By Richard Baker.
Skinningrove is a small village on the Cleveland coast just off the A174 between Saltburn and Whitby. It's one of those places that you don't go to accidentally but the annual Bonfire regularly attracts an audience of over 5,000 people to a village with less than 400 residents. Skinningrove has always made a big thing out of bonfire night. People still talk about the year when the police and the fire brigade stood between the village and it's bonfire and tried to stop them lighting it. Skinningrove Bonfire is not just a big pile of wood. Every event is a community project and has a different theme. All the displays have been fired from different structures. Over the years the village has burnt down a small fleet of ships, a Dragon, a Phoenix, the Mouth of Hell and the Houses of Parliament. In 1992 the theme was 'Fishy Tales' and the bonfire was King Neptune. This was built as the upper torso and forearms of a man apparently bursting out of the beach. Neptune's head was built around three telegraph poles and his crown was a big lantern decorated with dolphins. His arms were ninety feet apart. Choosing to do things this way upsets a few people. Someone who'd moved into the area within the previous year searched the village for one bonfire. Failing to find one he chose to sound off in the village post office. 'And another thing, they're building this big ship on the beach! I'm not going to tell 'em it'll never float!' 'That ship is't bonfire, ya daft bugger!' 'Well, why don't they build a proper one?' If we did it might cause less confusion. One year a small boy watching the bonfire ripping itself apart in deafening joy, suddenly realised what he was looking at. 'Dad', he screamed,'Dad! It's just a pile of rubbish!' Skinningrove beach is a perfect, natural site for a firework display. A small beck has spent eternity cutting a deep valley through the Cleveland hills and framed the site by cliffs; just before the beck reaches the sea it runs diagonally across the beach. Siting the display beyond the beck automatically leaves the audience a safe distance away. Meanwhile people watching from the top of the cliffs enjoy seeing aerial effects going off at eye level. The event involves most of the village. Ovens are monopolised by jacket potatoes. The smaller children make processional images, lanterns and site decorations. A group of young adults have formed their own drumming band which performs during the event. Another group have developed their own techniques for building fire sculptures. In 1992 the display was enlivened by a fiery dolphin, sea horse and octopus. The firework display is probably what some professionals would think of as a back garden affair. That is, the whole event costs around £5,000 and no more than a fifth of this money is spent on the display. A small team of volunteers spends several evenings preparing all the effects. Most of this work is now done by people who once asked:' Why don't you just have all the fireworks in a box and take 'em out as you want em'. Everything for the display is rigged on the 5th of November. King Neptune was illuminated by a number of Chinese fireworks which turned from green to red. News transmitters, Singing birds and Twitters Glitters all added sound to the visual effects. Coloured balls of light erupted from his fist and trident. His surprised expression was highlighted by fireworks from his body, mouth and cheeks. A waterfall of gerbes showered along the length of his body with a Chinese waterfall on the crown of his head. Intense light came from inside his eyes and streams of fire bounced down his shoulders creating an image of living hair. Rockets, mines and shells lit up the sky to create the effect of a changing under water light show. This final sequence was set off by some large bursts in the sky climaxing with a large, Japanese circle of light. (This article first appeared in "Fireworks" issue 24, September 1993. ISSN 0264-9780) |