Here is a list of all our past bonfires in time order:
1970 - The First Bonfire
1971 - Worlds Tallest Bonfire
1972 - SS Defuego
1973 - Battleship Bismark
1974 - Viking Ship
1975 - American Fort
1976 - Worlds Tallest Guy
1977 -Silver Jubilee Bonfire
1990 - Houses Of Parliament
1991 - The Great Train Robbery
1996 - Torrington Church 1646
2000 - The Great Fire Of London
2005 - HMS Victory
2010 - The Great Torrington Castle
2015 - Trumptonshire
I was having a sort out and came across these photos and paper cuttings etc that I have scanned:
I will post more when I get the time to scan them.
In 2010 We built a replica of Torrington castle taken from a wooden carving found in the back of a farmers barn in Torrington!
To go the Bonfire 2010 timeline page please follow this link. Bonfire 2010
This was our most ambitious project to date abley managed by Dick Matthews the project co ordinator and Tony Easton the project secretary. The event was attended by over 20,000 spectators who helped us to raise over £70,000 for charity. 25% was donated to The Chestnut Appeal, 25% The North Devon Hospice with the remainder being donated to local charities and organisations who applied for funding.
Saturday 26th August 2000 saw the culmination of 2 years work. We built a small section, but full size, of the old part of London where the Great fire started in pudding lane. We had a Pub, a butchers shop, a hardware shop, THE BAKERY, an apothecary, a jail, and a church. When the structure was complete members of the public could walk around the streets and visit the shops.
Torrington was one of the last battles of the english Civil. The battle of Torrington took place on Tuesday February 16th 1646 in the streets of the town. The church was used both as a prison and a gunpowder store when suddenly there was a massive explosion destroying the church and much of the town and killing the 200 prisoners within. No one knows whether the explosion was deliberate or not.
We built a full size wooden replica of the church as it stood before it was blown up. It had a graveyard, stained glass windows, an alter and pews.
Another organisation in town brought the largest muster of the sealed knot society to re enact the battle. Members of the society actually had a wedding in our church along with a local couple who had a blessing there.
The Gunpowder Plot in 1990 was most of the current memberships first bonfire. It was certainly the first for many years.
We built a replica of the Houses Of Parliament. We traced 70 decendants of the conspirators from all over the world and invited them all to finish the job.
I dont have much information about these bonfires.
Some are Bismark, The defuego (galleon), Fort Dearborn, a viking ship and a large guy.