OUR EVOLUTION

So, having established the original provenance of bonfire celebrations in Chiddingly, which can be placed before the opening salvos of the Great War – what of bonfire in the vicinity since then ?

There are first-hand reports which you can still hear of celebrations in the 1950’s and 60’s – if you’re prepared to take a pew in The Six Bells and listen to what may be a protracted and somewhat rambling sermon. A few pictures even exist from the same timeframe, featuring the long-time licensee of the same establishment taking part in what was very much a ‘home-made’ procession – all prams and those orange papier-mache Guy Fawkes masks, which defined everyone’s perception of the character before ‘V for Vendetta’s far more sharply-coiffeured hero became instantly synonymous with Guido after its release in 2005.

Since that timeframe, there are many more tales of dimly-remembered bonfires, but nothing under the auspices of an officially constituted Bonfire Society. 

That is with the exception of the Chiddingly Festival Parade of 1993 when Firle Bonfire Society took to the streets of the village. The video of which can be found at this link on Youtube courtesy of Bristow Bonfire

It was not until the resurgence of Covid during 2020 that the first stirrings of the current organisation could be detected, with a couple of local members of the current committee deciding that it was about time that just such a ‘proper’ Bonfire Society made a return.

Things moved quickly from that point onwards, and by the Autumn of that year , there was a steering committee in place and the first members signed up. It was an eclectic mixture of characters who came together to found the society – farmers, delivery drivers, postmen, pharmacists – but all were bound by the desire to bring ‘proper’ bonfire to the parish.

Our first season in 2021, already disarticulated by the ravages of the pandemic, was further complicated by a great deal of disinformation which was propagated about the newly-christened Chiddingly Parish Bonfire Society. Invitations to attend out-meetings were intercepted by supposedly bonfire-friendly organisations, who then deliberately failed to pass them on, malicious rumours were spread and general mischief was made. 

Throughout all this, though, CPBS soldiered on – supporting other societies and their events and winning the battle for hearts and minds through determination, unfailing good grace and generosity – if ever there was a case of ‘not being druv’ these few months embodied it!

It was our friends from Mayfield who were the first to host CPBS at an outmeeting, and it was a boisterous and cheerful crowd in the gold and two blues – horrifically bright and clean colours though they may have been – who carried the village’s banners (and a boar’s head on a stick) proudly through that first smoke-filled evening.

The debut season was punctuated and highlighted by the support from Lewes Borough Bonfire Society – amicable towards us from the off, and sufficiently impressed with our early progress to invite us to participate properly in their town’s world-famous event. 

Turning up mob-handed, though still a bit too bright and clean for comfort, we enjoyed a fantastic ‘First Fifth’ in the county town, as well as visiting Littlehampton, Rye, East Hoathly and other venues.

​Ultimately we were able to celebrate both Christmas and our first ‘proper’ year of Bonfire with a very splendid party at The Yew Tree, with awards being handed out and our first charitable donation being made, to the Parish’s own East Sussex WRAS.

Year two, in real terms, saw fund-raising undertaken in earnest and further county-wide support for events undertaken by other societies to raise their own funds; fetes and fairs, quizzes and sports events, rambles and race nights – if it was of benefit to the bonfire community, CPBS were there, and we received the backing and encouragement of an increasing number of other societies at our own fund-raisers in return. We were finally being judged on our own merits rather than by dubious word of mouth, and we were – by and large – found to be extremely nice by all and sundry!

This was evidenced when it was time for invitations for the year to be circulated – through considerably more reliable avenues this time around. By the time things kicked off in early September, we had a full itinerary and attended an event on every evening of the entire season, with a second (rather damp) trip to Lewes in the company of Borough once again. New venues in the shape of Heathfield, Crowborough, Ewhurst & Staplecross, Eastbourne and Hastings – amongst others – all welcomed us along, now finally looking the part of seasoned Bonfire participants with a liberal coating of soot, smuts, burnt bits, mud and beer-stains to enhance our increasingly impressive collection of pioneers’ costumes, stripes and banners.

Of course, 2022 was also to see the one thing we had all been working towards, with the return of Bonfire to the village of Chiddingly on 26th November. It might have been a small event, but it was perfectly formed and everyone who was in attendance was full of praise for what we managed to do. 

Overcoming a few last-minute spanners in the works turned out to be all part of the fun (yeah – right !), and it was a gloriously proud team who turned out in the rain and mud on the Sunday to re-create Passchendaele for the post event tidy-up which, in common with the vast majority of other activities we undertake, ended up in The Six Bells.

Gratifyingly, we were also able to expand our charitable donations, given to both the local school and a charity which supports those who are struck down by a particularly invidious illness. We are looking to grow this community involvement and support further still as time progresses.

And so to the present day - Year Three. At the time of writing, in mid spring, we already have invitations on the board for the upcoming season. We have a full diary of fund-raisers, a new venue for our own event and a new pile of problems to overcome before we can once again crash out, take stock – and get ready to do it all over again.

We also have a new pioneer costume – the Followers of King Richard III – last of the Plantagenets and the man signified by our adopted badge, the wild boar. This entails a great deal of painstakingly hand-made string which is full of its own self-importance, woollen cloth, rough hessian, chainmail, plate armour, tin hats, leather and some savage-looking period weaponry of not inconsiderable pointiness – Loyaulté Me Lie, so they say – with knobs on!