It's a pain. There's a major downside to a night like tonight. There's kids roaming around in costume. They want something, anything. The trouble is, this isn't America. This is England and the kids aren't in the mood for being nice.

They keep coming as well. England's never really 'done' Halloween in that way the Americans seem to. It's a big thing there. Here it's a slightly not-quite-right copy.

It's also coming up to Bonfire Night, that great night in England where we burn an effigy of Guy Fawkes, a man who once tried to blow up the King and politicians in the Houses Of Parliament. Quite how and why we got to such a point has always eluded me. Whereas other countries celebrate their birth, their independence, their revolution, we remember a failed attempt to kill our monarch.

Maybe because it's Fall. Bonfires have always been popular in England this time of year as leaves, trees and other general garden rubbish is burned after it's summer life has departed. Not that Guy Fawkes was burned either. He was hung, drawn and quartered.

As an added bonus it's the one big night where fireworks go off. Unfortunately these days that's not left solely to November 5th. They've been going off for the past week and will continue to do so until after next weekend.

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