I love Bonfire Night…….and we like to do it properly up here in Yorkshire.
Purely a UK festival celebrated on 5th November every year! So what is it? And what are we remembering? A lot of people might not even know……it’s a little bit like Christmas and Easter when people sometimes overlook the real reason for the festivities.
In the UK on the 5th November we are remembering the anniversary of a failed attempt on that date in 1605, by a gentleman called Guy Fawkes, to blow up the Houses of Parliament and everyone inside. This included the Protestant King James I. The intention of the plot was to replace him with a Catholic head of state. The plot failed and Guy Fawkes was quite literally hung, drawn and quartered.
So on the run up to 5th November it’s customary to make a ‘Guy’…….. (a scarecrow of Guy Fawkes). He is then burnt atop a huge bonfire which lasts for hours and culminates in fireworks to symbolise the explosives used in the plot. We get our old clothes on, because whatever you wear on bonfire night usually ends up smelling of smoke for ever and gets covered in ash burns.
We light sparklers and it’s also a good excuse to indulge in those bonfire night specialities……..toffee apples, pie and peas with mint sauce, molasses bonfire toffee, parkin (ginger cake) and just generally have a good old party!
In Yorkshire we like a party and we like to do it properly. This year did not disappoint. We might be a tiny village in the middle of nowhere but everyone turned out from miles around. We had a huge fire. I had my favourite steak pie and mushy peas with gravy and mint sauce in a plastic tray…….it would not be bonfire night without this! There was Bradfield brewery Belgian Blue in a plastic cup, banging tunes and we might be small in population……but certainly not in firework displays!
Until next year!