Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

A bit of a change of pace... As I sit here in London typing this message, I can hear sporadic bangs around the neighbourhood thanks to it being Guy Fawkes night.

My favourite kind of fireworks is rockets. I also like the kind of big roman candles that send up bangy and whizzy things, and of course sparklers. I didn't buy any this year.

When I was a boy we had something called jumping jacks, or backerrappers, which jumped around while banging and flashing. They were made illegal in the 1970s.

Thanks to Nov 5 being on a Wednesday there are about as many public displays next weekend as there are tonight.

What is Guy Fawkes?

He is the bloke who tried to blow up the UK Parliament on Nov 5th, 1605. He was the explosives expert in a coup attempt done by disaffected catholics.

Tried? Sounds like he was less expert then he should have been

Is it an excuse to drink? If so then this is a Frazzled approved holiday.

The gunpowder had deteriorated during storage. The plot was revealed before the explosion and Guy Fawkes was caught red-handed by security forces in the cellars under Parliament where the barrels were stored.

To this day, the cellars of the Houses of Parliament are ceremonially patrolled to prevent a recurrence.

There is a theory that the plot was got up by devious intelligence staff as a means of trapping and eradicating unwelcome catholic elements.

Drinking is not recommended for the person in charge of lighting off the fireworks. For everyone else, drink and warming food such as baked potatoes and hamburgers are usually offered.

I was sad to learn I missed the main display I usually go to as it was last saturday - I thought it would be this weekend :( Ah well nevermind, I live on a hill so I just have to crane my neck slightly to look out of the window and then I can see the huge numbers of fireworks that are still going off. Nothing like a saturday nov 5th though when the air is thick with the smell of fireworks over the whole of London, but wednesday will have to do this year.

Kilkrazy wrote:Drinking is not recommended for the person in charge of lighting off the fireworks. For everyone else, drink and warming food such as baked potatoes and hamburgers are usually offered.

You probably wouldn't want to visit the southern US come firework season then. A bunch of drunks shooting off exploding rockets is always entertaining.


As for personal favorite fireworks - Mortars. BIG bada BOOM I think they are called something else which I can't seem to remember though. Its a ball of explosives with a long fuse that you put down a long plastic tube. It flies up with a whump and then explodes in multicolors. Tie 2 together and things get even better. Put 6 tubes in a line and light them all off and it gets really loud, but I digress.

legoburner wrote:I was sad to learn I missed the main display I usually go to as it was last saturday - I thought it would be this weekend :( Ah well nevermind, I live on a hill so I just have to crane my neck slightly to look out of the window and then I can see the huge numbers of fireworks that are still going off. Nothing like a saturday nov 5th though when the air is thick with the smell of fireworks over the whole of London, but wednesday will have to do this year.

There's a big display after the Lord Mayor's Show on Saturday.

The bleeders have been crackling around my neck of the woods. It's pretty aggrevating to be honest; I'm thinking about climbing on to my roof with a distress flare and shouting for a ceasefire. Maybe I'll wear my pink and starry underpants to win them over (or at least distract them).

Kilkrazy wrote:There's a big display after the Lord Mayor's Show on Saturday.

I went to that one a couple of years back, and while the fireworks were fantastic, the crowds made it quite hard to get a good spot to see it all. I have tickets for a local display this weekend so I'm not going to miss out To anyone who has not been to the Lord Mayor's fireworks before, I would definitely recommend it so long as you get there early.