*

It was five years ago that we last attended and actually got to see the  Fire Festival.

On that day too the rain had poured steadily all day and many a lake-like puddle lay in wait for us on the  road into the heart of the West Yorkshire hills.

What is it about playing out at night?

Cold wind and black trees are not supposed to be friendly or inspire comfort…

As a child playing with friends we quite naturally want to ‘stay out as long as possible’.

The loss of light brings with it a frisson of excitement attendant on the haziest of notions that ‘anything might happen’ and this vague possibility is only enhanced by the bone white disk of the moon as it skids like a grinning skull through the night sky.

In later years how many of us get to spend much time outside in…