So a couple of questions and an observation.  I’ll start with the two questions.

When did fireworks have anything to do with New Year’s Eve?  Was Guy Fawkes reincarnated and someone forget to advertise it?

Why do people set off fireworks at 5pm, I thought the new year started at midnight?  Appreciate that some folks suffer from premature issues in other activities but why advertise the fact?

And the observation... now excuse me if this sounds snobbish but I’d have thought that council estate dwellers had far more important things to spend money on than fireworks.

Non-footy.

Rather they let them off at 5 pm than wake me up at 1am

I wonder if RS has given the players a rocket........  :)

Turn it around and say why bother remembering Guy Fawkes. It was over 400 years ago and has little relevance to the modern world.

I heard that the letting off of fireworks notified the local populace that a dealer had received a shipment, and had goods available for distribution.

November 5th and December 31st must be disorientating for some people!

*Non-footy

They should only ever be stuck up cats arses.

People celebrate in different ways, some let them off at house parties because they can't wait or know they won't be sober enough to enjoy it as the new year rings in. I agree that they should be let off as the clock strikes midnight because all I have had this evening is my dogs barking every time someone lets a firework off.

I’d like a law change that they’re only allowed to be sold on the 5th of November and 31st December to the general public and to licensed professionals the rest of the year. Me and the dog had one go off not far from us at 1600 today. It wasn’t even dark!

Agree with Gy Ferrers (except the last point of course).

It's even worse than that. They go off from at least a week before bonfire night, and last up to a week after, and it's not long before Divali and then Christmas - I heard some going off last week. It's meant to be the birth of Christ, I thought we'd got rid of all that enjoying Christianity nonsense when we got rid of Guy Fawkes and ended the chance of a comeback for Catholicism  ;)

Not fussed about fireworks now I’m all grown up lol

What I do miss though is the fog horns that I used to hear carrying eerily off the Humber at midnight on NYE....used to be so evocative and a lot more meaningful as we moved from one year to the next

Quoted from FishOutOfWater

Not fussed about fireworks now I’m all grown up lol

What I do miss though is the fog horns that I used to hear carrying eerily off the Humber at midnight on NYE....used to be so evocative and a lot more meaningful as we moved from one year to the next

Agreed, always loved the foghorns bringing in the new year.

Quoted from Marinerz93

Agreed, always loved the foghorns bringing in the new year.

And the ships flares.

I still think of the foghorns now when opening up the backdoor to 'let the old year out and walking round to the front to let the new year in'. I'm probably one of the few idiots round here who do that  :)

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I still think of the foghorns now when opening up the backdoor to 'let the old year out and walking round to the front to let the new year in'. I'm probably one of the few idiots round here who do that  :)

My mother in law does that, with a piece of bread and a candle for some reason, but she is a scouser.

Quoted from Manchester Mariner

My mother in law does that, with a piece of bread and a candle for some reason, but she is a scouser.

When we were kids, one of us was chosen to do it, but we were sent with a piece of coal. No, me neither.

I've heard of people were supposed to go First Footing with a piece of coal. I thought that was a Scottish tradition. Dark haired people were favoured as First Footers.

No Scots in my family. Yorkies and Cockneys and Norfolkers (well at least that what I thought my Great Granny from Hull said 'we dornt want norfuckers in aargh famleh'). All fishing folk.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I've heard of people were supposed to go First Footing with a piece of coal. I thought that was a Scottish tradition. Dark haired people were favoured as First Footers.

No Scots in my family. Yorkies and Cockneys and Norfolkers (well at least that what I thought my Great Granny from Hull said 'we dornt want norfuckers in aargh famleh'). All fishing folk.

I'd forgotten the dark haired bit, but yes, that's also correct. I'd also forgotten it was called first footing, so you have jogged some memories there.

I have some Scots and Irish in my family. Mainly fishing folk also.

Quoted from ginnywings

I'd forgotten the dark haired bit, but yes, that's also correct. I'd also forgotten it was called first footing, so you have jogged some memories there.

I have some Scots and Irish in my family. Mainly fishing folk also.

Inside the Factory tonight is worth a watch. From GY.

Hull was on Mark Steel's in Town on Radio 4 earlier. Repeated later. Worth a listen.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

Inside the Factory tonight is worth a watch. From GY.

Hull was on Mark Steel's in Town on Radio 4 earlier. Repeated later. Worth a listen.

Cheers KM, currently watching Man City destroy Watford  to remember what slick passing football looks like, but will seek those out on catch up.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

I still think of the foghorns now when opening up the backdoor to 'let the old year out and walking round to the front to let the new year in'. I'm probably one of the few idiots round here who do that  :)

You're not surprisingly, old tradition for my family too. (stupids) Also phoning my mum as the bells strike midnight to wish her a happy new year, I've done that every year since leaving home.

Quoted from Marinerz93

You're not surprisingly, old tradition for my family too. (stupids) Also phoning my mum as the bells strike midnight to wish her a happy new year, I've done that every year since leaving home.

When I say I'm the only idiot round here to do it, I mean in this bit of Kingston upon Thames.

Quoted from KingstonMariner

When I say I'm the only idiot round here to do it, I mean in this bit of Kingston upon Thames.

In that case you are probably right  ;D

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Quoted from Marinerz93

In that case you are probably right  ;D

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It's a bit more diverse than that round here. We have posh Asians, Turks and Koreans too. And Meggies.