Although I sweep a lot of Contura stoves, they tend to be the smaller models, however I came across this Contura 655 Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Stebbing Green the other day. As you can see from the photo it’s a rather large stove; the manufacturers state that it has a 6Kw output and a 78% efficiency rating. This installation is in a barn conversion and therefore has to heat a rather large open plan space, the customer did state emphatically that it is more than fit for this purpose and heats the room very well indeed. I don’t know if you can see on the photograph, but the stove was sited on a rather attractive stone plinth. This had a rather rough appearance but has the quality if not showing up any dust or soot and would be very hard to scratch or damage, unlike some other softer stone hearths that are easily during everyday stove use damaged. As the stove is over 6Kw rated and the barn was converted after 2008 the installers had complied with building regulations (Approved Document J), by placing an open vent in the outside wall directly behind the stove. Needless to say that the customer is more than happy with this stove, he told me how attractive it was when it was alight and how cosy it made the place, the ideal finishing touch to his barn conversion.

Contura Stoves are a Swedish company based in the town of Markaryd – Markaryd is a municipality in Kronoberg County at the southern tip of Sweden. Contura Stoves are known for their distinctive contemporary stove designs and the appliance of the most up to date stove technology.

Contura Stoves

Box 134

Skulptorvagen 10

285 23 Markaryd, Sweden

T: 046433275100

https://www.contura.eu/

Operating Manual: https://www.contura.eu/download/18.28fd1971167380f020b439/1543496447447/iav_Contura_655_gb.pdf

Recently, a chap who had been reading my weekly blog sent me these photos of his Goodwood Stove in the holiday home that he had recently bought in Italy. You might remember that some time ago now I posted a blog about a Goodwood Stove that I had come across in a farmhouse in the Hempstead area. Since that time, I have been contacted by a number of people, including a couple of chimney sweeps, from all over the UK who have come across these stoves, many of which are still in operation. Although a number of them have been from the north of England. But certainly, Italy is a first! The owner had been cleaning the stove up and repainting it but was after finding out how to source a new grate as his old one had a hole burnt through it! I’m not so sure about the flexible steel liner (painted black) being attached straight on to the flue collar of the stove, this really should be a stove pipe up to a register plate. As can be seen in the photo it also has an old-fashioned flue damper, which is no longer standard in this country. I’m guessing that the Building Regulations in Italy are not as tight as they are here?

My previous internet search found that the Interoven company who made the Goodwood Stove ceased trading some time ago. There are some interesting historical adverts for the company dating from Victorian and Edwardian times right through to the 1950’s, but nothing after that. These advertisements are worth a look, just to see how quirky they are and for their historical interest! With straplines like “the original not a pirate” and “how to reduce gas and coal bills, a heating miracle”. Check out Graces Guide to British Industrial History – https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Interoven_Stove_Co

Probably one of the commonest if not the most common stoves that I sweep in the area. The Yeoman Devon Wood-Burning Stove, I recently swept this one at an address in Farnham. This model is the Flat-Top version, but they also come in a high-top version with a hood over the top of the stove, but the flat-top is the more common of the two. But this is not why I wanted to mention this stove in my blog, the point is that when I come to sweep this make of stove, I invariably find that a great deal of part burnt material (i.e., soot and tar) has collected on the top side of the baffle during the burning season. Clearly, such a build-up of part burnt products of combustion on the top of the baffle presents a fire risk. As with most stoves the manufacturers operating instructions, the stove operator is directed to remove the baffle once a month and clean these deposits off the top of the plate. I have never seen this done yet as most customers are not aware of this direction. As can bee seen in the photographs, there was a reasonable build-up of part burnt material on top of this baffle plate in Farnham.

The baffle plate in the Yeoman Devon Wood-Burning Stove is extremely easy to remove and clean. The plate is held up by two pins in the front top of the firebox that are secured in place by two roller sleeves which slide over the pins. The back of the baffle plate sits either on the top of the rear firebricks or on a little metal ledge just above the firebricks. To drop the baffle plate you simply withdraw the two roller sleeves from their pins and let the baffle plate fall forward. It can then be cleaned. To replace it you simply reverse the removal procedure. Easy!

Yeoman Stoves are now owned by stovax, but you can find them at:

Yeoman Stoves,

Falcon Road,

Sowton Industrial Estate

Exeter, EX2 7LF

Technical Enquiries: 01392261950
Customer Services: 01392474500

https://www.yeomanstoves.co.uk/stove/county-wood-burning-and-multi-fuel-stove/

Yes, this is a rather unusual Combination Stove I recently swept at an address in Stebbing. I have not seen one like this previously, although I do see many other combination stoves, usually Dovre or Nord which seem to be the most common varieties. The customer told me that this stove was fitted in the mid 1960’s and was, manufactured in Sweden, but could not remember the makers name or model. There was no plate that could give any idea as to who the manufacturer is or what model it was? I did try and see if I could find anything like it on the internet but was unsuccessful. The customer said although it looks like an open fire that could burn anything, it is actually designed to only burn wood and that it burns the wood very efficiently and thoroughly. The installation is on the original chimney clay liners which date to the early 1960’s.

The customer was also experiencing Jackdaw activity in the chimney. There was no cowl fitted to the open chimney pot, so I suggested fitting an anti-bird cowl as a terminal to prevent the Jackdaws building a nest in the chimney. I gave him contact numbers for Gary Wats of Watson & Woolmer Ltd in Debden, who fits a good quality anti-bird cowl – 01799 541846, (M) 07736 678877

I do see small numbers of these Efel stoves whilst on my travels around the area. I recently came across this one in an address in Elsenham, but I can think of other examples I sweep, two in Kedington, one in Great Bardfield and another in Bardfield Sailing. They can be slightly more awkward to sweep as they all have a fixed baffle and require some form of additional sweeping access. I often think to myself, ‘thank heavens for flexible power sweeping click rods’, otherwise some jobs would be impossible to sweep.

Feel stoves are now Nestor Martin Stoves and who still produce the Nestor Martin Harmony. This stove has a totally different interior construction with a number of different removable baffles. Nestor Martin are a Spanish company and have a head office in Soto De La Marina, Cantabria.

Perhaps not the most interesting of stoves, but certainly a rareaty in these parts; a Fireline UK FX5 Multi-Fuel Stove that I swept recently at an address in Great Bardfield. The customers had inherited this stove, along with a Charnwood C-Five Wood-Burning stove in their kitchen when they recently mode into the address. Some of their neighbours had kindly referred then to Walden Sweeps when they had enquired about getting their chimneys swept. Perhaps not the most inspiring of stoves, the customers said that they had lit it on a number of occasions since moving in and they it had worked very well and warmed the sitting room up to a nice temperature. They went on to say that when it was lit along with the Charnwood stive in the kitchen, the house was lovely and warm and there was no need to have the central heating on.

Fireline UK are not a company I was aware of as I had never seen any of their stoves before, let alone the FX5 Multi-Fuel Stove. Looking at the plate that came with the stove it shows that Fireline are a subsidiary of Charlton & Jenrick Ltd of Telford. A google search revealed that this company maked a number of different brands along with Fireline, including Infinity HD, Katell, Purevision and Paragon. The company sales blurb states that they have been manufacturing stoves and fireplaces since 1986 and was founded by Barry Charlton and Bill Jenrick and now employs over 125 people across two sites.

Charlton & Jenrick Ltd

Unit D
Stafford Park 2
Telford
Shropshire
TF3 3AR

T 01952 200 444
F 01952 200 480
E sales@charltonandjenrick.co.uk

Contact Us

I recently swept this Meg 4.5Kw Contemporary Multi-Fuel Stove at an address in Littlebury – Had to ask the customer what type of stove it was as I had not come across this make before. She informed me that it was a Meg Stove, but that she had very little paperwork for the installation as she had not had the stove installed having only moved into the address last year. She was very happy with the stove’s operation stating that it more than adequately heated the room even though it is rather diminutive in size! The customer stated that she only burnt wood on the stove, despite it being manufactured as a multi-fuel stove. A google search revealed that Meg Stoves was founded in 2009 with a brief to combine contemporary design with precision engineering.

The company is based in Hooton, on the South Wirral / Cheshire border, and all manufacturing takes place at the Meg factory. Many manufacturers claim their products are made in the UK, when in fact they are largely produced overseas and only the final assembly stage takes part on these shores. At Meg Stoves sheet steel is laser cut, folded, welded, finished and painted all under one roof, nothing is subcontracted out so there is complete control from start to finish.

All Meg multi-fuel stoves burn with an efficiency of at least 80% and burning wood means you are using a carbon neutral energy supply.  Amazingly low emissions of less than 0.2% CO, five times better than even the strict European Standard, also mean that the whole range is Defra Approved for burning wood and smokeless fuels in smoke-controlled areas. Giant ash bins to ensure infrequent emptying and ultra-resilient stainless-steel grates are two more of the benefits offered, put simply; only a Meg fire will do.

Yes, it has been a year when I have taken a large number of bird’s nests out of chimneys all across the area. Many more than I have in other years, with customers who are now spending larger amounts of time at home due to Covid and home working, many chimneys that have not been used previously are now being pressed into service. In some ways doing birds nests is the Bain of a chimney sweeps life. Of course, these nests were only removed when the birds were not nesting, as this is illegal. So, none of these jackdaw nests were removed between mid-March to Mid-August. There is an exception to this rule, nests can be removed for safety reasons and only if you have a current License from the Ministry to do so. I keep a copy of my License on the van but have never actually had to use it.

They are time consuming to remove from the chimney and it is frequently dirty work as the nest is often packed with soil, bird droppings and frequently dead birds of other vermin as well as being mixed with old soot that lines the chimney. Plenty of dust sheeting is always required.

As the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps point out, it is Jackdaws that cause a problem for people wishing to use their chimneys. There are around 1.4 million pairs of Jackdaws in the UK! Jackdaws love to set-up home in chimneys. They generally nest in dark enclosed spaces from March / April, depending on the weather. Emily Bignell, Supporter Advisor for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said that nests found in chimneys were most often jackdaws. She added: “All birds and their nests are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). The birds cannot legally be removed for being a nuisance or an inconvenience.” Lawson Wight, from the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps, said: “As the RSPB says, there can be legal obligations. However, if the nest represents a danger to the occupants of the house it’s a different matter. Seek advice from a professional sweep as individual situations can vary.”

Last summer I went to an address in Radwinter to sweep an ILD 1 Wood-burning stove. As I began to dismantle the stove, I discovered that almost a third of the rear firebrick was missing and that a lot of the vermiculite from the brick was crumbled across the floor of the firebox. The customer told me that the had been experiencing problems with wasps down the chimney and that wasps had built a number of large nests in the garden over the summer. Now I know that wasps chew up wood into a pulp in order to build their hexagonal paper nests, but I had never heard or seen them chew up vermiculite board??? Clearly, they see it as an available, wood like material that was easily chewed and just made best use of it. To do so they were flying down the chimney, negotiating their way around the two baffles into the firebox, chewing the rear brick and then making their way out the stove and chimney and back to their nests. How very resourceful of them, its amazing how fantastic nature and animal behaviour can be! Not so good for the customer, I had to order her a new firebrick from ILD at some cost!

For this week’s blog, here is a rather unusual stove that comes all the way from Chile in South America, a Bosca Firepoint 360 Multi-Fuel Stove. I recently came across this stove in a house in Stoke-By-Clare and just had to put it in my blog as I had not come across one of these before. It was not the easiest stove to work on, as to access the flue I had to unbolt the baffle, all ways a trick process inside a stove as there was little room to move the socket and the bolts do tend to get baked into the stove. I managed it though with the assistance of a little WD40!

Reading the label affixed to the bottom of the stove it would appear that at the time the stove was installed, Bosca Stoves were imported into the UK by Yeoman Stoves. This is still the case, a Google search of Yeomans website revealed – https://www.yeomanstoves.co.uk/special-promotion-bosca-bonus-continues/

With three different Bosca stoves being offered to the UK maket, the Bosca Limit 350, the Limit 350S and the Limit 380 a 7Kw rated stove.