On 20 Oct 2012 at 9:45pm Nevill resident wrote:
Eerily quiet up here tonight during the procession. I'm not sure if the society's should be congratulated for that or criticised but as an ambivolent bystander it felt lacking a certain something. Also where were all the local village societies? I only spotted the big 5 from Lewes.. No participation from Firle, barcombe, east hoathly etc.. Was this another austerity measure?
Well done to those who did make the effort and the Bradley Wiggins looked great!
On 20 Oct 2012 at 11:42pm mickyboy wrote:
barcombe, isfeild, mayfeild, burgess hill and representative contingents from many others were at fletching tonight which for a small village and a wet night was well supported by visiting societies and the general public it just goes to show that small societies can have a big hearts. fletching rewarded the stalwarts with a spectacular themed firework display set to music the weather holding off just long enough for unrivaled aerials and a flaming finish
On 20 Oct 2012 at 11:45pm KENDO CASTER wrote:
Tell me about it, we have the anti fun police and the bloody anti bonfire public to thank for that.
Standing in front of the clergy stand was so quiet, until some brave soul threw the first banger and then it started raining bangers, the cheer that followed was great.
On 21 Oct 2012 at 7:31am Deelite wrote:
No you don't, you have the idiots who throw them indiscriminately, who throw them when drunk or who throw them at stupid and antisocial times.
On 21 Oct 2012 at 9:34am Lopster wrote:
And Deelite exactly how many fallinto your category (categories)?
And how many fall into the category of totally disgusted that bonfire has kow-tow'd to the sterilisation of freedom speech in Eat Sussex for the first time in about 400 years?
Its the latter for me
On 21 Oct 2012 at 12:42pm I repeat wrote:
The end of bonfire is oh so much closer than you realise. Mark my words
On 21 Oct 2012 at 4:28pm Ed Can Do wrote:
There were quite a few bonfires on last night as well as Neville: Hailsham, Fletching and Seaford, which would account for a lower than usual turnout. Firle were at Seaford for example.
On 22 Oct 2012 at 10:24am Deelite wrote:
You tell me Lopster. Have you done a poll? Do get anything like the true picture you'd have to poll all the residents of Lewes, all the affected villages and all the visitors.... and not just the members of the societies... who are of course, a distinct minority.
We have reached this situation because of the irresponsibility and weak leadership of the bonfire societies.
On 22 Oct 2012 at 11:37am Ed Can Do wrote:
I'd hardly call the societies weak and irresponsible, certainly not hte ones I'm a member of anyway who put a phenomenal amount of time and effort into marshalling their ranks and brook absolutely no nonsense.
That said, I did contact one society last year about some kids I saw in their smugglers colours chucking rookies onto the island in the pells pond before the evening started last year and never even got an acknowledgement of my email so I guess not all are as diligent. I'd sugest that if you do see a society member drunkenly hurling fireworks into a crowd, you either point out the offender to a marshall, or at the very least contact the society later as most take that kind of thing very seriously.
On 22 Oct 2012 at 5:47pm Annette Curtin-Twitcher wrote:
I can only speak for my society, Deelite, but I can assure you that the leadership is neither weak nor irresponsible. The fact that all societies have banned the blue rookies that turned out to be so dangerous and many have chosen to ban "drop downs" entirely, to ensure that no blues are let off is testament to them acting responsibly imo.
If you saw the pages and pages of risk assessments, health and safety policies etc that I'm sure most societies have these days, and attended marshals' meetings and heard how very seriously matters of safety and discipline are treated I think you might have a different view. Members can be, and are, ejected from processions and and banned from societies for transgressions. It's just not widely publicised or discussed in public forums.
In my society, each under-16 must be accompanied by a named adult member, who is responsible for the conduct of the junior member. When I used to marshal, I used to make sure I knew who was with who as each procession was forming up, and I also used to place groups of lots of younger members alongside old hands known to be sensible, so that they too could keep an eye on them. I only once had to give a warning re behaviour, and the warning was enough. But then I am very scarey!
In any large organisation (the largest societies are around a thousand strong), there will be a minority who behave badly. As Ed says, report any such behaviour to a marshal or later to a committee member, especially if the offender is identifiable.
On 22 Oct 2012 at 6:24pm brixtonbelle wrote:
Bradley Wiggins ? Was he the tab ? Why ?
On 22 Oct 2012 at 6:57pm Ed Can Do wrote:
Because nobody likes a successful ginger?