My Blog

A bit about me . . . I am at present a member of both a Village and a Lewes Bonfire Society and have been involved for over thirty years . I have worked in many areas of the bonfire night celebrations and have done loads of research into the history of the Sussex Martyrs and the Gunpowder Plot , Have been on both sides of the law as in arrested and arresting ! , and felt the wrath of stupid bonfire society politics.

Am I a Lewes Bonfire Boye ? . . Well I`m not a Lewisian thats for sure but I adore and believe in everything that the Sussex and Lewes Bonfire Celebrations stand for , which is freedom of speech , thoughts and religion , tolerant to other peoples views or beliefs and finally remembrance to those that died fighting for their beliefs and our freedom. I consider myself a Lewes and Sussex Bonfire Boye first and a bonfire society member second.

"To Be Able To Druv A Lewisian
You Will Need A Very Good Reason"

I strongly believe that bad acts of the past should be remembered such as Nazism , Slavery , Popery and the Bomb , so hopefully later generations will learn from our mistakes. A site of this nature is never going to be finished either as I am constantly on the look out for new additions and arguments to throw in.

So yes I think I am a Bonfire Boye and feel qualified enough to be putting a site of this nature together, and I am always looking for new facts and info and to include them into this site as and when I find them. Many facts have been lost over the years and there is a lot of crap and hype concerning the bonfire celebrations out there which needs to be corrected.

My basic aim is to tell the story as it is historically known to me and to make you the reader to seek out the truth and to make you sit up and think and help you understand the deep rooted Sussex traditions and to remove the glorifications and misunderstandings of the Sussex and Lewes Bonfire Night Celebrations.

If someone out there could explain to me with a 100 per cent proof as to why the Bonfire Celebrations only happen in Lewes and Sussex area then I will shut this site down a very happy bonfire boye indeed.

So yes I do know more than a load of so called hardcore bonfire society members than given credit for , but I do not consider myself as a historian just deeply interested in the history of the Sussex and Lewes Bonfire Celebrations. I have spoken to several members and they have not got a clue why they are out on the 5th or whatever date their bonfire celebration happens to be on . . Bless Em Eh !

They mention won`t be druv and all that , but when it comes to push to shove they shove so very easily ! . . Like Lambs To The Slaughter ! . Also they wouldnt know a clematis within a bush if it jumped out at them . . Lol

You might think I am hiding behind the name of V , but if you learn to use your pc properly you will find out who I am and those in the know will know who I am anyway . Its just my way of winding peoples up . . He He .

The new season will soon be well under way for many by the time you read this, and a very interesting one it will be as well. Many a Bonfire Society having had a good bonfire night last year celebrating the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, There were a lot of events last year marking Guy Fawkes ill fated plan and good on him to, because what else would we be doing if the plan had never been conceived.

Quite a few interesting events so far this year worthy of a possible tableux or setpiece for example , The Oxo Cube, Afghanistan, The Election, Budget Cuts, The Battle Of Britain, The The World Cup, The Global Economy, The BP Oil Rig Fiasco, The Icelandic Volcano and Thomas Paine .

"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom."  Thomas Paine

Can you imagine a world without the bonfire season, the outmeetings, months of fundraising, bonfire costume making, torch making, torch dipping, society politics, committee meetings, designing and setting up firework displays, effigy and tab making, health and safety, council politics, police politics, insurance, rookies, chineese crackers, flares, harveys beer, the aroma of sulphur and paraffin and lastly the good old Lewes Bonfire Night Celebrations. Cant imagine sitting around flower pressing can you ?

Whether as a bonfire boye / belle or spectator have a safe, explosive, enjoyable bonfire season , but please remember the reasons behind it all . . Freedom of Speech and Remembrance and please no prams / pushchairs or fur coats .

SEE YOU AT THE BONFIRES . . .

My Recommended Viewing

V for Vendetta . . Be ready for the first real movie that requires you to engage your brain in order to fully absorb the experience. V for Vendetta is in a league of its own. Sure to rile up those who don’t believe films should delve into politics, V for Vendetta is an explosive, timely political thriller that presents an ideology sure to provoke thoughtful conversation from an audience not normally fed such high-caliber intellectual fare , A brilliant film with an explosive end ! , Reminded me of the Phamtom of the Opera though .

Gunpowder, Treason & Plot . . Robert Carlyle leads a prestigious cast in this lavish production. Peoples with infamous characters, driven by compelling drama and life with love, lust, politics and prejudice, you will be offered a gripping ride through a fascinating period of history. Set against the brutal landscape of rebellion against religious repression.

'Gunpowder, Treason and Plot' dramalises the short reign of Mary, Queen of Scots and the extraordinary battle of her son, James I, with the Catholic conspiracy against him. Guy Fawkles' Gunpowder Plot became one of the most scandalous events in English history, and remains so to this day , Loved this movie , Its the nearest you are going to get to learning the truth and I used the costumes in it for ideas for one of my own bonfire costumes .

Elizabeth I . . Helen Mirren plays the lead role of Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth I , written by award-winning screenwriter and acclaimed novelist Nigel Williams ("The Wimbledon Poisoner", "Bertie and Elizabeth" and "Uncle Adolf"). The drama begins in 1579 and portrays Elizabeth , the daughter of Henry VIII during her later years. It exposes the conflict between her sense of duty and the instincts of her heart, her doomed affair with the Earl of Essex, and the struggles of a powerful and independent woman battling to survive in a male-dominated world.

During her reign, Elizabeth became one of England's most admired monarchs, having resisted the Spanish Armada and having reunified the nation after it was divided by religious factionalism. Her successes and popularity led to the creation of the 'Virgin Queen' legend, but this drama, for the first time, delves beyond this myth and attempts to uncover the real woman behind the crown , This movie goes hand in hand with the above for bonfire costume ideas and history reality.

Mrs Brown . . A romantic drama, this John Madden film looks at the relationship between Queen Victoria and John Brown, a commoner who, though a servant, becomes her closest friend and confidant. As such, he proves the catalyst to bring her back into public life and out of her private mourning for the late Prince Albert. But the closeness of their friendship sets tongues wagging about the impropriety of what appears to be an affair between queen and commoner.

Mrs Brown's charm lies in the flinty give-and-take between the wonderfully starchy Judi Dench as Victoria and the robust Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, here playing it straight as a strong-willed Scotsman who comes to enjoy the power he wields by virtue of having the queen's ear. Antony Sher is also striking as Prime Minister Disraeli, in a performance that all but shimmers with unspoken malice.

I like this movie for the costume drama mainly , but it has a feel for the troubled years of Guy Fawkes and the Martyrs etc .

Van Helsing . . It's the end of the 19th century, and monsters are slowly overrunning the world. Luckily for the unsuspecting public, the Vatican (that's right, the Vatican) has trained and dispatched its own professional monster-killer, Gabriel Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman, X-Men, Swordfish), to protect the world from the ever-growing threat.

Its a silly hero type of movie really and has nothing to do with Guy Fawkes etc , but it is a wicked movie . It shows the darker side of bonfire night at times in my mind also there are some brilliant costume ideas .

Amadeus . . In a lavish 18th Century parlor in Austria, an elderly man is found, by his servant, with his throat slashed. The wound is self-inflicted, and the man is the little-known composer Salieri , contemporary and adversary of the now-famed, but once reviled, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart .
Later. from his cell in an insane asylum, Salieri tells a priest the story of his association with Mozart, confessing that he actually killed the brilliantly gifted but troubled young man. Actually a sad film once understood , but a great costume drama of which I based my Mozart Bonfire Costume on.

My Recommended Reading

Lewes on the Fifth by Andy Thomas

This book tells the story of Bonfire in Lewes today with spectacular and atmospheric full-colour photographs, and is an insightful visual guide to an extraordinary annual event and its enduring convictions, With a foreword by renowned Bonfire historian, Jim Etherington.

Remember, Remember
The Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot.
I see no reason
Why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes t`was his intent
To blow up the King and the Parliment.
Three score barrels of powder below
Poor old England to overthrow.

By God`s providence he was catched
With a dark lantern and burning match.
Holler boys, Holler boys, ring bells ring,
Holler boys, Holler boys, God save the King.

BELOW IS MY ALL TIME FAVORITE TOY.. IT BEATS STAMP COLLECTING ! . . HAS GOT ME INTO MORE TROUBLE THAN I CAN REMEMBER , THE LOCAL CONSTABULARY HATE THEM . . . . . CANT THINK WHY !

A firecracker display in Malaysia in 1988 used over 3 million crackers, measured almost 6 kilometres and burned for over 9 hours - the longest display on record.

Tis better to keep thy mouth shut and look stupid than to open it and remove all doubt !

A punk ignites the revolutionary
Pierces the armor of Darwin's reality
The audience expects a capricious morning glory
Avoiding cypress trails of social inhospitality

Flash-burned fingers mingle over the fuse
A sparkle takes and the cautious fingers move
Smoldering fumes color space with gray hues
Anticipation abates to silence as the universe is loose

The fantasia of fan tracery flames betray
In a new and exonerating way
A single, sudden explosion is all they ever claim
And a dying dance of sparkles is all that remains

The question remains, where do sparkles go
After they've fallen and have finished their show?
Who lit the fuse, and how long ago?
Is the end something we aught to know?

A burned-out, cardboard husk litters the square
The sultry smoke still lingers in the air
The audience goes home and forgets what was there
Or was scientific theory only a calculated error ?
Stephen W. Cote

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