Fire Dick

Winter is here and more so the darkness. We wandered up to the woods to burn stuff, namely all the rooted up brambles from earlier in the year. They’re a nasty weed aren’t they? And I took this opportunity to bond with the fire with Darwin.

I don’t know if this happened with most kids but when I was about 9 or so I became fascinated with fire. Fire was a bit taboo but at that age but we were still permitted to buy matches, and we did. Swan Vestas were 10p a pack but England’s Glory were only 5p (Swans are 45p a pack now!). Because I lived opposite a wood we used to play in there regularly and obviously that was a great place to light fires. We used to light little fires, and then bigger ones. In them days people used to dump stuff in the woods, like mattresses and things, and they were great for setting fire to. We even tried to set fire to an old tree once and that’s when we all got told off, someone called the fire brigade. It’s the one and only time my dad ever hit me. It didn’t stop us though. Having the ability to create fire anywhere at any time was like the modern day equivalent of having an iPhone I suppose. I even set fire to Helen Lucas’s hair, she wasn’t impressed.

And so that’s why I encouraged Darwin to burn some sticks and that. Hopefully he won't be a fire dick like I was.