Remember, remember

It’s bonfire night, so enjoy the fun... but make sure to look after any wildlife that’s sleeping in your garden

Remember, remember the fifth of November, gunpowder, treason and plot, I see no reason why gunpowder treason should ever be forgotten. Well, aside from the fact many children have no idea why we let off fireworks on November 5, most of them will enjoy it – and the bonfire that goes with it.

Clutching their sparklers they will, hopefully, tuck into jacket potatoes and baked beans tonight, even if roasted sweet chestnuts went out of fashion with Guy Fawkes.

I am not generally a fan of garden bonfires. Why is it that folk wait until the only sunny day for weeks to light up a pile of green rubbish in their garden that smokes everyone else out of theirs?

That kind of bonfire we can all do without. The stuff on it should be composted or else put into the recycling. Oh dear, am I sounding like a grumpy old man? I’m not really one.

It just strikes me that the real killjoys are those people who specialise in homemade fog and make the washing on the line reek of kippers.

The solution is to burn only dry, woody material that will blaze away and produce very little smoke. The result? No more rubbish and happy neighbours.

There, I’ve got it off my chest. But soon, no doubt, blazing fires will be lit all across the country and I have no problem at all with the annual celebration in memory of that failed attempt in 1605 to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

It is good to be made aware of history but there is another thing of which you should be aware. If you have been storing old wood and dry garden rubbish for weeks to make your bonfire, then it may well have seemed like a cosy haven for a passing hedgehog in search of a dry place to hibernate.

I know it’s a bother, but do move the heap of combustible material before setting light to it just to check that one of these increasingly rare mammals is not settling down inside it.

Far better to disturb him – or her – now and offer alternative accommodation.

There’s no need to go to the expense of buying a purpose-built hedgehog house. If you have a loosely constructed log pile or an old wooden box you can wedge into a quiet corner of the garden and cover with leaves, then that’s the perfect place for a lodger.

Then, the bonfire moved and any prickly visitors relocated, you can celebrate Guy Fawkes Night with a clear conscience.

A loosely constructed log pile or a wooden box is perfect for a lodger