A STEAMING SAUSAGE , A QUICK FLASH AND A LOUD BANG

The title may sound like an evening out with Mr C and Frobisher , but I refer of course to Guy Fawkes Night or what is fast becoming Guy Fawkes Fortnight in the uk.

It is a celebration of the foiling of the infamous 'Gun Powder plot' a group of disgruntled catholics led by Mr Fawkes hell bent on blowing up good protestant king James and the houses of parliament . Mr Fawkes was caught , unfairly tried and then to add insult to injury hung drawn and quartered , who said protestants dont know how to have fun !. Mr Fawkes unseemly end is now celebrated annually on the 5th of November with Bonfires (with Mr Fawkes being burned in effigy) and fireworks.

I cant help remembering childhood Bonfire nights . We would all gather in Ma and Pa Beasties garden after dark , it was always cold with that autumn smell in the air .
We would then have about half an hour of rubbish fire works. Rockets that you had to stand in a milk bottle that just went whooooshhhhhhhh followed by a weedy phut , catherine wheels that span once then exploded , these crappy things with big fanciful names like The Mummies Tomb or Pandoras Box , when you lit them , you got a flame that changed colour if you where lucky , something that looked like a dog turd used to curl out the top and clouds of choking sulphorous smoke (could have been called MJ's Minge then HA HA HA....ahem) , ooooh and sparklers.
This was followed by lighting the bonfire with the 'Guy' made out of old clothes stuffed with newspaper on top.
Jacket potatoes , sausages hot from the oven , hot soup in big mugs and crusty warm bread were all dished out , while all the kids burnt stuff and messed with the bonfire.
If you have not poked a bonfire with a stick you have not lived .
When it was all burnt down and everyone was roasted on the front , frozen on the back and reeking of smoke we would all go in for hot cocoa in front of a roaring log fire with Bonfire cake (made with chocolate fingers so it looked like a bonfire geddit..... , with a guy made of licourice allsorts) and Pa Beasty used to tell us ghost stories by firelight before bed.
It was magical :-)

These days the fire works are bigger and flasher , bonfires are not allowed at public events due to European health and saftey laws..........and its just lost its magic.

Or maybe I grew up

What a drag