The Strange Death Of Bonfire Night (Here's To The Burgundy Lido Part 2)
Perhaps somewhat unusually for a Catholic family, we used to absolutely love bonfire night when I was wee. My Dad and my older brother were right into it too and I always remember the feeling of excitement in the run up to those dark, cold clear skied autumnal evenings, spent out the back green, marveling at our wee fireworks display. Dad would get a box of Brocks, plus a few sparklers too and my Mum would make hot chocolate. Good old days! Yet, I’m not sure how our society has manged to shift from our dads setting off a few catherine wheels, roman candles and mini rockets out our back gardens in the 1980s… …To riot police defending themselves from huge gangs of masked youths in towns and cities across Scotland, using fireworks as missiles to attack them . Meanwhile, Police chiefs now spend every Guy Fawkes night at national control centre, coordinating tactical response teams throughout the night, like Wellington at Waterloo. How this shift has taken place within such a short ti...