To all the Ex-Pats living overseas.
I'm sat here at my window watching the fireworks I can smell the bonfires and roasting spuds...The wife has made some Parking and bonfire toffee....and the kids are out there loving it.
Do's anybody miss this ???

irework Club

We used to save a few pennies each week with the local newsagent for our fireworks.

Come the magic day there would be queue of kids (some with Mums so they could not blow it all on 'Air Bombs') outside the shop - when you got inside there was that magic smell that fireworks gave off.

The spending pattern was always the same....as big a 'Selection Box' you could afford and spend the change on loose fireworks.

Our newsagent used to have a tray which he got from under the counter full of catherine wheels, bangers etc. and we chose from that......

god, the Health & Safety people would do their nut nowadays.

Weeks before (or so it seemed) we built our bonfire on some 'spare' land. Someone was always throwing out an old sofa, so that became base camp. We always had someone there from the gang to protect our stash of wood etc from raiders - mind you, that did not stop us going out on our own hunts for suitable inflammable stuff.

......and we asctually used to light and throw bangers!!! - what were we doing????

Originally posted by Timbuck
To all the Ex-Pats living overseas.
I'm sat here at my window watching the fireworks I can smell the bonfires and roasting spuds...The wife has made some Parking and bonfire toffee....and the kids are out there loving it.
Do's anybody miss this ???

Sorry much as I love Sheff I to could see fireworks, eat parkin, and roasted spuds
But do it in a much warmer less stressful climate
cheers

Originally posted by GJ2004
Sorry much as I love Sheff I to could see fireworks, eat parkin, and roasted spuds
But do it in a much warmer less stressful climate
cheers To right,, I 'll agree with you there.

We had a good old fashioned bonfire party and it was Excellent, loads of baked potatos, parkin, marshmallows and chilli, we all stayed up half the night including most of the kids and had a brilliant Sheffield bonfire night.
I lived in NZ for many years and it just wasnt the same, you have to be all huddled in someones back garden and become 5yrs old again, esting hot spuds in the cold.

Talking of fireworks, what happened to brand names like:- Brock, Standard, Lyon, these were the only names available when we were kids, what a shame that all fireworks today seem to be made abroad. We were invited to the Niagra grounds for the night, i've never heard such loud bangs, some of the air mortars sounded like bombs going off.

Iyou brought some memories back with this, I can smell the bonfire right now, and there was always the toffee which was so sticky your teeth stuck together, I really really miss those daysOriginally posted by Timbuck
To all the Ex-Pats living overseas.
I'm sat here at my window watching the fireworks I can smell the bonfires and roasting spuds...The wife has made some Parking and bonfire toffee....and the kids are out there loving it.
Do's anybody miss this ???

I recall staging 'commando'-style raids on other kids' bonfires in the early seventies. We would delight in igniting 'rival' bonfires, usually a couple of weeks before 'Bommy night', creeping stealthily away into the night like a Wincobank version of the Viet Cong.

One of the pack of cackling gremlins is now a senior figure in South Yorks Police. I sometimes wonder if, as is the case with me, a smile plays about his lips as he recalls our former exploits? I would like to think so. I suppose, in truth, we were demented bloody fools and a menace to civilised people with our bonfire raids. Sorry if we burnt yours down....

Originally posted by GJ2004
Sorry much as I love Sheff I to could see fireworks, eat parkin, and roasted spuds
But do it in a much warmer less stressful climate
cheers

Carn't see much point in having a blazing bonfire and hot roasted spuds in warmer climes, and the only stress is wondering if your bangers and catherine wheels are going to last the night out.
WE used to build the Guy in all its finary about a week before the big night which usually meant me getting blamed for any lost clothing of my Dads, then we would load it onto a pram or cart and go round all the pub's and club's asking for a penny for the Guy, we usually finished up with a couple of quid.
So a thank you to G. F. YOU MIGHT HAVE MADE A BIT OF A MESS OF IT DOWN LONDON WAY MATE, BUT YOU GAVE ME SOME GOOD MEMORIES (AS DID ROSEANNE. LOL)

Indeed I do miss it. They have Bonfire Night in some of the Eastern Provinces of Canada, but not a sniff here. I send all my workmates Guy Fawkes email cards every 5th of November.

We have lived in Canada for 40 years, we still celebrate bonfire night, and it has become a tradition, neighbours and friends always have a good time. Instead of roasted potatoes and toffee, we roast a pig,, make a big pan of chilli, and pea soup. Someone always makes a guy, we have plenty of fireworks, and beer. A good time is always had

We have lived in Canada for 40 years, we still celebrate bonfire night, and it has become a tradition, neighbours and friends always have a good time. Instead of roasted potatoes and toffee, we roast a pig,, make a big pan of chilli, and pea soup. Someone always makes a guy, we have plenty of fireworks, and beer. A good time is always had
I'll agree with you on that one and as for us we have another reason to celebrate Nov 5th my grandaughter was born on the 5th :love:

In the sixties I always used to go to the fire and fireworks at the City General. It was run by a few of the staff (one of whom was my brother).
They stacked up as much wood as they could get, in the grass area between the two kids wards, and lit it as soon as it got dark. They had a good few quids worth of fireworks too, and it really made it all worthwhile. Cathy Wheels nailed to posts, Roman Candles, Jumpin Jacks, that kind of thing. There was always a couple of big rockets for the finale. The kids would gaze out through the window, their faces lit by the flashing pyros. It was almost Dickensian.
Afterwards we would all go into the staff bar where the junior doctors got drunk, but as soon as they started singing rugby songs, I had to go home

I wish i was back in sheff. I moved to Canada in 04. I really miss bonfire night. We had a massive fire in the back garden, and my dad would do the spuds on the side of it. I loved going to wigleys newsagents and getting bonfire toffee. We lived on Ridgehill Ave, with the house backing on to the park. It was great. For anyone out there. We were the Hancocks.
If you remember anyone it would be my brother Billy. Need i say more

I sure do,I now live in Canada..I miss the parkin,and the bonfire toffee,roasted spuds,everything about it..

I sure do,I now live in Canada..I miss the parkin,and the bonfire toffee,roasted spuds,everything about it..

Will someone remind me. What is or was "parkin?" The name rings a bell but I just don't remember it. Was it a kind of cake?

Someone mentioned that in eastern Canada Bonfire night is celebrated. That's pretty much confined to Newfoundland, where I lived for many years. As an ex British colony, only having joined Canada in 1949, Nfld has kept many of the British traditions. They drink a lot of tea there. Their flag until recently used to be the Union Jack. And Bonfire night is celebrated in some neighborhoods. Unfortunately, while I lived there, it was being blighted by vandals who would throw propane tanks on the bonfires, necessitating the calling out of the fire brigade.

Will someone remind me. What is or was "parkin?" The name rings a bell but I just don't remember it. Was it a kind of cake?

Yes - a delicious dark-coloured cake, made with oatmeal, ground ginger and treacle (or golden syrup). Here's Delia Smith's recipe: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/traditional-oatmeal-parkin,1586,RC.html My mother made it with coarse oatmeal and black treacle; it used to stick to your teeth but was scrumptious...

Yes we have plenty firework for the young, but of course we could never light up for such a huge failure, now if Guy had blown up the H of P, i get all goose pimples just thinking about it

The only reason I used to miss it, is that Nov 5th is my birthday. So I associated fireworks with my birthday, well now that I've lived in Canada 34yrs it's just a distant memory now.

Yes - a delicious dark-coloured cake, made with oatmeal, ground ginger and treacle (or golden syrup). Here's Delia Smith's recipe: http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/traditional-oatmeal-parkin,1586,RC.html My mother made it with coarse oatmeal and black treacle; it used to stick to your teeth but was scrumptious...

Thks, Hillsboro. I think my aunt used to make it. Over here, "treacle" is difficult to find. I wonder if I could substitute molasses for black treacle. The "golden syrup" should be OK as Lyle's is in the supermarkets. I'll give it a try.