FREE FIREWORKS SEE IN NEW YEAR FOR BRIGG FOLK

Brigg residents received a free New Year's Eve firework display last night - either side of midnight.
Many people must have splashed the cash on all those colourful sky rockets in a show that lasted the best part of half-an-hour.
Brigg Blog appreciates that some folk who had retired to bed long before the arrival of 2013 may not have appreciated the fireworks. And, having once owned a rather timid pooch, we can appreciate that many pets are scared witless (we've typed that word carefully!) by the explosions.
Now we must say sorry to the publicans of Brigg that the Blog team failed to get out and about this New Year's Eve. It must be age. Or did last night see a carefully orchestrated campaign involving the BBC, ITV, health watchdogs and the Government? The aim being to keep us from trekking to the boozers.
For having endured the untold misery that passes for soap entertainment on Emmerdale, Coronation Street (two doses) and EastEnders, we were down in the dumps and couldn't be bothered to rise from the settee and trek into town. Instead, we continued in Jim Royle mode and settled down for the night with some very good value cider from Rhythm and Booze in Spring's Parade.
A tenner's worth still buys you a lot as things having gone very quiet on 'Killjoy' Cameron's much-publicised plans to hike the tax on this...for our own good, you understand.
So apologies to the landlords of Brigg who missed out on our valued custom, though we feel we have more than done our bit over many a previous New Year's Eve.
We would certainly have called at the Black Bull, where mine hosts Amber and Richard Smith suffered the deaths in 2012 of dear family members Tony and Carolyn Sykes who ran the Wrawby Street hostelry for many years before them.
Early today we received a message circulated by Richard, which reads: "Happy new year to all of our wonderful friends and customers. Thank you for all your support in 2012 through the difficult and emotional times we had and the fun times we had, too. "Let's make 2013 a good one for us and yourselves - HAPPY NEW YEAR xxxx."
Very well said, sir.