Lived Experience Forum

[Neb]

Here in NZ you can buy fireworks over a few days only, and Melbourne Cup Day is also Guy Fawkes Day.

fortunately, they are fairly expensive , but me and the cat will be spooked. My neighbour sometimes get misfired ones coming onto her roof, which is distressing as she worries about fire of course.

i prefer the big communal thing! I am old enough to remember fireworks as a kiddie in Canberra, possibly the last year of family bonfires.....must have been around 1967-68 ?

[Appleblossom]

lovely memory @Neb

I only went to one .. not with my family but a huge communal fire in the grounds of the housing commission flats I lived in around 1970 ... everyone was invited ... left a vivid imprint ... first I heard of Guy Fawkes ... probably 3 metres high by about 10 metres wide ... or maybe thats a kid getting size wrong .... but anyway ... just brought a smile to me as I remembered some of the positive elements of being raised in the much maligned ... flats.

[suzanne]

Hi @Neb, I'm with you too about the communal event.  I grew up in England and have great memories of the school bonfire and fireworks.  It was a huge event - weeks of students collecting wood to build the bonfire and then a really brilliant night.  Of course one or two people were generally injured - firecrackers falling into gumboots etc - but that was back when health and safety didn't dictate how we live our lives quite so much.  We all thought the risk was worth it.

Having firecrackers so easily available in England makes it a bit of a nightmare around Guy Fawkes night.  I'm happy to be here where there is less random firecracker action.  But I do miss the big bonfires.

[Appleblossom]

its sad that some elements of "health and safety" policies have had the effect of brealing down community positive action ... some of those teens out there doing random crackers ... might have liked and pulled their weight in those scenes of the past.