Interested to learn more about the work of organising Rye Bonfire Night, I invited Paul Carey earlier this week to be interviewed by Rye News. Paul is the Rye Bonfire Boys’ Chief Marshal and Safety officer. Paul is a former Mayor of Rye who now lives in Lydd.
He told me first about the history of the society and the involvement of local families up to 1988, when the society was dissolved. He himself had been a member since birth, following in his father’s footsteps, and was there when the society was revived in 1995. Our conversation proceeded with question and answer:
Q. Is there any linkage nowadays with the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, when Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament?
A. There’s more a connection in Lewes, where the anti-papacy tradition still survives. There the processions still halt by the War Memorial to lay wreaths in memory of the 14 martyrs.
In Rye, our tradition was the procession of a burning fishing boat through the streets, recalling the wars against the French, when our fishermen were the unofficial navy. We still have a burning boat, but it’s a sanitised version nowadays with a gas-burner producing the flame.
Q. Why are Guy Fawkes celebrations so strong in Sussex?
A. There was always an element of anarchy perhaps, but one technical reason is the superior quality of gunpowder as supplied to Henry VIII, made from charcoal from the oak trees of the Sussex Weald.
Q. In Lewes again, Southern Rail cancel train services and the police restrict road access to the town to prevent outsiders causing trouble. Has this been proposed in Rye?
A. We get people coming from Ashford, 14-year-olds looking to make trouble, and we’d love westbound trains not to make a stop in Rye on bonfire night, but Southern Rail won’t agree. People from Hastings are not so much of a problem because they have their own display there.
Q. What other pre-planning takes place?
A. We meet in good time with all the relevant public authorities, council, police, highways, and health services and each society presents its proposals and risk assessment for joint approval. Ian Foster of Adams takes the lead in this. Then each function of the fireworks event is allocated as a committee member’s responsibility. We have a Captain of the Bonfire; this year it’s again Adrian Pettitt, a carpenter from Bexhill who constructs the bonfire from donated pallets and other materials. We also have a Captain of Torches and a Captain of the Dragon.
Q. Does overcrowding cause a problem on Rye bonfire night?
A. We could well see 10-15,000 people on the night so crowd density needs to be carefully monitored. We have a strong police presence, assisted by the Society’s marshals, more than 30 in number. In addition, the police have a SWAT unit (special weapons and tactics team) with an armoured vehicle stationed in Bedford Place. St John Ambulance and the South East Coast Ambulance Service are in attendance.
The Landgate area is a pinch-point and we don’t encourage parents with prams and young children to congregate there. There’s really little trouble because it’s very much a family event in Rye.
Q. What are the other safety issues?
A. When health and safety regulations kicked in some 15 years ago, we were told that the launch pad for fireworks must be at least 100 yards from the spectators. Fortunately, we were able to persuade the landowners on the other side of the River Rother to let us use the farmer’s field, thereby securing a natural barrier, acceptable to everyone.
Then, again, fireworks have become more powerful. We used to use 8in mortars, but when the Chinese celebrated the independence of Hong Kong they used 16in mortars and we quickly latched on. They are capable of reaching up to 3,000ft so we have to give advance warning to Lydd Airport!
Q. You used to chair a celebrity from Rye Lodge to the Salts to formally light the bonfire. I remember Spike Milligan one year and John Ryan (Captain Pugwash) on another occasion.
A. Yes, the local fire brigade used to dress up and don their brass helmets, until they were banned on the grounds that they shouldn’t be assisting a conflagration! Then we ran out of celebrities upon whom we could absolutely rely to turn up.
We still have a sedan chair, now carried shoulder high by six guys from Robertsbridge, dressed up as Roman soldiers. The occupant of the chair is nominated by the person bidding most at the Auction of Promises.
Q. What about the fund-raising?
A. That goes on all the year – we don’t receive any public money so we raise it all ourselves, from raffles, quiz nights and our Auction of Promises – that alone raised £6,000 this year towards our budget cost of £10-12,000. Half of that goes up in smoke, the rest on insurance, cost of closure of the A259 and road diversions, and the hire of the Salts from Rother District Council .
Q. You haven’t mentioned collections on the night?
A. No, everything we collect on the night goes to a string of charities – last year we collected and gave away £5,000 to charity. Unfortunately, some people don’t realise this and are are not so generous as they might be.
Q. That a colossal amount of work involved. How many active members are there in your Society?
A. We have 70 paid-up members, probably about half helping on the night – that’s not counting the Ryebellion drummers who are a significant feature in the procession. Full times etc for the Rye Bonfire Pageant 2018 are now on our website.
Well, thank you, Paul and all best wishes for another successful event.
Image Credits: Rye News library , Kenneth Bird .