. It was stacked up in some safe place so that it could be protected from looters.
Yes, that happened quite often! Kids from other areas would try and take your stuff.
In between the collecting of anything old that would burn you also had to make yourself a guy. A pair of old trousers filled with newspaper had a shirt sewn onto it then a cardboard head was attached. The face was done with Mum's lipstick and eyebrow pencil.
All systems go!
When finished it was carried around on your billycart if you had one. If not, then there was always an old pram to be found lying around somewhere.
The guy served a dual purpose. The first you would, I suppose, call begging! We would knock on people's door asking for a penny for the guy. Depending how successful we were we might venture to the nearest pub to wait for the drunks going home - they were always good for a bob or two!
The money that was collected would be used to buy fireworks from the local shop. When Bonfire Night arrived all guys took pride of place atop of the bonfire. The fire was never lit until darkness arrived then it was all systems go until all the fireworks were gone.
My favorite firework was the sky rocket which was placed in a milk bottle. There was always an adult on hand to light them. I will never forget the whooshing noise before the rocket disappeared into the night sky!
When the fire had died down, by about ten o'clock I think, potatoes were thrown into the hot ash, given a few minutes to cook then devoured with gusto. By then it was usually way past our bedtime so off we went.
The next morning was spent looking for used firework cases. These were collected and kept for a few days.
In all the years I spent having fun with Guy Fawkes I only saw two accidents.
I want to thank you very much for allowing me to relive some of my childhood memories!
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The weeks running up to bonna night were always a time of great excitement when I was a youngin.
Nicking snamies from the school gardens to make lanterns to go Halloweening was all the rage.
The two-penny nightlight candle took a box of Swan Vestas to keep it burning in the harsh North-East wind. We always made a few bob though and the extra cash from penny for the guy helped us buy our favorite two-penny cannons from the hardware shop down Bigate Road in Monkseaton.
We would proceed to blow holes in the drystone wall around the orchid across the road by Bigate Cottage. A two-penny cannon could blow off a dustbin lid or send a building brick into orbit! Aren't fireworks tame these days?
There would always be the gang rivalry between the Haig Mob, the Rocker Mob and the Sycamore Mob, pinching and burning each other's bonnas, building camps in them and burning old lino or 'Tary Toot'.
Why did it always rain on Guy Fawkes? The day after was always fun scouring the estate looking for rocket sticks.
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My father used to call this time of the year 'the dark days before Christmas' - and well named too!
I remember the first deep breath I took as left the house in the morning. It almost took the breath away! It cleared the head and made it clear as to what time of the year it was.
It also had an effect on us kids, it was closing in on fireworks night, so the plotting would begin.
If it wasn't nailed down it was fair game! Old clothes, cardboard boxes, in fact anything that would burn! Of course a pushchair was essential to push the old guy about on collections. Money or goods were the options. Sometimes we got both. People used to store rubbish up over the year for the purpose. It was a great time for us!
Heavy frosts
Halloween never took on with us kids. I think the fact that it was, to our minds, an American thing turned us off. I can't remember anybody who celebrated it.
Later on in the year, as the winter began to set in, there would be the first heavy frosts for us to make our slides - and that kept cobblers busy!
The thing that all kids looked forward to was snow. Time to get the sledges out! Most were kept in the coal house and by the time they'd been up on the wall the runners were rusty. They had to cleaned and oiled before they were ready for use.
At the fist fall we'd be off to the nearest decent hill. The one we favoured most was where the kiosk was on the Roker front. It ran from there down to the lower prom on the beach nearly to the Holy Rock.
Once it had had a good dump of snow and a good night of frost it was like glass. From there on it was all go!
Drop me a line if you have Bonfire Night memories to share!
Back to the main nostalgia page
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'Remember, remember the fifth of November!
gunpowder, treason and plot!
I see no reason why gunpowder season
Should ever be forgot!'
Here are some of your memories. Drop me a line if you have Bonfire Night memories to share!
Your stories
Copyright (c) 2000-2001 Sue Kelly