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Last night

On 6 Nov 2012 at 12:18pm steve watts wrote:

From the beeb so must be true.
More than 80 people needed treatment by ambulance crews at Monday's Lewes bonfire celebrations with seven being sent to hospital.
Nine people were arrested on suspicion of throwing fireworks, including a 32-year-old man suspected of aiming one at a police inspector.
A woman who was hit in the face with a firework was treated at the scene.
About 30,000 people attended the processions. No injuries were reported as being serious, Sussex Police said.
This year's event saw half the attendance figure of the 2011 celebrations, which took place over a weekend.
Revellers were advised to wear eye protectors after five people suffered serious eye injuries last year.
Sussex Police posted on Twitter that a 20-year-old woman had been hit in the face with a firework in Westgate Street.
She was treated at a first aid station and did not require hospital treatment, police said.
Supt Laurence Taylor said: "Fortunately we saw a significant drop in the number of firework-related injuries compared with last year."

On 6 Nov 2012 at 12:33pm Albert Square wrote:

Will the police give us stats on where the arrested people live? Would be keen to know if they were from Lewes.

On 6 Nov 2012 at 1:03pm Disappointed wrote:

This is sussex had last night down as being a great sucess and sedate......Sedate is not the word. For me it was the worst Bonfire night in Lewes. No noise, No atmosphere and whatever the comments are from the press alot of people complained about this. So much so that i overheard people in the crowd sying they will be bringing their own bangers and rookies next year as they were dissapointed. If you think about it, last year there were 170 injuries from 60,000 this year there were 80 from 30,000. Not a great drop percentage wise. And just for one final point if go to a football match the stewards sit and watch the crowd for any trouble. Last night in 5 hours all i saw was Mr policeman watching the procession. (I guess the bonfire societies are easy prey) If you let the Bonfire people police their societies and the Police watch the crowd like they are supposed to then their shouldnt be a problem. Sorry for the rant but for me it was a joke

Check it out here »

On 6 Nov 2012 at 1:22pm The Greek wrote:

Here Here Disappointed!
We had crowds baying for rookies but got a telling off from the coppers if we let any off! We were reduced to the sad state of picking up unexploded crackers from the floor and lighting them with our torches...
The police seemed to have enough time telling us off for using rookies but didn't have enough time to stand at the top of Station Street and stop hundreds of people milling into the procession, letting off rookies from the crowd and driving mobility scooters through the procession! Huge swathes of the town were unpoliced and here the crowd were in the road, letting off fireworks and picking up torches.
The policing was a total shambles and Sussex Police should be ashamed. They promised extra officers and it seemed they were all concentrated around the war memorial which has barriers and security there anyway...
They shall be receiving a strongly worded letter!

On 6 Nov 2012 at 1:29pm Involved wrote:

I was marching last night and from my perspective the police did brilliantly. Those that tried to join in the processions were promptly dragged out and carted off for a good chat. Likewise with those that were being stupid with torches. Even at the firesite, anyone in the crowd with a banger was dealt with appropriately. And more importantly, they allowed society members to use their bangers in the later processions when much of the crowd had gone home. So we still had our fun (even if it was a little later).

On 6 Nov 2012 at 1:32pm The Greek wrote:

I must say the police presence was generally lacking all the way from Railway Lane to the Law Courts in the Borough's section of the United Grand.

On 6 Nov 2012 at 2:13pm BonfireBoy wrote:

I'm moving from Lewes and until last night I thought the thing I would miss most was bonfire, not any more. There was just no atmosphere without rookies, totally spoilt it for me and I heard the same from almost everyone I spoke to. Not the societies fault, but a total over reaction from last year - by all means ban blues, but what's wrong with reds? Very sad that it has come to this.

On 6 Nov 2012 at 2:26pm Southover Queen wrote:

There were plenty of rookies in evidence on the central High Street last night - I have the pictures to prove it! I don't disagree that Bonfire was quieter than last year, but actually it was pretty noisy by any normal measure.

My guess is that this year was the reaction to last year: people were being careful and the societies issued draconian warnings against using explosives irresponsibly. If everyone was (as I suspect) erring on the side of caution, I'm willing to bet that next year will be much as it was before the advent of blue rookies.

There really can be no justification for using dangerous explosives in such a way that people are seriously injured and maimed. I believe Lewes will keep its traditions by showing that the community can behave responsibly, and personally I found yesterday very encouraging.

On 6 Nov 2012 at 5:10pm townie wrote:

***Southover Queen in "bloody good post", shocker***

On 6 Nov 2012 at 5:27pm Harry Mount wrote:

Well said, Southover Queen.
I think today's BBC News website reporting gives a misleading impression: it's disappointing to see the 8th most popular headline say 'Scores injured at bonfire event' and 'Lewes bonfire celebrations: Scores treated by medics' and subheadings about it being like a 'War zone'. On further reading, as steve watts quotes above, it says that 'No injuries were reported as being serious' and the reference to the war zone was from of course from 2011. But most people wouldn't notice that - so I got concerned phone calls from family and work colleagues who saw these headlines and asked if I was OK!
In reality, I found it to be an uneventful and agreeable evening; I normally enjoy the excitement of the odd rookie adding a bit of spice to the occasion (obviously not blue ones) and that was understandably lacking this year, but at least the firecrackers still punctuated the United Grand nicely.
Oh, and Pizza Pronto provided the best food of the evening - perfect with a pint of Bonfire Boy...surely food of the gods. Looking forward to the next Lewes Bonfire.