Bonfires, Bangers and Banzzzzzzz! ..................................and Rockets too!
November 5th., Guy Fawkes and Fireworks in Plymouth UK in 1998
(click to enlarge)
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For the Love of Bangers by my pyro buddy Nick Sampford from Ware...........Where?
The earliest memories of Bangers was around the end of the sixties, I think the first time I ever see or heard one, I was about 6 years old and my Uncle and Auntie had a house warming/bonfire party, my Dad and Uncle Ron were lighting them on the wall and all the children were running away and hiding down the alley. I also remember two boys lighting Bangers by the river, I'm not sure if this was before or after the Firework party .
I was hooked , the first Bangers I ever remember by name were Pains, you could buy them loose two and a Happenny/2.5p each or Half a crown/12.5p for 12 , my mates brother who was a few years older than me got me two, a Crackerjack and a Little Terror, they were my pride and joy, there were two others, one was called a Cannon Crasher, the other a London Rouser, I think .
A couple of years later , the last year at Junior School was when we really got in to Bangers, at that time you only had to be 13 to buy fire works, and we were around 11 at the time, so we had to get people to buy them for us. Our favourite shop was Miss Drewery`s Sweet Shop. She would sell Bangers from the first of September. She sold Pains, Standard and Astra and could never keep up with demand. ....Well we would hang around the shop until someone who looked like they would get them for us came past ...."excuse me would you get us some Banger please? ", most people didn't mind , except one lady said "I'm gonna tell your Nan what your up to," but my Nan was a lovely lady who got them for us on more than one occasion and never told my Mother. We always went for Pains if we could,... they came in a wonderful red and white box with a picture of Guy Fawkes on it; we would open it to find twelve Bangers held together with a small elastic band, most of the time we got Little Terrors , now and again Crackerjacks and London Rousers and very rarely Cannon Crashers, Cannon Crashers always seemed very hard to get hold of , so to a small boy they were the loudest, and swops would be made , 2 Little Terrors for a Cannon Crasher always seemed a good swop, especially if you had the Cannon Crashers.
Next choice would be Standard , again we had our favourites, we knew that Booms were the loudest but you only got 4 for 2/bob/10por six pence/2.5p each..... they never seemed value for money, the same with 3-2-1 Zero's they were 6 for two bob or 4 pence/2p, each our favourites were Little Demons, the other were Cannons and Bangers ...all of these were 7 for 2 bob/10p they all came a card with a moulded plastic cover so you could see what they were , another thing I remember were 3-2-1 Zero's that had fuse caps. They were red and fitted over the touch paper, they were like dust cap off a bike inner tube valve , but I only remember them on the singles not on the packeted ones .
Then there was the others. We did have Astra on more than one occasion , but I don`t remember them with the same love and passion as Pains and Standard , we did have Benwell and they were from Martins the newsagents. Their Bangers were the last resort , as they ended up as poor tame efforts. I do remember a boy spending a £1of his birthday money , on Benwell Bangers ,10 packets there were four types of them Mighty Atom , Thunder Clap and two more, which I can`t remember, well we let them all of and I remember think I'm not going to buy any of them. I can remember going to Hertford the next town to us, to see what they had there. They had Brocks which were quite good on the same loudness as Standard. We walked home along the river letting them off,... I also remember on one occasion Bangers called Royal Salute I think they were by Wilders,... the name I'm sure of, but not the makers.
Around the end of September we used to go conkering up the cow fields we were always armed with Bangers , one trick we got up to was to put a Banger into a cow pat right up to the fuse light it and stand round it , it would blow the pat to bits covering at least one of us in s!!!!! [ lovely boys]
The next few years were much the same plenty of Pains and Standard Bangers and lots of fun . Then it happened we brought a box of Pains Bangers, the box was the same but gone were the brightly coloured bangers replaced with these thin dull looking red and white bangers , our fears were realised when we lit one instead of a loud bang there was a futt*!*! just like a Benwell Banger , gutted was the feeling... I would say this was around the early seventies , we gave up on Pains then and spent nearly all our money on Standard. Around this time we lost Booms , but there were still the others they lasted a few more years, then our local hardware shop which had the biggest selection of Standard fireworks, put on his great display, and they had gone. All that was left were "Standard Bangers" ,who's great idea was that , why not keep Little Demon, "Banger" was so unimaginative..... the great days of Bangers were gone , ..
..maybe they were one of the most dangerous fireworks but compared to drugs and todays crazes they were very tame. I never heard of Banger crazed kid mugging old ladies for money to fuel their Banger habit!
My only regret was in not saving one of each of them. How I wish I had them now to show my boy what the good old days were like . But I do have this Pains -Wessex badge and my memories helped me create this artwork of Pains Fireworks.
Consumer Fireworks on public sale in Plymouth
November is that time of year when shop windows have a special interest for any Pyro worth his powder. A walk down the High Street will have the pyros eyes wandering here and there and wondering if there is any thing special in there...invariably not so , as if there was it would be banned.
Lets have a look as to what was on sale locally. This year we had no bangers, no Chinese Crackers, no Mini Rockets (apart from stickless mini rockets in this cake!!! and small rockets about 1 or 2mm bigger than the banned mini, guess it must now be a smalli!!) and no large mega cakes (max weight now is 10kg. less wood etc. like this one here, closed, and open, and out...fired from within box, this photo for illustration only) , at least for "public use". Shells went some time ago now. To you folks overseas this is due to Britain having a Nanny State in power telling the population what is good for them. In a country that brought democracy to a large part of the world, this is a sad and worrying development. The buzz word of our guardians, those we elect is "ban, ban, bann, bannnnnn, and lots of bannzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz! Ban is a common word on UK tv today, what ever it is "ban it." History tells us of another socialist government who robbed folks of freedom, headed by a man with a dead slug on his lip as a moustache. Sadly few consumer fireworks are now made in Britain, 99.99% being Chinese, even Standard being now owned by Black Cat and sporting an almost 100% oriental selection; and some, for the first time this year coming from India.
As this is a non commercial page, shop names have been omitted.
Plymouth City centre, this shop has a splendid selection of fireworks as always. (Selling confectionery, magazines, books and plastic models all the rest of the year) Trading with fireworks for coming up to 20 years he has a good reputation. This year however the display cases held few loose fireworks as the UK government seeks to BAN the sale of individual cheap fireworks so as to reduce accidents...a bit like only being allowed to but a pint of petrol and not a gallon to reduce the risk of me throwing it over my head and setting myself on fire. Brian Marsden is the helpful owner. 1.......2..........3...........4..........just look at the gems in this glass case .5...........6.........(250k of pyro pic!)
Mutley Plain, Plymouth. This shop only wakes up once a year, (coming up from Bodmin in Cornwall) using a long term vacant shop, shades of Brigadoon. They do a good job and Graham the manager is very helpful as indeed it seems all firework people are.....1.........2.......3........4......looking in the glass cases now.....5.........6........7.....
Crownhill used to be a small village on the outskirts of Plymouth, now it has been swallowed up. It boasts a Post Office that sells tasty fireworks and the owner tells me that he was first involved with fireworks in 1945. What must have passed through his hands!..Just what stock must have once resided in this glass case ..1...........2.............3..............4...
A positive development was a local electrical shop in Keyham Plymouth venturing into the firework trade. Hopefully they will do the same next year.....1.......2.......3.........4.........notice the signs "discount" fireworks, many retailers seemingly having to trim profit margins down to achieve sales hindered by a hysterical media and control freak style of government. This man was very pyro friendly and we need more like him.
Squeezed in among chewing gum, cigarettes and chocolate, this retailer had a good collection of fireworks in his location in the centre of a large residential area. This is now the only sort of shell publicly available...a 50mm shell on a rocket.
Motoring up to the very lovely medieval town of Totnes, about 30mins drive, we have a newsagents and gift shop in the High Street run by two pyro brothers... (one of whom is camera shy)...and do they have fireworks......YES SIR! As well as the run of the mill firework selection boxes, they have a grand collection of larger display fireworks.....1..........2.........3........4.........5.( this is an ice cream freezer in the summer!)......6......(360k of pyro pic. ..this case is a soft drink chiller at other times!!)..These two rockets show how we are still able to buy large shellburst rockets in the UK...one has two screamer units fitted to the motor body and advises use of ear protection on firing..."lovely jubbly" as we say over here chaps and chapesses.
Penny for the Guy
Happily some youngsters were braving terrible wet and windy weather to keep this custom alive. Whether the money they raised was to be spent on fireworks is another matter as the media has engendered a genuine sense of fear in many parents about family back yard displays, but of course all this fits in with the sad demise of the family unit in the UK, and the concept of any family doing anything as a "family event" is a bit alien!...it takes too much time...As families watch life being played out in TV soaps, rather than doing it themselves, they watch firework shows rather than doing it themselves, those that do it, seem to think the viewing distance for a sparkler is 25m.....1........2........3......4........5........6.....or even a Guy making competition.
Bonfires
Nanny state officials in Plymouth announced the banning of..(that "B" word again) Bonfires on council owned land. As the council own much of the land in Plymouth, this presented problems to many here in Plymouth. However in the day before the 5th. some bonfires did appear, sadly many did not, breaking a long tradition of community gathering in many urban areas. Whether these bonfires were illegal....dial 999 quick.....or the council realised how cras they are, or they found they did not have the power to enforce this new nanny law is not clear, but thankfully some went ahead. This one here is at North Prospect in Plymouth. It even made itself into the local press, the Evening Herald. Building a SAFE Bonfire is a valuable exercise in helping young people to work as a team, to cooperate, plan and execute a task. I well recall how many personal skills my son used when he was young in his scavenger hunts for old bits of wood.
Fireworks on sale in the shops in Ware area of Hertfordshire....by my pyro buddy Nick Sampford
Enfield, note how in these photos you can see the not so common "Octavius Hunt" brand of fireworks and aslo "Kimbolton" fireworks which may mean that some of them are BRITISH....yikes! 1..........2........3............4..........5.........6.........7.........8.......9........10 note - how this "shop" is actually a container pallet as used for container freight. The two children are Nick`s son, Tom, and daughter, Kirsty.
Sherringham, Norfolk, 1......2......3....
Ware, Herts 1........2...... Nick bought these two Standard mines, among many other items, they look great.
This old looking, and very probably old being advertising board for a Pains display was seen at Bishops Stortford. There were 3 yellow ones, plus this one. This one and one of the yellow ones seem to be in the original paint coat.
GHOST FIREWORKS....thanks to John Pitfield for these labels.....1.......2.......3.........4.......5......
Standard Fireworks Garden Fireworks of 1998
Nova and Shining Star selection boxes...pure Chinese material, however the box has a nice feel when opened as all the fireworks are lovingly wrapped in blue tissue paper.
A popular brand of Chinese Firework was Golden Lion. I suspect however that the actual fireworks inside are identical to those inside Cosmic and Bright Star boxes...just differently shell wrapped.
Bring on those Indian Fireworks
The November 1998 firework season saw the last minute arrival of British Standard complying Indian Fireworks. Made in India by Standard Fireworks of India, they have been imported into the UK under the " Peacock" Brand trade mark. A sticker has been applied to hide the name of Standard, and replace it with the name of "Rajaratnam" Fireworks Industies of Sivakasi, India.
The fireworks are beautifully made and work well. Hopefully we shall see more of these next year to give one some relief from such a predictable Chinese diet.
Each firework is individually box packed, often in a plain white box, which when opened, reveals the jewels inside. Do they look great or what? ...What design. ...What colour. These cakes look good enough to eat.
A large 500 shot Indian cake....1..........2.......
NOVEMBER
5th...a British site
JOHN BENNETT`S SUPER FIREWORK MAGAZINE SITE....Britain
LARRY CRUMP`S SUPER AMERICAN FIREWORK SITE
LARRY CRUMP`S SUPER ROCKET SITE
TOM WENKE`S AMERICAN SITE
Link to other Steve Johnson Cyberheritage web sites and e-mail links
