Britain is a land that, whilst progressive and forward thinking for the most part, holds on to its traditions like limpets clinging to rocks. Just take a walk around London’s Horse Guards Parade or Buckingham Palace and you’ll see what I mean. “Daddy, why are they wearing those silly hats?” Yes, from its world-famous royal family to bizarre British country sports and frankly oddball customs still practiced in some of its rural areas, Britain can be a rather eccentric place.
As a Brit myself, I’ve enjoyed many a bonfire and firework display on Guy Fawkes night, the somewhat less-than-subtle tradition that rightly or wrongly warns people not to rise up against authority. I saw Bonfire Night antics taken to a whole new level the first time I visited my wife’s hometown of Ottery St Mary, where people would run through the crowded streets, hunched under the weight of a barrel of tar that had been set ablaze. I was glad I wasn’t the one doing the risk assessment on that particular night. Britain is a bit odd.
