Another tradition under attack in England

I remember how much I enjoyed the fireworks and bonfires of Guy Fawkes night during my long-past Australian childhood but the fireworks have now been banned in Australia for many years

What is Guy Fawkes Night without the bonfire and Snow White minus the seven dwarfs? Or Pinocchio banned for mocking people with long noses and the Lord of the Rings’ dwarf removed for being offensive? If you didn’t laugh, you’d cry, it is often said. Especially when right is wrong and wrong deemed politically correct. And one will never cease to be amazed by the British style of seeing the funny side of adversity. But the latest pantomime - where the traditional Nov 5 bonfire is banned and Snow White’s dwarfs replaced with gnomes - beggars belief.

Instead of lighting a bonfire on Guy Fawkes Night, the residents were told to spend the evening more constructively, that is, quietly composting their garden waste! In its leaflet, the Test Valley Council in Hampshire claimed smoke from bonfires annoyed neighbours, made people ill and drifted over roads. Among others, the council cautioned that smoke, ash and smell polluted the environment and damaged people’s health, especially those suffering from asthma, bronchitis or heart conditions. It also warned of the dangers posed by bonfires spreading to surrounding fences and shrubs as well as smoke causing traffic hazards.

Against this health and safety backdrop, however, critics argued the ruling would turn the traditional exciting occasion into a damp squib. Better call it Garden Forks Night, screamed one British tabloid, while another labelled the event Compost Night. For centuries, Bonfire Night had gone off with a bang across Britain, with people burning wood for donkey’s years. Young and old have thrilled to the sight of a roaring blaze, colourful fireworks, baked potatoes and sausages - and of course, the effigy of Guy Fawkes on top of the burning pile.

Needless to say, not everyone cherishes the idea of attending big organised bonfires and fireworks displays at designated areas. Instead, they prefer a small bonfire with family members and friends gathered around to enjoy fireworks parties in their gardens. In truth, watching compost decompose may be safe, educational and environmental-friendly. But it certainly is not half as exciting as bonfires and fireworks displays.

Some even chided that Guy Fawkes did not put a compost heap under the Houses of Parliament, in an apparent reference to the failed plot by Fawkes and 12 conspirators some 400 years ago.

More here

But the tradition is celebrated in some places in Britain, as the following excerpt notes:

“On Saturday, residents of Lewes, a hilly town of 16,000 near England’s south coast, will parade through the streets dressed as smugglers, popes and Mongols, then set the night sky alight with bonfires and fireworks. They will be celebrating the 400th anniversary of the thwarting of the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a group of Catholic radicals are alleged to have tried to blow up Parliament and kill King James I.

Lewes’s Bonfire Night will attract as many as 150,000 people, making it the biggest event on the day in England. What began as a sectarian celebration of freedom from the rule of Rome has evolved into one of independence and anti-authoritarianism, said organizers. The Lewes bonfires continued even as government officials sought to suppress them in 1847”.

Posted by jonjayray on Saturday, November 5, 2005 at 10:47 AM in Liberalism & the Left
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Comments:

Posted by Andrew on November 05, 2005, 02:42 PM | #

Perhaps not PC, but the locals ought go down to the council offices with a thunder and plant one in each and every councilor’s orifice and light it. Turn it into a new Authoritarian saw bum night, maybe then they will get the picture, I seriously doubt it, but worth a try, at least it vents some anger against such self righteous immoral servitude displayed by a supposed authority, and only if people tell them where to get off and protest their anger, for if this is not achieved then servitude will be here to stay in all it’s corrupt forms.

Posted by Andrew on November 05, 2005, 04:33 PM | #

I should have mentioned that when anti protestations and Eco-Femo Nazis stole the virtues of Political power and commenced the brainwashing, we once had ethics-respect- and discipline : Now days it is in all forms a very short order. ME-ME –ME society and the connotations of a less professional approach and are more dangerous than our righteous leaders see fit to protect us from.: Interesting .
Broken Arrow theory to get us back on track. –or : how about a big bomb fire night- silly of me , Moslem Jihadists throughout Europe are doing that as we speak.

Posted by Guessedworker on November 05, 2005, 07:50 PM | #

John.

Thanks for posting something on the big annual event in my hometown of Lewes. I’m typing this at 23.46hrs local time, as the explosions are still sounding across the valley in the town.

Here are a few pics of what it will have looked like. They are from a year or two back. But it doesn’t matter. The whole point is that Bonfire Night does not much change.

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