FIREWORKS IN WEST LONDON
 Gunpowder,
Treason and Plot
Fireworks in West London - Various Locations
Hammersmith and Fulham:
Friday 5th November
Bishops Park, Fulham
Saturday 6th November
Ravenscourt Park, Hammersmith
For both events gates open at 6.30pm, Albert & Friends Instant Circus appear
at 7pm and the fireworks start around 8pm.
Check www.lbhf.gov.uk for
details
Brent:
Fireworks: Roundwood Park
NW10, Harlesden Road. Free
Gates will open at 6.45pm; action starts at 8pm
Roundwood Park firework display
Check www.brent.gov.uk
for details
Hounslow:
Fireworks + Diwali Celebration - Lampton Park TW14, Hounslow. Free
6:00pm bonfire will be lit followed by entertainment, fireworks at 7:30pm.
This is a joint bonfire and Diwali celebration.
Check www.hounslow.gov.uk
for details
Bonfire night
Though in recent years firework displays on, or around, November 5th have been
associated with Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder
Plot , its routes go far deeper. For thousands of years bonfires were lit
and torches carried to bring in the winter and ward off evil spirits lurking in
the dark time before spring came again. Many religions around the world hold similar
festivals to mark the start of winter such as the Hindu celebration of Diwali.
The burning of effigies, such as Guy Fawkes, is a relatively recent addition
and appears to be falling out of favour nowadays. An exception are the Bonfire
Societies of the south east of England, where each town competes to produce
the best display.
The Chinese connection
It is thought that Chinese firecrackers were the first fireworks, dating from
at least a thousand years ago. The Chinese invented gunpowder,
which was used to make the loud bangs to scare off bad spirits. The most spectacular
displays happen on Chinese
New Year.
Where did we get fireworks from?
The first recorded use of gunpowder in England, and probably the west, is by
the Franciscan monk Roger
Bacon. In 1242 he wrote: "...if you light it you will get thunder and
lightening if you know the trick"
Some think Marco
Polo brought the secret of gunpowder to the west, while others think it
came over with the returning Crusaders
back from the Middle east. Whatever the truth, fireworks were quickly taken
up as a new form of entertainment. The first recorded fireworks in England were
at the wedding of Henry VII in 1486.
They became so popular that Musick for the Royal Fireworks, was composed
by George Frideric Handel
in 1749 to celebrate the peace of Aix-la-Chappelle,
which had been declared the previous year.
More about fireworks...
Most displays are professionally organised these days but if you are going
to use fireworks, safety
is crucial...
Twenty
things you never knew about Fireworks
Does what it says on the link...
Ever
wondered how how fireworks work?
Here comes the science bit...
Get
to know your airbombs from your willow effect
A glossary of firework types and terms
So
how do you get the colours?
The chemistry of all those colours...
And
don't forget our furry friends
Advice from the Wildlife Trust...
Learn to be a pyrotechnician...
Most people learn on the job by becoming an assistant to a pyrotechnician or
pyrotechnist. These are the people who design or let off the displays of fireworks.
There are very few formal courses and most are part of a larger, theatre or
performance, design course. There is a summer school short course at Middlesex University
|
