Kendal Castle 5th Nov - Cumbria UK - Fireworks Displays on Waymarking.com

For over 400 years, bonfires have burned on November 5th to mark the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The Plot involved a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, who attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London, when Parliament and the King would be present.

It was intended to be the beginning of a great uprising of English Catholics, who were distressed by the increased severity of penal laws against the practice of their religion. 36 barrels of gunpowder were secretly stored in a hired cellar under the House of Lords. The conspiracy was discovered, however, and Fawkes was arrested as he entered the cellar to light the fuse. Over a dozen others were also arrested in the following days, and most were brutally executed in public.

The tradition of Guy Fawkes-related bonfires actually began the very same year as the failed coup. The Plot was foiled in the night between the 4th and 5th of November 1605. Already on the 5th, agitated Londoners who knew little more than that their King had been saved, joyfully lit bonfires in thanksgiving.

It was certainly a time of religious intolerance and persecution for many - as monarch's came and went, either Protestants or Catholics were in or out of favour. In 1688 after the "Glorious Revolution", when (Protestant) William & Mary (from Holland) were offered the throne and (Catholic) James II fled to France, there was a marked shift away from an all powerful, God inspired monarchy, to Parliament being supreme. Despite Jacobean threats, especially from France via the Scots in the 18th Century, England became Protestant for good and eventually more tolerant.

All this history is echoed in the traditions of Bonfire Night: "Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot." Fireworks were a natural addition to the event, and Kendal like other places has a large community display each year. The Round Table do a great job and the fireworks are usually excellent, eliciting plenty of oohs and ahhs from the crowd. The display is free but collectors with buckets invite your contributions.

Around the east side of Kendal Castle is the place to be each year on the 5th, although good views are available from many parts of the town. See: (visit link)
Display starts at 7.30pm.

Date of the Fireworks Display: 11/05/2008 Starting Time of the Fireworks Display: 7:30 PM Who is putting on the Fireworks Display: Kendal Round Table Web Site for more info: [Web Link]

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