Fireworks still thrill, but it's time to embrace something less explosive

I love fireworks. Nature's blazing colours ceding to blazing fires, and acceptance - now the comforting melancholy of September and October has settled - that winter is in the wings. An excitement builds, towards the season of staying in and going out, heralded by sparks in the dark.

- By Nicola Chester

Breathtaking pyrotechnics, even of village size, and all the oohs and ahhs. For a time, we did our stint running the village firework display. But is it time to pack that away and embrace something new? Something simpler, kinder, less... explosive?

Not everyone likes fireworks. The startle, whizzes, whooshes, screams and decibel-busting bangs going off without warning, the field-wide flashes. A season no longer contained to Guy Fawkes night on 5 November and its nearest weekend, or Diwali. The impact on domestic animals and wildlife can be miserable or even devastating. Sudden loud sounds and bright flashes of light cause fear and stress in domestic and farm animals, birds and wildlife, and sometimes panic, bolting, disorientation and subsequent injury.