It is surprising to find that many people don’t think that their Aga cooking ranges require sweeping. I suppose that it is not that surprising when I meet people all the time that think their wood-burning stove doesn’t require sweeping. I hear comments such as “it’s a sealed system so doesn’t require sweeping”, or “It’s lined and is a modern installation” . . .  Like that makes any difference! I find it is an up-hill battle educating some people around the risks arising from not sweeping the chimneys of their appliances. So, with regards cooking ranges, this includes all cooking ranges including Rayburns and Esse and others that are burning solid fuel, oil or gas. If they are burning these fuels and are open flues, i.e., they have a chimney, they will require sweeping. Unsurprisingly I do sweep a lot of cooking ranges across the area. Admittedly, many ranges don’t require the same frequency of sweeping as wood-burning stoves and open fires, particularly oil and gas appliance. What I suggest that my customers do is to ensure that the service engineer smoke tests the appliance at the end of the service. In this way they can check the draw of the chimney and if it is not satisfactory the customer can call in the sweep to clean the chimney.

I took this photograph of an Aga Cooking Range I swept recently at an address in Waltham Cross near Finchingfield. I was interested in putting this appliance in my blog as you can see from the photo it is rather an old range, that the customer has had renovated and restored to pristine condition. The customer said that he believed that this model of Aga dates from the late 1940’s. I don’t know whether this is true or not, but it is certainly an impressive range and a prominent, attractive feature in any kitchen.

The Aga range has had a long an interesting history, I found the following on the internet: he AGA cooker wasn’t conceived in a research facility. It was dreamed up in a kitchen. Its inventor, Dr Gustaf Dalén, was a Swedish physicist blinded in a terrible accident. In 1922 he was convalescing at home when he realised his wife was using a range that was dangerous, dirty and exceptionally time consuming.  He wanted to create a cooker that was instead clean, economical to run, easy to use and which produced great food with the minimum fuss. In doing so, he invented a cooker that changed the lives of cooks the world over. The AGA was an immediate success and came to Britain in 1929. It has been at home ever since.

It was during the 1930s that Britain’s love affair with the AGA really took hold. A key player in this success was David Ogilvy, who went on to found the leading advertising agency, Ogilvy & Mather. While at AGA he wrote The Theory and Practice of Selling an AGA Cooker, which has been described by Fortune magazine as ‘the finest instruction manual ever written’. Amongst his gems of advice, Ogilvy suggests that a successful salesman combine ‘the tenacity of a bulldog with the manners of a spaniel’.

During the war years the AGA played its part. The British government placed orders for AGA cookers for munitions works, communal feeding centres and hospitals. Demand rose steeply from families too and the waiting period for a new cooker was more than six months.

In 1947 the company began manufacturing its cookers in Shropshire, where they are still made today.

For 34 years, the AGA had been available only in cream, but in 1956 all that changed. The introduction of the new AGA De Luxe models in pale blue, pale green, grey and white proved hugely popular with AGA lovers. It was around the same time that the famous AGA chrome-plated lid domes were introduced.

The 1960s saw the first iconic black AGA lozenge logo, which is still used today. But the changes introduced during this time weren’t just cosmetic – solid fuel was falling out of fashion as people wanted cleaner, more convenient energy sources. This led to the launch of oil and gas-fired AGA cookers. The 1970s saw the launch of further new colours, including black, which still proves hugely popular today.

https://agarangeusa.com/

Now here is a German make of stove that I have not come across before, a Termatech TT40 Wood-Burning Stove that I came across recently at an address in Thaxted. Its funny that it was fitted by a local stove company and was not a bespoke stove requested by the customer, but I just don’t see this make of stove around the area. Its not even that it’s a new installation as it had been in use for a number of years now and the company Termatech no longer make this model of stove. Presumably when it was fitted, this model of stove was an end of a line?

The customer is more than happy with the stove which is in a barn conversion that is a holiday let adjacent to a farm. Being a barn conversion, the stove has to heat a rather large open plan space, something guests have told the customer that it does very well. I think it is an ideal finishing touch to a holiday let. I think most people can imagine the end of a holiday day, relaxing in front of this stove with a glass of wine? The bran itself is very old and has a wealth of exposed beams, so the stove which has a very contemporary feel to it makes a nice juxtaposition with the historical setting of the barn. A most pleasing effect! The manufacturers state in the operating manual that the stove has a 5Kw output and a 79.6% efficiency rating. As the property is older that 2008 and the stove is only up to 5Kw output rating, there is no requirement for additional ventilation (Building Regulations – Approved Document J). The installer did have a tricky install, having to safely fit the flue up through the ceiling and roof, as the roof beams are positioned very close together. This was safely achieved by using a twin wall flue all the way up from the stove and out through the roof space.

Termatech are a Danish company which commenced production in 2003. The company prides itself on manufacturing high quality stoves that provide great value for money and appeal to the middle of the stove market. In addition to stoves, they manufacture a range of stove accessories and factory-made chimney components and liners; producing a range of over 2,500 stove products. The marketing blurb pronounces that “the basic philosophy behind our products, besides establishing a balance between quality and price, is to focus on design, technology, function and the environment”. They state that whilst their stoves must be appealing to the eye, they must also be environmentally friendly as well. Since 2008 Termatech has been part of the Swedish company Nibe Industria AB.

Termatech

Gunnar Clausens Vej 36

DK-8260 Viby J

Denmark

Email: info@termatech.com

PROFILE

Operating manual: file:///C:/Users/Claire/Downloads/tt40_product_range_user_manual_1_29252.pdf

I realized this week that I had not had a thatched animal blog for some time when I saw on the roof of a house we were working in this thatched cat and mouse. Yes, the people living in the house did have a cat! I have seen thatched cats on rooves before, but not a cat and a mouse before.

Here is a famous Cat and mouse poem by Ted Hughes

Cat and Mouse

On the sheep-cropped summit, under hot sun,

The mouse crouched, staring out the chance

It dared not take.

Time and a world

Too old to alter, the five mile prospect—

Woods, villages, farms hummed its heat-heavy

Stupor of life.

Whether to two

Feet or four, how are prayers contracted!

Whether in God’s eye or the eye of a cat.

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.