I’m a regular at retail store TK Maxx. I get all my shirts there, so I go in regularly to rummage.
In early August, I was startled to see Halloween gear already on display. Doesn’t Halloween come earlier every year? No surprise really: it’s now reckoned to be the UK’s biggest festival after Christmas. That’s strange for a Gen-Xer like me. In the 1980s, Bonfire Night was far more exciting; sparklers, fireworks, a giant bonfire plus the thrill of burning “the guy,” usually made from second-hand clothes stuffed with straw or newspaper. Written down, it sounds a bit Wicker Man, doesn’t it?
Fast forward 40 years: Guy Fawkes Night is now an awkward reminder of the violent death of a Catholic traitor, at a time when Roman Catholics are as likely as Anglicans to be in church. Maybe that’s why it’s been eclipsed by the revival of Halloween.
Why the medieval Church was 'terrified' of John Wycliffe
Have you ever wondered why heretics were burned in England during the 15th and 16th centuries? We can thank John …