h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Bxllxcks to the lot of you. Me and my dog spent a very happy evening watching my Dad damn near blow himself up.

Then the dodgy bloke over the road got out his industrial press-the-big-red-button-and-run display. That was fun.

Besides, if you ban fireworks, my partner would be unemployed.

It'd be interesting to see how the risk/cost assessment on them works out.

I quite enjoyed watching the displays in all the back gardens that I can see from my position near the top of the hill in town.

I'm starting to wonder if we might get copycat riots as a result of the French riots. Doesn't take much to plant a seed in the mind of numbskulls.

Right oh, personally I have no issue with firewors as long as the people using them aren't complete brain dead morons!!!
I have pets, including a parrot who is terrified for the whole of november and a cat that refuses to leave my side.
Fireworks need to be regulated a whole lot tighter and provisions need to be put in place AND adhered to saying when you can and cant set them off.

While I appreciate diwali is a religious event blah blah blah, the only religious thing happening is me being kept awake at 3am because some thinks rockets that shake my house are a good idea. Set em off at reasonable hours and dont let kids anywhere near them! By kids I mean anyone under like 20!!

"I have pets, including a parrot who is terrified for the whole of november and a cat that refuses to leave my side.
Fireworks need to be regulated a whole lot tighter and provisions need to be put in place AND adhered to saying when you can and cant set them off."

I agree, I live in a working class area but didn't have any problems with late night fireworks keeping me awake. But then, it is a conservative working class area, strange and contradictory i know, but that's how this cookie crumbles.


I disagree that people should be tested to know what they are celebrating as it is, these days anyway, something for the kids and a good excuse for adults to have a party, especially if it falls on a weekend (perhaps just a working class thing)

Perhaps if the police did more to patrol populated areas and actually got out of their cars to knock on the doors of those letting off fireworks after 11pm (which is the legal time you can let them off til I think, will need to look that up), then I would presume people would sleep better.

Anyway, I see and hear this complaint every year and agree that stricter, or existing guidelines are adhered to and better action is taken against those who ignore them.

As for the £10 note going up in flames to a whooshing sound, I would gladly do it if it put a smile on my niece and nephews face when everyone else was having fun. Money well spent I say

thats what gets me, I live right under one of the flight paths for Heathrow and they are in some clanging trouble if they go flying planes after about 11.30 but some muppet with a rocket can blast that around the borough til all hours and to be honest, Im getting a little tired of having a full scale war in my lap between a cat and parrot and then jumping myself when some runs down the back alley letting off bangers and who knows what else.

Inever realised that this bugged me until now.

So fireworks are only set off by ignorant chavs on scummy working class estates? How does £10,000 spend on really really really loud fecking bangs that boom so much that even half a mile away I can feel it in my bones?

That doesn't sound very working class to me. Luckily it only goes on for half an hour, and despite me having trained my dogs so that they don't really mind fireworks, the constant banging for that length of time, with those ridiculous booms does upset them.

"Perhaps if the police did more to patrol populated areas and actually got out of their cars to knock on the doors of those letting off fireworks after 11pm (which is the legal time you can let them off til I think, will need to look that up),"

Not on November 5, Diwalli, Chinese New Year and New Years Eve.

And I can assure you it's not just the lower orders that enjoy letting off big bangs.

Here, in Australia, New South Wales banned the sale of fireworks years ago.

I must say that I have fond memories of fireworks nights, well organised and supervised by adults, but I also remember reports of much damage and many injuries every year, so am pleased that they are now regulated.

Fireworks can be legally purchased in Canberra and the A.C.T. but can only be set off in NSW after a license is obtained from the local police (I'm not sure what the requirements are to get the licence - but most people don't bother)

Fireworks are let off regularly for big events but these are organised by pyrotechnics experts, so are much larger and much more spectacular than home made displays. They are also a real social event for families - our kids are now used to just going along to oooh and aaah, they don't even know that you can set them off yourself and have no desire to do so.

It's a good system and seems to work.

November 7th 7.20pm Manchester

Yet more fireworks!!!! Have these people got more money to burn than I have??? It's not fair I tell you, not fair!