Remember, remember

Did you know that Guy Fawkes wasn’t hung, drawn and quartered? The internet tells me that he actually threw himself off the gallows whilst awaiting the grisly execution they had planned, and he broke his neck and died. They still quartered him and sent chunks of his body to different parts of the country, but he didn’t have his testicles and his guts removed whilst he was still alive so, you know. Could have been worse!

Despite it being a very weird tradition, I really bloody love Bonfire Night. My grandad used to be a leader at the local Beaver Scouts and would host a small bonfire and firework party on a field he owns, which the grandkids used to go along to as well. Once the Beavers had all gone we’d gather in my grandparents kitchen for pie and peas. Not all good memories though. I remember one year crying because I had to wear the My Little Pony hat and scarf set my mum had lovingly chosen and bought for me, but I hated because the appliqué badge on the hat was really scratchy on the inside and made my forehead itchy and horrible - sorry Mum! There was also the year my older brother poked me in the eyes whilst wearing ski gloves. Ok, I *might* have goaded him a bit, but a prod in the eyes and an evening surrounded by smoke is not a good mix! 

This year we’ve had quite a lot firework action. We’ve seen quite a few out  bedroom window and on Thursday I walked the kids round the corner to our local PTA’s little display. Both kids really enjoyed it and I was glad of the test run for bigger display we had already booked tickets for.

Tonight we attended a fantastic display at Silverstone. Tickets granted you admission to the track for the day and for a stunt car display early evening. We decided to give that bit a miss to reduce chances of cold, whiney, kids by the time it actually got to the fireworks. Didn’t quite go that way, but was worth a shot!

I was definitely glad we’d booked tickets in advance. We walked straight through the gates, but the queue to buy tickets there was huge. There was one grandstand open with first come first served seating. We headed there first but there were only a few seats left right at the back, and not knowing where the fireworks were going off from we thought the canopy might obscure our view. We were lucky and managed to stand in a pretty good spot just in front of the grandstand. Although we had half an hour until the start of the display Charlotte was in the buggy, and Benjamin was in the sling so it wasn’t a problem. I’m glad we didn’t arrive any later than we did - I’ve no idea where they put all the people who were in the queue when we just waltzed in!

The fireworks themselves were really, really good, and tickets not that expensive at £12 a piece. There looked to be plenty of food and drink stalls, if needed, and someone selling bobble hats to those who weren’t quite prepared for the bitterly cold night.

One word of advice, take real note of where you park! The car park wasn’t very well lit and we had to walk a few laps of the general area of where we thought we were parked before we located the car. Also, be prepared for a long wait to get out of the carpark. Luckily Benjamin dropped off almost immediately, and Charlotte not long after we left the car park.

Just home and now and bed transfer was successfully completed. Time to warm up with a Baileys hot chocolate and maybe the final episode of Gunpowder.