I remember my dad letting off fireworks in the "yard". a Catherine wheel on the entry door and rockets out of an old tin. We were mesmerised. We were all instructed to 'stand back' and wait until he lit the fuse. Then there were the bonfires. Every area had one and bits and pieces of burnable items were tossed on to make a very sizeable pyramid. Then someone would put a dummy on top with a sign that said "King Billy". It would then be set alight and we all would marvel at the spectacle and the intensity of the size of the fire. As a child, I wondered, who is king billy and why are they burning him. To me, it was like the fairy on the top of the Christmas
tree but, of course, it was a symbol very much unlike my imagination.