File:Firing the Fenny Poppers (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1595456.jpg
Firing_the_Fenny_Poppers_(1)_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1595456.jpg (640 × 449 pixels, file size: 246 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg)
Captions
Captions
Summary
[edit]DescriptionFiring the Fenny Poppers (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1595456.jpg |
English: Firing the Fenny Poppers (1) Every November 11 a delightfully different custom is celebrated in Fenny Stratford, now a suburb of Milton Keynes . The events of the day celebrate the life not of some pirate or soldier as might be expected given the nature of the days happenings, but the founder of the science of neurology, Thomas Willis.
Thomas Willis along with fellow medics Lister and John Hunter is buried in Westminster Abbey . He left a considerable fortune and three manor houses in the Fenny Stratford district, eventually inherited by his grandson. This grandson was the rather eccentric historian, Browne Willis, famed for his unkempt appearance and for having paid for the building of St Martins parish church in the town at a juncture when the place had fallen onto rather hard times. The church was dedicated to St Martin as Thomas Willis had for a long time practised in St Martin-in-the-Fields , and died on St Martins day, November 11. Thomas Willis is commemorated by a sermon being said in the church (fee for the preacher one guinea), by an evening meal - which should feature turkey - in The Bull, an ancient tavern, and most enjoyably of all by the firing of the Fenny Poppers. These are described as ceremonial cannon, looking like large iron beer mugs, their handles big enough for Goliaths mitts. The originals, said to date from 1740, eventually deteriorated and one cracked, so they were re-cast in 1859. There are six, weighing roughly 20lb each, with a barrel firing upwards of six inches by a bit under one inch, loaded with a charge of one ounce or more of black powder. Over the years the firing has supposedly damaged the roof of The Bull and the fabric of the church, so lately the ceremonies take place on a sports field, Leon Recreation Ground. Here at noon, 2pm and 4pm a metal rod about twelve feet long, its end made red-hot in the church furnace, is used to touch off the cannon. By tradition the vicar has the honour of firing the first, the rest being in the hands of other worthies of the town. Whether this is sharing the glory or the risk is debatable. Quite why the learned physicians grandson decided on the Fenny Poppers as a means of remembering his relative is unsure, but a custom involving 18 loud bangs and a boozy dinner surely cannot be faulted. |
Date | |
Source | From geograph.org.uk |
Author | Cameraman |
Attribution (required by the license) InfoField | Cameraman / Firing the Fenny Poppers (1) / |
InfoField | Cameraman / Firing the Fenny Poppers (1) |
Camera location | 51° 59′ 41″ N, 0° 43′ 21″ W ![]() ![]() | View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap | ![]() |
---|
Object location | 51° 59′ 41″ N, 0° 43′ 18″ W ![]() ![]() | View this and other nearby images on: OpenStreetMap | ![]() |
---|
Licensing
[edit]![]() |
This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. See this photograph's page on the Geograph website for the photographer's contact details. The copyright on this image is owned by Cameraman and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.
|
![w:en:Creative Commons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/79/CC_some_rights_reserved.svg/90px-CC_some_rights_reserved.svg.png)
![attribution](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Cc-by_new_white.svg/24px-Cc-by_new_white.svg.png)
![share alike](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Cc-sa_white.svg/24px-Cc-sa_white.svg.png)
- You are free:
- to share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work
- to remix – to adapt the work
- Under the following conditions:
- attribution – You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- share alike – If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same or compatible license as the original.
File history
Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time.
Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
current | 03:03, 4 March 2011 | ![]() | 640 × 449 (246 KB) | GeographBot (talk | contribs) | == {{int:filedesc}} == {{Information |description={{en|1=Firing the Fenny Poppers (1) Every November 11 a delightfully different custom is celebrated in Fenny Stratford, now a suburb of Milton Keynes . The events of the day celebrate the life not of some |
You cannot overwrite this file.
File usage on Commons
There are no pages that use this file.
Metadata
This file contains additional information such as Exif metadata which may have been added by the digital camera, scanner, or software program used to create or digitize it. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file. The timestamp is only as accurate as the clock in the camera, and it may be completely wrong.
_error | 0 |
---|