The St. Florence Village Association's Bonfire and Fireworks display took place on Tuesday, November 5. The weather was very kind for a change and Jonathan Edwards (of St. Florence) built the biggest bonfire we have ever seen with a magnificent fireworks display the best we've had yet.

The scene was set by a fantastic DJ called Lorne who played some very appropriate music for the occasion, especially when the fireworks were in full swing, giving that extra excitement to the spectacle of the flashes, bangs and colourful sprays in the sky.

The Village Association would like to thank everyone who supported our event and once again the enjoyment was backed up by a very large crowd of happy faces. There were plenty of drinks and refreshments for everyone to enjoy, from the usual tea and coffee, fantastic mulled wine from Hazel, delicious soup from Grandiflora Garden Centre, St. Florence, a bar run by the Sun Inn (thanks Tommy) and the best burgers and hot dogs from the Parsonage (many thanks to Mark and his team).

We are gaining a good reputation for this event and we know folks come from far and wide to attend each year. We have many new committee members involved in this event, with new ideas however, the main problem we are faced with, as ever, is the restricted car parking in the narrow streets of the village, which had to be coned off to allow local traffic through. We are very grateful that Manor House Wildlife Park allowed us to use their car park from where we implemented our first park and ride bus service. We planned this to ease the congestion in the village which we have experienced in the past. We realised this created a problem for some and we are sorry for anyone that got delayed. We appreciated your patience and delayed the display to compensate for this, but this will certainly be addressed for next year, more buses or bigger buses?

All the money raised by this event will stay in the village to help fund the local organisations and facilities, with cash they cannot provide themselves. It takes a lot of people to organise and run an event like this and we thank the 'Florries', ie the St. Florence Football Club for turning out in force and helping wherever necessary, both public houses, the local garden centre, Jonathan the bonfire builder and his team of wood suppliers, Sam and John, our fireworks crew, and all our helpers and organisers involved, but our sincere thanks go to everyone who turned up, your efforts helped to make this event the success it was!

We had a great night, and we hope that all those who attended enjoyed it and we hope to see you again this year.

PS. A male wedding ring was found on the field. If anyone has lost it, please contact Amanda on (01834) 871441 with a correct description and we will be happy to repatriate it with its owner.

Amanda Davies (current chair) and Alan Lesser, of St. Florence