Before I talk about this week’s sweeping activity, I want to give everyone an update on the puppies progress; particularly as last weeks blog has generated so much interest! Clearly, the majority of people are much more interested in small cuddly creatures than in any chimney sweeping stories I have to tell! The news is al good though, all four pups are thriving, they have all doubled in weight and size in a week, which is great. This is pretty much what they are projected to do according to all the literature. Stanley is by far the biggest of the four pups and is a really greedy feeder; frequently we find him still feeding whilst all the other three are sleeping! What a greedy little tyke! Millie the mum is well and has been very kind and attentive towards the pups; she hardly slept four the first four or five days and was constantly with her little ones. Fortunately, now that the pups are sleeping more she has been taking the opportunity to sleep and have some time away from them being petted by the family (something she has always liked). I will keep everyone posted as to how Millie’s little family is getting on.

Well back to this weeks blog; as you can see from the photo, I recently swept the flue for this rather attractive contemporary multi-fuel stove. As you can all see, it is almost cylindrical, but not quite and was located in a rather large square shaped room that according to the customer it heats very efficiently. The stove itself had a double baffle arrangement which is probably why it works so efficiently. The first baffle is simply a horizontally positioned vermiculite fire-brick that is supported by an arrangement of interlocking fire-bricks which protect the lining of the fire box. This baffle hides a second metal baffle which is positioned higher in the stove over the mouth of the flue pipe. Unusually, and potentially problematically, this second metal baffle is bolted in place. This has the attendant danger that at some stage in the future the heat from the operation of the stove may fuse these bolts into place. Fortunately, this has not happened yet and I was careful not to over-tighten these bolts when replacing them, for obvious reasons! I was able to sweep the flue using my large Viper (Rod and brush on a real).

The one thing I don’t know, is what make of stove this one is and I would be interested to know? So If any one out there knows please do enlighten me! I’m sure Mr Stoves Will Parker at Thaxted Stoves will know the answer to this, so hopefully he will let me know!

Tune in next week and I will give a further update on the pups and maybe some more photos of how they are getting on.