Tower and Town, October 2025 (view the full edition)Building The Biggest BonfiresEvery year, each area in the town had their own bonfire for Bonfire Night, and they all competed for the biggest one. It was a community event in which all the children clubbed together in finding bonfire material and on the evening the adults would then come out and light the bonfire. Cherry Orchard held their bonfire on the grass area on the side of the Ark (see p.11 bottom ). We as boys used to go off collecting as much bonfire material as possible. We used to get some of the older boys to find a tree with just a long straight pole that would be the middle. Some of us used to carry it back. I used to put my hands up, but I was too small. The older boys would put the pole up and then they would build it out with other material around it. One year, as the door of the Ark was left open, we got into the roof and found big chests of GWR timetables and put them all on the bonfire. We all saved our pocket money to pay for fireworks. Each family in the area would have their own small amount of fireworks which they would share by letting them off around the bonfire. 
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