Bonfire and fireworks

Rockets Rushing in the dark
Sparklers Sparkling Silver and gold
Fierce and Fiery, what a display
Bonfire Burning Bright
Scarey Sounds up in the Sky
BANG !! BANG !! BANG !!

Bonfire Night/Guy Fawkes

What a wonderful evening we have had tonight. It rained at first but we kept on undeterred and the rain soon passed. We enjoyed a few dazzling fireworks - how the boys jumped with glee!

Then we lit a fire.

We gathered around that to keep warm and cosy, sausages on sticks, marshmallows too, and parkin cake, and telling stories under the vast, dark sky - quiet all around. Mostly dog and star stories! Our dog enjoyed himself too. We will remember this night with warm memories.

The boys went to sleep with sparkling eyes and rosy cheeks.

Remember, remember the fifth of November

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot."



Tomorrow night is Bonfire Night or Guy Fawkes Night in UK. Some four hundred years ago, Guy Fawkes and a group of plotters attempted to blow up the House of Parliament in London with barrels of gunpowder. They planned to kill King James and other leaders. Their attempt failed. Traditionally, it's a night to light bonfires, enjoy firework displays, burn an effigy or Guy, and celebrate that the plot failed.

Whilst we don't burn a Guy on the bonfire, setting off fireworks and having a small bonfire is a fun autumn evening activity and, in fact, fire rituals at this time seem to date back to earlier pagan times.

So we are planning a bonfire, setting off some small child-friendly fireworks, ensuring all animals are safe and happy, and doing some apple-bobbing in a tub of warm water!

We will roast some sausages and later some marshmallows over the fire, make baked potatoes and drink warm ginger milk. We will also make traditional parkin cake, a moist sticky ginger oatmeal cake for Guy Fawkes Night.