‘Our Guys were so big we had a job to carry them!’

The Sentinel’s NOSTALGIA PAGE has prompted scores of readers to share their memories. Here are just a few of them...

MEMORIES OF COMMUNITY BONFIRE, PENNY FOR THE GUY AND NOVEMBER 5

“We used to go down to the Meadows to a bonfire there.” James Johnson

“My brother used to make a guy and stand outside the Odeon on Trinity Street ‘pestering’ the cinema goers. He always got a lot of money though.” Jeannette Wilson

“I remember parents putting baking potatoes in foil and placing them around the edges of the bonfire. Happy times.” Robert Kane

“We just had fireworks in our back garden. Roasting chestnuts in the oven I remember, not just for Christmas.” Penelope Smith

“Our guys where over 6ft high and made of wood. We had a job to carry them.” Lyn Snow

“I remember big bonfires in the field at the back of Audley Road, Talke, where my grandparents lived, and the potatoes cooked around the bonfire. Lovely.” June Forrester

“I remember travelling to Betley for bonfire and fireworks.” Angela Hall

“We used to build our bonfire in a back alley early in the day, then the milkman used to come down with his horse and cart and we had to shift it all then start again, and we used to take turns protecting the wood we gathered in case the gang from the other end came to rag it. Happy days.” Barbara Tipton

“When I lived on Dividy Road many years ago, we always had a huge fire on the spare ground by the garages. Me, my brother and all his mates used to go around the houses nearby and collect everyone’s old wood and the odd old mattress, then a couple of days before Bonfire Night the boys would take turns guarding the fire from raiders. Then on November 5 the neighbours would be out and share fireworks and light the fire. No matter what day of the week, it was always lit on November 5, not like today where some organised fires are a week later.” Julie Mchugh “My mum always made a guy for our village bonfire. My dad was a carpenter and mum would stuff a pair of dad’s old overalls with shavings from out of his work shed. It always looked very realistic when she had finished.” Margaret Pearsall

“When I was little I lived in Chell Heath. We used to have a great big bonfire which everybody helped build. “When it was pretty low the older ones rolled spuds in the fire for jackets and didn’t bother about dirt on them.” Gail Harford

“I always went to Wem as a kid, in our caravan. When I was old enough to take myself we started to go to Fenton Park display, we loved it. You’re never too old for Bonfire Night.” Kim Lawton