Bonfire Summary

It seems that everyone enjoyed the bonfire/fish & chip supper, apart from the two individuals cited in Peter's comments on the previous post.
The irate resident thought that we were going to set his house alight. It was at least 200m away from the fire. And he thought that we should have asked him for permission to have a bonfire.
Fortunately we were fireproof, having sought permission from Derbyshire County Council, done a risk assessment, signed an indemnity form and were covered by Sustrans insurance. No-one else complained at the time nor after, in spite of all cars parked downwind being covered in white ash rivalling that resulting from the recent Icelandic volcanic outpouring.
With hindsight, perhaps the KE effigy should have been holding a copy of his planning application, to be consumed by the flames as he was.
I'm sure that all would agree that the fish and chips were delicious. For the record they were from Park View Fish Bar on Vicarage Road, Mickleover, where the fish is cooked to order while you wait. They are open Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, lunchtimes (from noon) and evenings.
Apart from finding time to make the guy and collect the food, Mavis also made the bonfire toffee, which (she says) did not turn out quite as intended. Aficionados will know that traditional bonfire toffee is so hard that you have to to break it with a lump hammer, but Mavis's recipe was even more tasty and could be eaten off a spoon.
The fire itself was quite spectacular, easily lit in spite of the afternoon rain by our team of expert firelighters, some of whom are training to be professional arsonists.
In spite of being finally dowsed with water, the fire was still burning mid-morning on Saturday.
Unfortunately we do not have a photograph of the fire at it's zenith, but we have one of it taken on Wednesday, one (top picture)taken on the night immediately before lighting and one of the ashes taken on Saturday morning.