The big news this week is that I have recently taken over Jessica Hayes chimney sweeping business ‘The Saffron Walden Village Chimney Sweep’, as she has retired from sweeping. Many people will know Jessica as she has been the only female chimney sweep in the

Yes, it is that time of year when everyone wants their damaged stove repaired and as I have said before this is the best time of year to do. As the stove is no longer in use as the warmer weather has now arrived! And

It is that time of year when I spend some time repairing people’s wood-burning stoves. This is obviously something best done in the spring/summer months when the stove is not in use, as it involves removing the stove doors and taking them away to be

This is a first, a domestic pet as a thatched animal! I saw this thatched animal on a roof in Abbotsbury when I was on holiday earlier in the year in Dorset. I can’t say I have ever seen any other domestic pets as thatched

I recently swept and repaired this very large Yeoman County stove at an address in Newport. As can be seen from the pictures, the baffle in this stove had almost completely disintegrated and both the door glasses were cracked and broken.
The baffle repair created

I noticed this very unusual thatched animal the other day on the Old Forge in Radwinter. I could be wrong, but I think that this thatched animal is suspiciously like the emblem of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club? Tottenham Hotspur was founded in 1882 and in

I came across this rather attractive and elegant stove in a thatch property in Radwinter the other day. It is manufactured by a company called Hamlet Stoves and is not a make I had come across previously; hence its insertion in my weekly blog. Hamlet

More hares, this time on a thatched roof in Stoke by Clare, indeed this is the second set of boxing hares that I have seen in Stoke by Clare; the first set were on a cottage in the middle of the villages whilst this pair

Recently I swept and repaired a small Franco-Belge stove for a customer in Thaxted. It is a common problem with wood-burning stoves that the door glass can break or crack from use. The usual causes for this are that the door is closed to heavily,

I saw these fantastic thatched hares running across the ridge of a cottage in Ashden (opposite the Rose & Crown pub) the other day. I think these are amazing thatched sculptures, perhaps the best I have seen; they are so animated and alive, giving a