Seeing as it’s November 5, we’ve dug out some Bonfire -themed vintage photos for you.

Our gallery shows youngsters enjoying collecting a penny for the guy and having fun holding fireworks from the twenties up to the sixties.

The custom of children making Guys and displaying them on the street, stood the test of time for many decades, but now alas, the tradition has all but petered out.

Even during the Second World War when November the fifth celebrations had to be scaled back or scrapped all together, children would still scramble together some rags to create a Guy.

In 1939, the war-time blackout restrictions meant it was impossible for bonfires to be lit after dark, so many established and long held firework events were changed to become afternoon displays instead.

This is exactly what happened in Burnham, Essex in November 1939. For the first time in the town’s firework celebration history, the blackout laws meant the evening bonfire could not go ahead, so instead was held when it was still light.

Local history buffs will be well aware of the links that Essex has with the Gunpowder Plot itself.

The ringleader in the 1605 plot was Robert Catesby , who - although from a wealthy family in Warwickshire- allegedly planned the dark deed right here in Essex.

Catesby and his men are believed to have thrashed out the details of their attack on the Houses of Parliament at Eastbury Manor House in Barking, then part of the county of Essex.

Another link comes with the man who issued the first ever Gunpowder Plot sermon – Bishop Lancelot Andrewes. On the anniversary of the foiling of the ‘Gunpowder Plot’, on November 5, 1606, Andrewes was asked to prepare a sermon celebrating the King’s, and Parliament’s delivery. The speech, now known as ‘The Gunpowder Plot Sermon’ became an annual event where Andrewes would call for a lasting celebration of the king’s deliverance and for the plot to never be forgotten.

These early anniversary speeches are said to have been the inspiration for the rhyme we still use today:

‘Remember remember the fifth of November,

Gunpowder, treason and plot. I see no reason why Gunpowder treason should ever be forgot.

Andrews was said to be the most brilliant man of his age. A preacher and translator, he was proficient in languages and was the principal translator of the first King James version of the Bible.

Born in Allhallows, Barking, Andrewes, later become the Bishop of Chichester and moved to a moated estate in Rawreth, near Wickford named Chichester Hall - now, the site of the Chichester Hotel.