Stone’s fireworks and bonfire this year will take place at Westbridge Park on Saturday 2nd November.
This year’s theme is ‘Toys’ as a tribute to Derek Purton, who sadly passed away in January this year aged 88. Derek ran Purton’s Toy Shop in the town and was a key member of the team that organises Stone Town Bonfire for many years.
The original Purton’s toy shop was at the top of the High Street where B&M now stands, opening its doors in the 1940s and managed by Derek’s parents. It moved further down the High Street – to the unit currently occupied by Ten Green Bottles – when the supermarket was built. Derek and his wife Nancy ran this shop until it closed in the early 1990s. The shop sold bikes, prams and a huge range of toys.
Derek was also part of the committee that organises the Stone Town Bonfire, and his son Charles and grandson Anthony are still active members of the committee today.
After Derek passed away, hundreds of local people shared their memories of him, and his wonderful toy shop, on social media. Everyone remembered Derek as a kind, helpful man, and a toy shop that was a huge part of their childhoods. People remembered queuing to see Santa Claus at Christmas, seeing Derek’s Punch and Judy shows, and loving their visits to the shop to see the latest toys.
One lady wrote:
“When I was a child, I was very ill with glandular fever and my mum was paying weekly on a doll’s pram for me. When my mum went to collect the pram, he not only gave mum all the money back, but I also had the first twin pram that he had in his shop. I’ll never forget this.”
Another simply said:
“A lovely man with a lovely heart.”
Event Details
Gates open at Westbridge Park at 6pm and there will be fairground rides for young children and food-and-drink stalls.
The bonfire – which will be built with the help of young people from Stone’s Army Cadet group – will be lit at 7.30pm before a fantastic firework display at 8pm.
Prices
Entrance costs £6 for adults and £4 for children, and it’s pay on the gate, with all proceeds from the event going to support the work of local charities in and around the Stone area. Last year, over £9,000 was distributed to groups including Stone Community Hub, Stone Outward Guides, Staffordshire Search and Rescue, the Friends of Stonefield Park and the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.
Stone Bonfire Committee chairman Richard Stevens said:
“Stone’s bonfire and fireworks is a real community event, with so many local people and groups involved, and we’re really looking forward to putting on this year’s show and paying tribute to Derek Purton, a real local hero in Stone. As always, the event raises lots of money for local charities, so the more people who come along to Westbridge Park on Saturday 2 November, the more money we can raise.”
You can find more information on the Stone Bonfire and Fireworks Facebook page at www.facebook.com/stonefireworks
For safety reasons, no alcohol or sparklers are allowed at the event.
2 comments
Grumps
A successful reincarnatìon of the original then !!!
Disappointed git
Where the fuck had the creativity of the bonfire gone, what a complete and utter shit show. Lets just say i would rather die than come again next year. Fucking £6 should be free. Also, the cadets were very rude to me when i attempted to jump over the fence and touch the bonfire. On second thoughts it was such a shit structure that it deserves to be burnt