We weren't sure what Halloween would be like in England now. When Mark lived here Halloween didn't exist. Not too long after he moved when he was 10, his friend Andy mentioned that England was starting to participate in Halloween but not everyone was ready for Trick or Treaters (ie. giving out biscuits and whatever they could find in the kitchen). We noticed shops decorated their windows and stores were selling sweets (candy) and fancy dress (costumes) in preparation for the ghoulish night, but we still weren't totally convinced. It didn't help that no one decorated their house near us and when I placed some decorations up on the actual day (mostly Liam's and Gemma's artwork) locals looked on in amazement - as in, 'decorating your house - how fun and creative'.
Stores were selling out of pumpkins, but not the halloween carving pumpkins we're used to - only the small cooking pumpkins are sold here (at least at shops) and they classify them as medium and large - even though there really isn't much difference between them and they are all small!
Pizza ordered (for the first time, which will be a huge surprise to our Toronto neighbours!), pumpkins carved and all dressed up with our sweets bowl ready for potential kids, we still weren't sure about trick or treating so I texted our neighbour mum friend just to double check. Thankfully the doorbell rang and we opened the door to two girls dressed up as witches, holding out bags for sweets and cheerfully exclaiming "trick or treat"! Thank God, because we had just finally got Liam to put on his "Woody" from Toy Story costume after telling him that no one would give him candy if he didn't wear his costume.
Since Gemma was poorly (not feeling well) she stayed at home with Daddy and gave out chocolates in her Pretty Witch costume while Mummy took Liam out around the neighbourhood. It was a beautiful evening - quite warm and dry - we didn't even need a coat! It was quite dark already since we had changed the clocks back that day (one week earlier than Canada). We left at 6 o'clock and I thought we would have enough time to do all the houses by 7. I failed to consider the number of steps we would have to walk up and down because of all the hills. Many homes either have several steps up or down to the front door. Our home doesn't have any steps so I totally didn't even think of this. I was EXHAUSTED because not only did I have to walk up and down these steps, I had to pick Liam up for some of them too. I also had to ask two different sets of trick or treaters (the two girls that came to our house and some other mums) how to tell which homes are participating because as mentioned earlier, not everyone decorates - some didn't even have a pumpkin!!!!! The Blasphemy! Liam and I decided that if the lights were on, but the curtains were shut then they weren't playing Halloween, but if the lights were on and you could see into their house, then we should check if they were playing. Some homes also had notices on their doors supplied by local Derbyshire police stating they were not participating.
Liam did really well and said "turkey treat" and "happy halloween" at each house. We got home at about 7:20 with a bag of sweets - no crisps (chips), very little chocolates, but lots of actual candy (jellies, lollies, rockets). Liam is used to getting larger sized candy, like bags of chips and cheezies, so he thought his bag wasn't full enough to stop trick or treating. I was surprised that people weren't giving out crisps because people eat them here all the time - most of the crisps at the supermarket are large bags full of the small bags. The locals are also very loyal to the candy manufacturer Swizzels Matlow that's made in New Mills.
All in all, Halloween was a great success!
The following weekend was Guy Fawkes Night, also called Bonfire Night on November 5th, celebrating a dude (Guy Fawkes) who got caught guarding 36 barrels of gunpowder before he could blow up the House of Lords parliament buildings and assassinate the King in 1605. Basically towns put together ginormous, amazing bonfires, and fire works. New Mills had a huge bonfire in High Lea Park on the Saturday, the day after Guy Fawkes with bbq, treacle toffee, candy floss and remembrance day poppy stands and of course, a bouncy castle. We got all bundled up and walked over to the park with the rest of the locals. The bonfire was really amazing, especially considering the town is only of about 10,000 people. Liam liked the fire truck that was on-hand, just in case. The fireworks that followed were great too however Gemma didn't quite think so and got upset at the loud, bangy ones so we made our exit a bit early, but still admired the fireworks as we walked home.
Fire crackers had been on sale in shops for about a month prior to Guy Fawkes and every other night or so we would hear one or two go off randomly. On both Halloween and Guy Fawkes weekends it was just nutty - fireworks everywhere and all night - and we could see them from our house on a hill which was great fun until the kids were asleep and we feared they would wake up. Luckily our neighbour right next door to us did theirs before bedtime. We don't think there are many regulations for lighting fire crackers here - at least not in the country.
Upon returning home from Guy Fawkes one of our neighbours from up the farm lane came by to invite us to their bonfire the following weekend! We had known they turned one of the stables into a micro-brewery and they have six different beers brewing so we just had to go. We even raced back from a family visit in Birmingham (about 2.5hrs away) to get there. They had the 3-B's: Bbq, Beer & Bonfire. The fire wasn't nearly as large as the town's but still quite impressive. They were also lighting paper lanterns and letting them go up in the sky. We were like - this would not be allowed in Canada! Some of the lanterns were very close to hitting the house and the large tree right beside the house as they went up. And they flew around forever and went far away. Apparently they are just more of a nuisance when finding them in a farm field as opposed to being a real fire hazard. And of course, there were fireworks! It was actually just one fire cracker that went on and on. Parts of it were quite loud, but this time Gemma kept her cool. It helped that we were getting a brewery tour at the time so we weren't as close. We met some of our other neighbours' family members and there was another 3yr old boy running around for Liam.
Halloween photos are already on Facebook. Guy Fawkes photos to come.
Another update to come soon with photos from November.
Cheers,
The Nicholson Family
Fire crackers had been on sale in shops for about a month prior to Guy Fawkes and every other night or so we would hear one or two go off randomly. On both Halloween and Guy Fawkes weekends it was just nutty - fireworks everywhere and all night - and we could see them from our house on a hill which was great fun until the kids were asleep and we feared they would wake up. Luckily our neighbour right next door to us did theirs before bedtime. We don't think there are many regulations for lighting fire crackers here - at least not in the country.
Upon returning home from Guy Fawkes one of our neighbours from up the farm lane came by to invite us to their bonfire the following weekend! We had known they turned one of the stables into a micro-brewery and they have six different beers brewing so we just had to go. We even raced back from a family visit in Birmingham (about 2.5hrs away) to get there. They had the 3-B's: Bbq, Beer & Bonfire. The fire wasn't nearly as large as the town's but still quite impressive. They were also lighting paper lanterns and letting them go up in the sky. We were like - this would not be allowed in Canada! Some of the lanterns were very close to hitting the house and the large tree right beside the house as they went up. And they flew around forever and went far away. Apparently they are just more of a nuisance when finding them in a farm field as opposed to being a real fire hazard. And of course, there were fireworks! It was actually just one fire cracker that went on and on. Parts of it were quite loud, but this time Gemma kept her cool. It helped that we were getting a brewery tour at the time so we weren't as close. We met some of our other neighbours' family members and there was another 3yr old boy running around for Liam.
Halloween photos are already on Facebook. Guy Fawkes photos to come.
Another update to come soon with photos from November.
Cheers,
The Nicholson Family
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