I sweep an awful lot of Heta stoves, the vast majority of which have been installed by Cut Maple Stoves from New England Sturma. Most of these tend to be the Heta Inspire 40, 45 and 55, the 45 in particular. However, the other day I came across this rather attractive, modern cylindrical Heta Scan-Line 7D Multi-Fuel Stove, a model of Heta that I had not worked on before. Like all Heta stoves, it was a dream to dismantle and put back together following cleaning. It is rather an attractive looking contemporary stove I’m sure you will agree. The customer is certainly pleased with its appearance and performance, telling me that it is very efficient at heating the room as well as being pleasing to the eye.

HETA is a family-owned business, located in Lemvig near the west coast of Jutland in Denmark. This is where HETAs stoves are developed and manufactured from idea to finished product. Today, HETA is selling stoves to customers in 22 countries. HETA was founded in 1972 with Erik Bach at the steering wheel for the first many years. Today, Erik’s two sons, Carsten and Martin Bach, are heading the company.

For the first couple of years, the company produced hot water containers, refrigeration plants, tanks for fishing vessels and feeders for agriculture. In 1984, HETA started a collaboration with L. Lange & Co, a Danish iron foundry in Svendborg, founded by Lars Lange, a manufacturer of old cast iron stoves since 1850. After a few years later, HETA acquired L. Lange & Co’s activities.

In 1989, HETA developed the first of a long series of modern stoves, which laid the foundation for all the stoves in HETAs current range. Today, HETA also manufactures stove inserts, pellet stoves, aqua stoves, thermal mass stoves and outdoor stoves to quality-conscious consumers, not only in Denmark but worldwide.

Heta Stoves

Jupiterej 22

DK-7620 Lemvig

Denmark

https://heta.dk/en/

Another large stove – Here is a Bernard Davis & Co Regal Wood-Burning Stove that I swept at an address in Stambourne. It is quite a large stove with a 10Kw output, enough to keep the largest of rooms warm I should think. Being positioned in a large sitting room of a large old farmhouse, I should thing that it is the ideal type of stove to do the job. It is a very traditional and ornate stove as are the other stoves in the Bernard Davis & Co stove range. They manufacture other models all of which are traditional in appearance and very ornate, they include the Rosalyn with a 12.5Kw output, the Majestic with a 6.5Kw output, the Handsome with a 7.5Kw output, the Fairview with a 4.5Kw output, the New Forestman with a 4.5Kw output, the Baby Balmoral with a 6Kw output, the Brightview with a 4.5Kw output, the Supreme with a 10.5 Kw output, the Little Wonder with a 3 Kw output and the Magnus with a 9.5 Kw output. All their stove come in multi-fuel or purely wood-burning models. Bernard Davis & Co stoves are based in East Sussex.

Bernard Davis & Co

https://www.bernard-davis-stoves.co.uk/index.html

T: 01323 484132

M: 07770 355807

 I see plenty of retro Coalbrookdale stoves around the area, but the vast majority of them are the Little Wenlock model or less so the Severn model. So, it was nice to see this Coalbrookdale Much Wenlock Multi-Fuel Stove at an address in Castle Camps the other day. The house also boasted a more modern version of this stove. The Aga Little Wenlock. Funnily enough the customer reported that the Coalbrookdale version of the stove worked just as well, if not slightly better than the Aga version.

Coalbrookdale stoves are now made by the Aga Rangemaster company, in the form of an updated range of stoves, one of which is still called the ‘little Wenlock’. The Aga group is a midlands company based in Leamington Spa and has been manufacturing its stoves in a factory in Coalbrookdale, Shropshire, since 1930. The first Aga oven was designed by Swedish Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gustaf Dalen in 1922 and production started in the West Midlands seven years later.

Coalbrookdale is a famous Foundry in England that has been credited with some major “firsts” in the field of Iron Casting. The foundry was the site of the first coke-fired iron smelting furnace in the world, built by Abraham Darby in 1708 out of an existing charcoal furnace. The first blast day for the new furnace was 10 January 1709, and from the start, Darby produced cheap iron pots using a new, dry-sand mold technique, with complete success. They casted iron rails for the first trains as well as the parts for the world’s first cast iron bridge, which can still be seen today spanning the River Severn at Iron Bridge.

What I did find of interest whilst conducting my internet searches looking at Coalbrookdale stoves, was that the Coalbrookdale Company has an extremely long and interesting history that goes right back to the birth of the Industrial Revolution and far beyond. In the 12^th Century the area of Coalbrookdale which is in Shropshire fell within the manor of Madeley, which belonged to Much Wenlock Priory. The monks here operated a bloomery (iron foundary) called “Caldebroke Smithy”. In 1536 bloomery recorded as still being in operation, however in 1540 during the dissolution of the Monistaries Much Wenlock Priory was closed by King Henry VIII, but the bloomery continued working. Then in 1544 the “Smethe Place” and “Calbroke Smethe” were leased to a Hugh Morrall. This is believed to refer to the Lower Forge (SJ667038) and Upper Forge (SJ669042). Before in 1545 the abbey’s lands being eventually bought by the king’s Italian physician, Agostino Agostini but he sold them in the same year (presumably at a profit) to a local man called Thomas Lawley. Then in 1572 the manor was acquired by John Brooke, who constructed a number of coal mines on his land and continued the operation of the bloomery.

In 1615 Brooke’s son, Sir Basil Brooke, bought the patent for making steel by the cementation process and built a blast furnace at Coalbrookdale. Interestingly, Brooke was arrested in 1644 by Parliament after being involved in a plot to prevent the Scottish army taking part in the English Civil War. The following year Brooke’s estate was sequestrated by Parliament, but the works continued in use. Then in 1651 the manor was leased to Francis Wolfe, the clerk of the ironworks, by Brooke’s heirs.  Brooke had died in 1646 so presumably Parliament had returned the manor to his family. In 1658 – a new blast furnace and forges were built. In 1688 the ironworks were leased by a Shadrach Fox, who in 1696 was supplying round cannon shot and grenado shells to the Board of Ordnance during the Nine Years War. Unfortunately, in 1703 the furnace blew up but the forges remained in use.

In 1709 Abraham Darby I acquired the lease and created the Coalbrookdale Company, an iron foundry which used coke as fuel to make pots and pans. The company had a very long history and is famous for making the first iron bridge which still stands to this day. In 1945 the company started manufacturing wood-burning stoves and the Rayburn cooker. In 1969 the company was absorbed into Allied Ironfounders Ltd.

Yes, I know, sometimes I get carried away with a theme, here is yet another monster stove; this is a Hergom Franklin 82 Combination Wood-Burning Stove. I swept this example recently at a Thatched property in Rickling. Although I sweep one or two Hergom stoves, this is the only example of the Hergom 82 that I have seen in the area, or anywhere for that matter! As can be seen from the photo, it is something of a massive beast, and it has to be, as the room in which it is located is a hall type room with a rather high-pitched roof, so it needs a lot of heating to get the place warm. Certainly, when it is in operation kicks out a huge amount of heat – According to the customer that is.

Although the name Hergom would suggest a Scandinavian stove manufacturer, these stoves are actually made in Santander in Spain. The companies advertising blurb tells us that: Hergom’s appliances are well designed, efficient with a sophisticated double combustion system. Through there innovative internal structure Hergom stoves provide maximum heat and fuel performance with minimal emissions of unburnt particles into the atmosphere. Hergom is one of Europe’s largest and most established manufacturers of cast iron stoves and cookers. Their stoves are forged its state the art foundry in Santander in northern Spain, with Hergom owning their own foundry they use the finest cast iron as the primary material in their production stoves, they understand cast iron and its resilience as a material for hearth and fireplace products. Durability, unique forming and thermal initia give cast products the edge in the market.

The company manufacture a range of different models of stove including the E20, E30, E40, the Mnachester, the Crafytsbury, the Glance, the Mallorca, the Sere Inset and the Laredo.

 Industrias Hergóm

S.L. Soto de la Marina,

Santander,

Cantabria

Spain

+34 942 587 000

comercial@hergom.com

https://hergom.com/gbr/home

As I mentioned last week, whilst we were staying in Latchi, Cyprus we popped over to nearby Polis where we went it into the ‘Bio Energy’ stove showroom. Here we met two of the guys who work there, Alex and Simon who were most friendly and welcoming, with Alex happy to spend time talking us through how they do things in Cyprus. They had a wide range of stoves, going from expensive continental stoves to cheaper Chinese options. Apparently, the cheaper Chinese options are vey popular with the Greek populace. Alex explained that they do drop liners, but more commonly they install using factory made chimneys that they buy from Italy. They cover a large area, from Polis all the way over to Paphos and beyond. They also do all their own chimney sweeping for their installs and are the only chimney sweeps on their patch. They did say however that a lot of the Greeks prefer to sweep their own chimneys!!! The stove in the photograph is Swiss made and is unusually loaded from the top. It looks like a soapstone stove, but is actually some sort of granite type rock and in consequence it is extremely heavy. It has become the show room mascot, particularly as it looks a bit like Kevin the Minion!

It was probably noticed that there was no weekly blog from Walden Sweeps during the past two weeks. This was because Claire and I decided to have a spring break in Cyprus and to see if it was any warmer than the weather in the UK. It was certainly a mixed bag, with some sunshine, thunder storms, rain and hail and some warm sunshine, but definitely warmer than the UK! We did however manage one or two swims in the sea every day, with the water similar in warmth to the sea back in the UK in summertime. To warm up after a swim in the sea, we found the Faros restaurant in the Marina at Latchi which had a large wood-burning stove, which was great to defrost in front of. The Faros restaurant was fantastic, with great food and plenty to drink! We would highly recommend it! During the holiday we popped in to the ‘Bio Energy’ stove showroom in Polis and had a really nice chat with the guys who work there, but more about that next week.  We flew back to the UK on Wednesday and were back working again on Thursday, doing a number of jobs across Essex for the Bishop of Chelmsford.

A couple of weeks ago we trekked up to my hometown Liverpool in order to visit Liverpool University with my youngest daughter Katie who has an offer from Liverpool to study Geology. Fortunately, we had as our guide my twin brother Mick a university professor and former senior lecturer at Liverpool. We had a good mooch about and Katie was suitably impressed. I couldn’t resist taking these photos of regency age chimneys in and around Abercromby Square at the heart of the university. I think the look fantastic and are a feature of Liverpool’s rebranded ‘Georgian Quarter’. The city was actually full of tourists, who would have thought it!!!

In recent weeks my blog has mentioned a number of large stoves, so here is another monster stove; this is a Barbas Falcon 66-56 Wood-Burning Stove. I swept this example recently at an address in Bardfield End Green. As can be seen from the photo it is a rather large stove that when it is in operation kicks out a huge amount of heat – According to the customer that is. Like all Barbas stoves, it has a complex series of baffles that have to be removed prior to sweeping. This makes the job somewhat tricky and a little more time consuming than the average job, but that is all in a busy chimney sweeps working day! I like this stove and imagine that it is rather attractive when alight, however I can’t help thinking that when it is not working, it looks rather like a big fish tank?

Barbas Bellfire are based in Holland and Belgium, they employ over 160 staff and produce 120 different models of stove. So, they are a large concern on the continent and have been manufacturing stoves since 1976. They manufacture wood-burning stoves as well as gas fires. Some of their wood-burning stove models include the Evolux 100-45 range, and the Box range. The box is what it says on the tin a box stove in various sizes.

Barbas Bellfire

Hallenstraat 17

5531 AB,

Bladel,

Holland

T: (0)49 733 9200

E: info@barbasbellfires.com

At the end of January, we spent our usual annual couple of days sweeping in Wales, for free! This involves sweeping the chimneys of Claire’s dad’s friends in the Wenvoe farming community. As usual six addresses were swept in and around Wenvoe and much tea was drunk, and cake and biscuits consumed along the way!

However, this years visit with an additional day and two new addresses swept in Swansea. One was Claire’s brother Dan’s Clearview Vision 500 in Mumbles, the other being our accountant’s Hunter Hawk in Bishopston – Quire the dirtiest stove I have ever swept – See Photo!

I know that I have featured Vermont stoves in my blogs previously, but I couldn’t resist choosing this one for this week’s blog, as you can see, it is something of a monster stove. Yes, it is quite a massive stove, with a huge 16Kw output, which is very high considering it is a wood burning stove only. In that wood burns at a much lower temperature than the majority of multi-fuels, i.e. smokeless. Fortunately for the customer, this Vermont stove is located in a very large room, so there is no danger of the room becoming overly hot!

Although Vermont stoves can be classed as Retro stoves, they are rather dated technology now, but attractive all the same and I do see many of them still all around the area; Intrepid’ s, Encore’s, Defiant’ s, Dauntless, Resolute’ s and Vigilante’s. Vermont claim that the Intrepid II has a 10 hour burn interval per each load of wood. This seems an incredibly long period of time, but the stove does have a capacious firebox, albeit long and narrow. Vermont also say that the top surface can be utilized as a cooking hob.

Vermont Stoves uses a quote from Frank Lloyd Wright in their marketing: “The fireplace? The heart of the home itself”. I think that this is a rather nice sentiment. The are based in the USA and their website tells us that; Hearth & Home Technologies is a subsidiary of HNI Corporation (NYSE: HNI). HNI is the second-largest office furniture manufacturer in the world, and the leading manufacturer and marketer of gas and biomass-fueled appliances and hearth products. The company has been recognized by Forbes and Fortune magazine as a top company to work for in the U.S.A.

https://www.vermontcastings.com/products/aspen-c3-wood-burning-stove

T: 001 877 863 4350