Here is a stove that I thought that it would be well worth focusing my weekly blog on, a Saey Blenheim 12Kw Multi-Fuel Stove that I recently Swept at an address in Kedington. Up until the day I turned up at the address I had never even heard of Saey stoves, let alone worked on one, so it is a real rarity. As it turned out it was rather straight forward and practically constructed stove to work on, with the internal workings being very straight forward to dismantle and put back together. As can be seen in the photographs it is a rather decorative, ornate stove in a traditional style that is not unpleasing to the eye. The stove is situated in the sitting room of a very old, draughty property, yet the customer stated that even on the coldest of winter days the stove warmed the room very nicely.

Saey still make stoves and have quite an extensive range of wood-burning appliances, including the Duo, Fura, Qurve, the 92, Cucina 92, Evo 94, Gustav, Peak & Peak S, Scope and Scope XL and Qube 6 and 8. Saey are a Belgian company based in the town of Oudenaarde. Saey’s website tells us a little about the company: The company is born in 1907 when Omer Saey becomes co-owner of a metal stove and trade. It’s also the basis of a growing family business, which debuted in 1976 with its first stove design. It will be a true success in the eighties throughout the Benelux. Today, the fourth generation SAEY looks back on a flourishing history of over 100 years. Saey has become a strong player that offers its customers a wide range of user-friendly and durable stoves and fireplaces.

Saey Stoves/Belgofire NV

Industriepark de Bruwaan

9700 Oudenaarde

Belgium

T: 0546865808

info@unifire.be

https://www.saeyheating.com/en/products/category/wood-stoves

I have not had a thatched animal in my blog for sometime now, so I thought I would change that this weekend! I saw this rather large fox on the roof of a property I was working at in Balsham, down a little back lane. He is a rather handsome fellow, I think! Running across the ridge line pursued by an imaginary pack of hounds.

Google tells us that foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes have a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or brush).

Twelve species belong to the monophyletic “true foxes” group of genus Vulpes. Approximately another 25 current or extinct species are always or sometimes called foxes; these foxes are either part of the paraphyletic group of the South American foxes, or of the outlying group, which consists of the bat-eared fox, gray fox, and island fox.^[1] Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica. By far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with about 47 recognized subspecies.^[2] The global distribution of foxes, together with their widespread reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, especially in the British Isles, was exported by European settlers to various parts of the New World.

To round off this blog, here is a fox poem I have put out there before in a previous blog.

The Thought-Fox

I imagine this midnight moment’s forest:
Something else is alive
Beside the clock’s loneliness
And this blank page where my fingers move.

Through the window I see no star:
Something more near
though deeper within darkness
Is entering the loneliness:

Cold, delicately as the dark snow
A fox’s nose touches twig, leaf;
Two eyes serve a movement, that now
And again now, and now, and now

Sets neat prints into the snow
Between trees, and warily a lame
Shadow lags by stump and in hollow
Of a body that is bold to come

Across clearings, an eye,
A widening deepening greenness,
Brilliantly, concentratedly,
Coming about its own business

Till, with a sudden sharp hot stink of fox,
It enters the dark hole of the head.
The window is starless still; the clock ticks,
The page is printed.

I do sweep a large number of Chesneys stoves across the local area, usually the Beaumont, Salisbury and Shoreditch models, which seem to be their most popular stoves. However, I recently came across this Chesneys Alpine 4Kw Eco Multi-Fuel Stove which I swept and did a safety check on at an address in Manuden. It is an unusual stove design and looks nothing like any of the other Chesneys models, all of which have a much more traditional look. The Alpine has a rather strange retro futuristic look to it, something of a design classic. The customer told me that for a small 4Kw stove it produces a terrific amount of heat when in operation, which is just as well as it has a rather large room to heat.

Chesneys was founded nearly 40 years ago by Paul Chesney. It had a single showroom and small workshop in London and concentrated exclusively on the restoration and sale of antique English fireplaces.

Today Chesneys is still a family-owned run business but during the intervening years it has developed a unique portfolio of luxury heating products and become a globally recognized brand. It now has showrooms in London, New York, Shanghai and Beijing. It also has over 200 authorized Stockists selling its products throughout the UK, Europe, Japan and Australasia. It has its own manufacturing facilities in the UK, China and Portugal and distribution centres in Nottingham and New Jersey.

Chesneys prides itself on its innovation and product design, investing in an on-going programme of research and development. As a result, it now boasts the most diverse portfolio of products of any company in the luxury heating sector. These include fireplaces, wood burning stoves and gas, electric and ethanol fires. Most recently, Chesneys launched a range of hybrid Outdoor products, which, uniquely, combine a heating and cooking functionality that has worldwide patent protection.

The company’s success has been based on an uncompromising dedication to its core values. These have remained unchanged over the years and are simply expressed as a commitment to outstanding craftsmanship, intelligent engineering and innovative design. These have been the cornerstones of our success, accompanied by an aspiration to deliver service levels of the highest standard.

The company is continuing to expand its horizons. Late 2020 saw the opening of a new showroom in London’s Chelsea Design Quarter and highlights of new product development include a focus on environmentally friendly decorative heating solutions that use ethanol and electricity. Work, as ever, also continues in the design and development of new fireplace designs.

https://chesneys.co.uk

0207 6271410

sales@chesneys.co.uk

mailto:sales@chesneys.co.uk

I see a number of Kratki stoves across the local area and are usually of the contemporary cylindrical stove type. Clearly this example a Kratki AB S/DR 8Kw Wood-Burning Stove which I Swept recently in an address at Radwinter End is a contemporary cylindrical model. Kratki are a Polish make of stove and are more at the budget end of the stove market. This said they are a reasonably well put together and efficient stove type. Indeed, my customers who have them are more than content with their performance and have said that although they are reasonably priced, they are robust and do the job that they are designed to do.

https://kratki.com

contact@kratki.com

2080 681288

I usually associate Krog Iversen Scan stoves with large contemporary cylindrical stoves, which are the only type I have come across on my travels around the local area. Indeed, if you were to take a look at the Krog Iversen Scan website the vast majority of stoves you will see are of the contemporary cylindrical type. So, in many ways this example of a Krog Iversen Scan DSA7 Wood-Burning Cassette Stove is something of an anomaly and is the only example I see in the area. As you can see this cassette stove is something of a monster, with a rather huge, capacious fire-box that I should imagine throws out a terrific amount of heat when alight. You can get a sense of this by looking at the fuel it uses, the massive split logs that can be seen underneath the stove in the photo. Needless to say, this stove is not in any ordinary small sitting room, but in a rather large barn conversion.

Scan stoves are a Danish stove company who commenced production in 1978.

Henning Krog Iversen founded the company Krog Iversen (later Scan A/S) in small premises in Odense. At the time it was quite ground-breaking to produce wood-burning stoves in steel sheet instead of cast iron, and there were not many demands concerning combustion technique and environmental protection. The first wood-burning stoves were no more than “oil drums” with doors, but at Krog Iversen we took pride in producing high-end designed pieces of warm furniture with advanced combustion technique right from the start.

All Krog Iversen scan stoves can be bought through licensed dealerships in the UK.

https://www.scan-stoves.co.uk/

I was thinking about what to do for my weekly blog this week and looking back at my recent posts I realized that they largely focus upon wood stoves of various shapes and sizes. So, this week I thought I would break things up a bit and write about something a bit different and that is definitely not a wood stove! Although we do sweep more stoves than anything else, unsurprisingly we do sweep other things, for example, Aga’s, Rayburns, Parkrays, small open fires and of course large inglenook chimneys. This week I thought for a change I would focus upon large inglenook chimneys.

It is possible to divide large inglenook chimneys into two broad categories, large opening inglenook chimneys, where the bottom of the fireplace runs straight into the chimney and large inglenook chimneys which have some form of register plate with inspection hatches. large inglenook chimneys with register plates usually have some form of fire hood attached to the register plate and are used to assist the draw of the chimney. This is because large inglenook chimneys were the first kind of chimney, i.e., built at the start of the development of chimney technology and therefore they are frequently not particularly efficient at what they do. Often, I find that the fire dog/grate is raised in some way, usually on bricks, to bring it closer to the hood or chimney opening, again this is done to assist the draw of the chimney and stop the combustion gasses lapping back into the room. I sweep them using a number of different Inglenook brushes, from stiff to soft. It is a time-consuming process as each side of these large chimneys have to be swept individually from top to bottom and if there is a register plate it has to be cleaned off. All part of the busy sweeps work.

I do see a lot of Vermont stoves whilst sweeping across the local area. This example is a Vermont Intrepid II Multi-Fuel Stove in rather attractive Red Enamel which I recently swept at an address in Rickling Green. 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 Vigilant’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

Chimneys in Cyprus

We have just returned from our summer holiday in Cyprus, where on the whole chimneys do look rather different than here in the UK. Most days the temperature was in the high 30’s and it was very hard to imagine ever needing to light a fire and use a chimney, the locals assured us that it can get cold in the winter months and at times they even have snow. Its very hard to pick out in the photo, but the traditional fisherman’s cottage does have a very short factory made chimney that is rather too close to the roof for comfort, making it very hard to see. It definitely does not conform with UK building regulations! We back to work now and all ready for our really busy season of sweeping!

Yes, I’m still going on about my 60^th birthday this month. I just wanted to show everyone this card with chimney sweeps on it that was made by our dearest friend Netty Patterson. I think everyone can agree that it is absolutely fantastic! Netty is so artistically gifted, a brilliant birthday surprise that must have taken a lot of time and concentration to make. Thank you Netty, I was deeply touched!

Yes, last week myself and my twin brother Mick were 60 and we celebrated by staying with our families at Gurney Manor in Somerset. I thought I would include this in my weekly blog primarily because of the chimneys at the property. They were all large inglenook type openings and one that was part of the old cook house had an unusual circular configuration, which can be seen in the photographs.

Gurney Manor is a Landmark Trust property – The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust’s headquarters is at Shottesbrooke in Berkshire.

Gurney Manor is in Cannington, Somerset, and is a 13th-century manor house with an attached chapel wing. It is now supported by the Landmark Trust and is available as holiday accommodation. It has been designated as a Grade I listed building and is considered notable partly due to the substantial survival of medieval construction throughout.

The first building on the site was an open hall house erected before 1350. It was rebuilt around 1400 with various additions during the 15th century. William Dodisham added the south wing, porch, and kitchen and put in new windows. In 1480 he left it to his niece Agnes, who married local landowner Walter Michael. Their family and descendants owned and improved the manor until 1616. It then became a farmhouse often inhabited by tenants until the early 20th century. In these 300 years the property enjoyed few improvements but nonetheless suffered few fundamental alterations. In World War II the house was divided into flats by a Mr Harris, whose descendants sold it to the Landmark Trust in the 1980s. The interior includes the remnants of a 17th-century strapwork plaster ceiling. Restoration work in the late 20th century included the repair of structural problems as well as the construction of new oak roof trusses made in a traditional fashion with an adze.