Rodda's annual fireworks at his Crown and Sceptre

Helena arranged for Sam to come round at 6-20pm this evening so that he could walk with us to watch the local fireworks display.  Sam is a young friend whom Helena teaches English to every Friday, and he is a very remarkable young man.

The fireworks display is organised by Rodda, the landlord of our local pub, the Crown and Sceptre, situated less than two hundred yards away on Horns Road. He loves a big bang and everyone in the local community knows about it. We walked up the hill to the Daisybank playground area, which is just up from the pub looking out across the valley towards Rodborough Common.

We got there on time, but unfortunately there was rather a delay. When the first rush of light and noise finally took off we knew we were in for a classic display. I think most other displays with these fireworks would have taken two or three times as long. Rodda seems to like a mass of different types of rockets, star bursts and massive displays in the sky like Catherine Wheels, but all going off at once. The display began and ended with a huge rocket firing high into the sky, a very loud bang and a huge scattering of bright particles, visible and audible for miles I’m sure.

The many hundreds of people around us burst into applause the moment silence reigned once again. My picture was taken soon after the show had begun, looking down the bank towards the pub and its rear garden from where the projectiles were launched. A proper Guy Fawkes night, though no bonfire. Helena did explain the story of the Gunpowder Plot to Sam, but I’m not sure he made sense of it. Coming from Afghanistan I think the notion of fireworks must remind him of the horrible warfare that has regularly afflicted his country. I couldn’t help thinking about the horrors affecting Gaza right now. I’m sure many others must have felt the same way.