November days

What a dank, drear morning it is in this corner of England - although, as far as I know, the weather may well be the same right across the country. This is what many people think of as typical English weather for November, But, as with all stereotypes, that is not strictly - or even particularly - accurate. Yesterday, Remembrance Day, was bright and sunny.

Yesterday's parade in Brighton. Photo: The Argus/Simon Dack

As far as I can recall, that is the norm for Remembrance Day. However, the first Sunday in November can have very different weather.

The first Sunday in November is Old Crocks day, more correctly known as the Veteran Car Run. That is the day when some 400 or so cars made before 1905 are driven from London to Brighton to commemorate the day when the 4 miles per hour speed limit on horseless carriages was scrapped. The weather that day can be almost anything but usually comprises two or three of the following features: bitterly cold; pouring with rain; blowing a gale; bright and sunny.

Old Crocks arriving at Brighton last weekend. Photo: The News.co.uk

November is also, of course, the month in which we celebrate the capture of Guy Fawkes before he could blow up the King at the opening of Parliament. Brighton Lions Club has organised a fireworks display to mark this event every year since 1952. My involvement goes back only as far as the 1987 display, but I can say that in all those years the display has been cancelled only once because of rain. It rained last year after we had started the display, and there was one year when fog descended part way through and ruined everyone's enjoyment - but for the most part the weather has been reasonably kind to us.

So that typically dank and drear November weather is not so typical after all.