And down goes another Guy.
The 5th of November marks a day of lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks in the neighbourhoods of UK (and elsewhere around the world). It is known as Guy Fawkes Day and is a day to commemorate the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, a plot by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London back in 1605. What’s interesting about the story is that Guy Fawkes was not the one who led the plan but was the one who was caught first by the authorities.
History aside, off to Winchester I went with my pals on the Saturday of the weekend right before Guy Fawkes Day to catch the Winchester Round Table Bonfire and Fireworks Display (after missing out on all of the celebrations last year). It was less than a 20-minute ride by train from the Airport Parkway Station in Southampton.
As we had a bit of time before the event later in the evening, we decided to take a walk along the city’s streets, visited the famous Winchester Cathedral and ate some awe-inspiring pies.
As the sun was setting, we climbed up two different hills to get a view of the city from above along with the sunset. That didn’t work out too well as the clouds were not budging one bit.
Darkness eventually fell and it was time to head to the bonfire grounds. We marched together with the deadly torch parade and reached the venue without losing each other. I lost my ticket though. Maybe some hair too
If it wasn’t apparent from the parade pictures, there were a lot of people. Hence, we simply made camp on the first free patch of ground we came in contact with within the vast field. I set up my tripod and hoped my first attempt at taking photos of fireworks made worth the pounds I paid.
The MC (wherever he was) counted down to the lighting of the bonfire which I had expected to be something similar to flinging a torch towards the base of the wooden structure, allowing it to slowly burn from bottom up.
I was wrong.
There were loud pops one after another, sparks flew everywhere and the whole structure was engulfed in flames within seconds.
Right after that, the fireworks were set off. The ground lighting, music and fireworks were coordinated to match each other which made the show much more enjoyable to the eyes and ears.
And that’s how my day ended with a bang.