It has been a strange year in many ways, one of these is the number of appointments I have had to remove birds from chimneys. I don’t know what it is but birds in the local area seem to have been throwing themselves down chimneys with great regularity this year. This is one of five that I have managed to recure alive from a chimney in the past few months. It has been mostly pigeons and Jackdaws, but I have also saved one starling from a chimney in Kelvedon for Eastlight Community Homes. Certainly, with Jackdaws it is the case that they love to build nests in chimneys and probably dropped down the chimney when looking for somewhere suitablejufdedsjhwejhkljdfkj to build a nest. However, I think the pigeons and the one starling I rescued probably fell asleep when perched in the warm draught on a chimney pot and simply fell down the chimney. Hopefully, as we are well advanced into the nesting season this year, I won’t get many more calls like this in the coming weeks.

Yes, the old Parkray Multi-Fuel Room Heaters; 1940’/1950’s technology, but you would be surprised just how many I still see about the area still going strong. Many of these were installed in local authority and military housing as an efficient way of producing hot water and heating for the home. The majority would have run a back boiler and many still do. I see a large number of these when doing contract work for some of the local community housing associations. But I also see them elsewhere like in the old, enlisted men’s housing on Stradishall Airfield (now belonging to the prison service or private accommodation), or for example in Guildhall Way Ashdon and in the Eastlight Community Homes housing stock around Braintree and Witham. I have included photographs of some of the examples I sweep, and as you can see, they come in a variety of different models and designs. I always think the look rather modern and space age in a 1950’s Si-Fi retro sort of way? What do you think? Many people don’t like them and rip them out and replace them with a modern stove, but I quite like them, they are certainly very durable and robust, just look how long many of them have lasted and they are still working efficiently today! The only difficulty these days is getting parts for them when the internal components of the stove eventually wear out. This said it is still possible to get parts for some of the later models if you are really determined.

Yes, I recently came across this Faure Revin La Midinette B Solid Fuel Range Cooker in an address in Great Saling. Upon entering the kitchen I immediately thought wow, what a fantastic stove. It has a beautiful rich enamel finish to it which has an attractive mottled appearance. Most unusual! It put me in mind of other enameled French stove that have this enameled finish, like the Godin stoves. I tried to do a bit of research on the internet, and did find information about the stove manufacturer Faure Revin but no other examples of the La Midinette B. I’m guessing that the company went out of business a long time ago now and that these stoves are very rare? It certainly has an Art Decco appearance/design so I would think that it is likely to have been manufactured in France sometime in the 1920’s or 1930’s? The customer told me that for many years it had been in the kitchen of a Narrow Boat. How unusual is that!

I have found the following history of Faure Revin stoves: In 1854 Antoine Théodore FAURE settled in Revin in the French Ardennes. He was the youngest of nine children. His father, Gilbert Faure, was originally a policeman in Peyrat-la-Nonière in the Creuse region. Having received a scholarship at the School of Fine Arts and Crafts in Angers, Antoine Théodore completed his studies with flying colours.

He subsequently settled in the Ardennes, where he worked initially as a receptionist at the Compagnie des Chemins des Ardennes, which constructed and maintained the local railway network.

Soon, however, he decided to become independent and in 1854 he set up his first factory in Revin where he manufactured moulds for the construction of railway materials. The factory consisted of a rectangular hall, 15 m wide by 60 m long. But this type of work did not particularly appeal to him and he decided to start manufacturing ‘Faure’ stoves.

Business was brisk and Antoine Théodore started to build new manufacturing plants. However, before long he faced financial difficulties and he reached an out of court settlement in order to solve them in 1868. Théodore sold his factories and materials but immediately rented the same facilities and continued his activities. He even sold his house to the Morel family, a local competitor. The factory was eventually bought back in 1879 and the house in 1903. This time the business ran smoothly and once Théodore’s son, Henri, joined the company developments proceeded at a pace. Henri understood that it was important to be in charge of your own financial affairs, rather than leaving it to others.

In 1880 part of the manufacturing operations were moved from Revin to a foundry in Laifour, which was built specifically for that purpose.

In 1882 the company bought a factory in La Petite-Commune, where a copper smelting plant was installed.

In 1907 a factory in Mézières, specialised in copper casting, was taken over and, during that same year, an iron foundry was built in Signy-le-Petit.

In 1891 Henri took charge of the company following the death of Antoine Théodore. He was the one who truly developed the company to ‘Faure Père et Fils’. He bought every piece of land he could lay his hands on in order to expand the factory. From 1900 onwards his eldest son, Louis, became his assistant. His other sons followed, one by one, Raymond in 1905, Henri in 1914, Pierre in 1921 and Jean in 1923.

The factory catalogues at that time included an exceptional range of models, i.e. 40 different cast iron ranges, 34 types of stoves and open fires, 48 larger stoves, 26 types of freestanding stoves, 71 sheet iron and cast iron cooking ranges, 13 different sheet iron and cast iron kitchen stoves and an extensive range of related articles in various sizes – 1400 products in total. This assortment included an impressive collection of grates, coal buckets, irons, waffle irons, small stoves and warmers, soap trays, spittoons, plate stands, fire dogs, umbrella stands, spades and tongs, plates and other containers, boot scrapers, table and bench legs, vases and flower pot holders, bouquet holders and garden containers, feed troughs, water troughs, urinals, fountains, toilets and water reservoirs, cast iron pumps and the entire range of black or galvanised tin.

The advent of war meant that all activities in the Ardennes factories came to a halt and Henri decided to continue producing stoves and ranges at two ’emergency’ plants located further south in Nevers and Conches. The company’s head office was moved to Trouville-sur-Mer, where Henri owned a villa. His four eldest sons had to join the army, but eventually returned in June 1919.

Following Henri’s death in 1922, the Faure factory was managed by a Board of Directors chaired by Louis. Again a period of prosperity, characterised by intense activity and large volume production, followed. The way in which the business was run had now changed and in 1925 ‘FAURE’ participated in the Paris Exhibition for the first time. The company also opened a showroom on the boulevard Richard Lenoir in Paris.

1926 saw the successful launch of the Crésu 572 stove and acquisition of a new factory under the name of ‘Cinq Paires in Revin.

In 1931 ‘FAURE’ introduced the ‘family salary’ principle based on the premise that each employee who was head of a family received an extra 20% salary per child, which in effect meant that, with five children, the employee’s salary doubled. This benefit was hierarchical or linked to a maximum number of children.

In 1934 a new sheet iron and enamelling plant was built and the company decided to participate in the ‘Société Nouvelle d’Electricité et de Chauffage’ (New Electricity and Heating Society) in order to further diversify its production.

The subsequent war and complete evacuation of the Ardennes region marked the end of this period of development and prosperity. A small section of the Revin workforce started again in Nevers and found work in the factory that had acted as a refuge before in 1914.

After the second world war activities did not start again in earnest until 1952. Many problems had been encountered in the period after 1945 and production at the factory in Signy-le Petit did not start until then. War damage had opened up an opportunity to start the factory earlier but the company decided to invest in the iron foundry first because demand had changed. The demand for sheet iron, rather than cast iron, products was rising. The invention of the ‘FIRE BALL’, a new type of mobile apparatus that ran on butane, in 1953 was a huge success but not enough to fend off increasing competition in the market, especially from Italy.

In 1960 ‘FAURE’ was sold to its main competitor in Revin, ‘ARTHUR MARTIN’. This manufacturer continued the brand’s development and model standardisation. The range of ‘FAURE’ products being sold noticeably improved, but only the brand label on the equipment still indicated the difference between the two makes.

‘ARTHUR MARTIN’ faced the same difficulties as ‘FAURE’ and was taken over in 1972 by the ‘Société Générale de Belgique’, which in turn sold its interest in the business to ‘ELECTROLUX’ in 1975.

In that sense the ‘FAURE’ brand still lives on in the electrical domestic equipment sector, with a long historic industrial past.

Her is another rare and unusual stove that I have found on my rounds. In this instance it is a Vermont stove. 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. But I have never come across an Aspen before! I recently swept the flue for this Vermont Aspen C3 Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Wimbish. Vermont claim that the Aspen C3 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 use 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.

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

I wanted to continue the weekly blog by talking about rare or unusual stoves that I come across whilst doing my rounds, however this week is a slight departure from that in some ways, as I’m going to talk about a couple of Clearview Stoves I came across at an address in Waltham Cross. What’s so unusual about a couple of Clearview Stoves I hear you say! Well Yes, I probably see more Clearview stoves than anything else as they are so popular. I certainly see more Clearview’s and Stovax Stockton’s than any other stove makes, but these two Clearview’s I will mention today are as you will see, rather out of the ordinary.

These two stoves as you can see from the photographs are a Clearview Pioneer 400 Oven Multi-Fuel Stove and a Clearview Solution 500 Multi-Fuel Stove in gun metal blue finish. They are both unusual, the Clearview Solution 500 Multi-Fuel Stove for its unusual but attractive gun metal blue finish. I have not seen this in a Clearview stove before, so I’m wondering whether this was a short-lived model that they once made and is now no longer available? The Clearview Pioneer 300 Oven Multi-Fuel Stove is unusual as you just don’t see these about, in fact I have only ever seen one other Clearview baker stove and that was a Pioneer at an address in Newport. So, there we have it, two unusual but attractive Clearview stoves for this week’s blog!

I do like the Clearview range of stoves; they are simple to work on and the majority of customers who have them say they are very efficient at burning and easy to operate and maintain. Clearview have been making stoves since 1987 and are based in Bishops castle in Shropshire. They have a spectacular show room in an old stately home Dinham House (See Photo) in Ludlow, where there is the full range of Clearview Stoves displayed in rooms, with many of the stoves in operation.

Clearview Stoves

More Works,

Bishops Castle,

Shropshire SY9 5GB

01588 650401

Dinham House,

Ludlow,

Shropshire SY8 1EJ

01584 878100

https://www.clearviewstoves.com/

It’s a while since I had a thatched animal for my weekly blog, and I saw this pair in Balsham where I was working last Saturday. This dog and duck immediately made me think of mine and Claire’s drinking days at the Dog & Duck pub in Stanstead – A nice pint of Greene King Abbot Ale, you can’t beat it! I’m guessing the dog here is a Labrador, certainly a gun dog? I think that this pair of thatched animals are quite the most well executed pair of thatched statues that I have ever seen. I think you will admit how well modelled they are, with so much detail. The wings of the duck make it look like it is just about to take flight and there is real movement in the dogs legs.

I have actually found a dog & duck poem on the internet:

Dog & Duck by Derek Davis

a dog and duck were pondering
at their worlds plight
of who was wrong
and who was right

duck said you stay on the left bank
and i will stay on the right
but dog wasn’t happy
and started a fight

so duck flew above her
and dropped from a great height
and dog caved in
she could be very bright

she held out a paw
to duck her only friend
she said come on mate
let’s do make amends

so dog and duck agreed
they both had to share
both had the same need
and both had to care

a moral of the story
is dogs don’t mess with ducks
remember your training
else you will come unstuck

there world is happy again
be it only for a day
people can be like this
not in affray

but it does take a dog and duck
to show them the way !

Now this is a rarity, The Morley Wood-Burning Stove, I have never come across one of these or even heard of them before! I swept this example in an address around Arkesden only just this week. As can be seen from the photograph it is enamelled like some of the retro French stoves, although sadly this example is rather chipped around the top of the stove, although in my opinion this distressing over time gives the stove a somewhat old-world charm which goes with the house it is in. I should think that the stove carcass is made of cast Iron, covered with green enamel, which is usual for a stove of its age. The photos also show that the stove has an unusual feature, a door on its right-hand side through which the logs are fed. The primary air control is also positioned on this door, the circular control near the bottom of the door, similar to those found on modern Clearview Stoves. As in this case, these old stoves quite often have the make displayed on a brass plate or plaque, like the Goodwood Stove I featured in a previous blog, which is again a rather attractive feature.

I have tried to find out more about The Morley Stove and the company that makes them, but despite extensive internet searches, I was not able to find out anything on the web! I didn’t even find any second hand examples on sale on the likes of EBay, which is highly unusual. So unfortunately I’m not able to add any further details about The Morley Stove.

Yes, for those of our customers who are not aware, both Claire and I are Covid testing ourselves twice a week now and we have both had our first vaccination and will shortly be having the second vaccination. The test kits are free of charge from the Government, and you can record your results on line after completing the tests – Coronavirus Home Testing: coronavirus.home.testing@notifications.service.gov.uk

As most of our customers are already aware, we use the ServiceM8 digital booking system which sends all our customers an email the day before our visit detailing our safe Covid working practices which utilise the Government guidance. I have reproduced this email below for those who are not aware of its content:

Please do take the time to read over our COVID19 sweeping procedures ahead of your sweeping visit.

What do I need to do before my chimney sweep visits?

We are implementing safe working procedures whilst carrying out our work and we need your help to keep everyone as safe as possible. We’ll arrive at your home with all the relevant PPE, which includes disposable gloves and industrial gloves, clean sheets and anti-bacterial wipes for wiping down any ‘touch points’.

We would kindly ask that where possible all internal doors are open with a clear route to the appliance(s) with a space of about 2m x 1.5m around the fire. Also, that the window is open to ventilate the room prior to our arrival and left open for a period after we leave. Please clear any ornaments from the hearth and perhaps from the mantlepiece. Please ensure your fire is unlit and cold, and there are no hot coals left in the fire. Whilst we are animal friendly, we would recommend that all pets are put into another room whilst the work is being carried out.

What should I do before my Biomass Sweeping Visit?

Please ensure the Biomass Boiler is turned off at least 3 hours before our visit, during the downtime your thermal store should be able to cope with demand. In general we will also need a clear passage to the Biomass Boiler and adequate space to work in. Please clear items from around the Boiler and flue system.

It’s essential we keep our distance from each other as much as possible, the best way to do this is:

• We will knock at your door, step back and wait for you to answer.
• We will be wearing clean protective clothing, facemasks and two pairs of gloves (disposable gloves within industrial gloves).
• After a social distance greeting if you could point us in the right direction of the fireplace.
• Unfortunately, we are unable to accept cups of tea or coffee at this time, we know this is very out of character!
• We would then ask for you to kindly leave the room whilst the chimney sweeping takes place.
• Payment can be made by cheque or cash, preferably to the correct amount left on the hearth or mantlepiece or by bank transfer (details can be emailed across following our visit)
• As standard we now issue our GoMCS sweeping certificate via email (arrangements for a paper copy can be made if notified in advance), whilst social distancing measures are in place, we will not be requiring signatures for the certificate.
• Should there be any issues encountered during the course of the work then we would invite you outside to discuss the situation further whilst maintaining a safe distance. Or if you prefer to stay in the comfort of your own property, we can call you via phone to discuss.

If you or any of your household are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 we will reschedule the appointment, allowing for at least 14 days of self-isolation. Please be honest with us regarding this as we try to protect everyone whilst they are working.

Please email us at paddy@waldensweeps.myzen.co.uk or call 01799 599981 if you have any questions.

Continuing again this week with the theme of unusual or rarely seen stoves. This week is a move away from the usual fare of wood-burning stoves, this week we have a domestic biomass boiler or to be more precise a pellet boiler. I came across this MCZ Pellet Fired Stove in an address in Duddenhoe End where I Swept it and another appliance. The stove is installed in an Inglenook fireplace in the main sitting room. The customer told me that when the stove is in operation, it has a beautiful blue flame up the front of the large stove glass. As you can see the stove itself has a very contemporary, streamlined appearance, very stylish and is about to be swept using a large Viper (one of three I have on the van). The sweeping access is by the way, via the small inspection hatch half way up the stove pipe.

MCZ are an Italian Stove Company based in Vigonovi Di Fontanafredda and two other sites in Italy, Santa Lucia Di Piave and San Polo D’Enza. They also have sites in Arnas France and Labin Croatia. The company employs 555 people across these site and exports it product to over 40 countries including the UK. They pride themselves on the application of the latest biomass burning and green technologies.

https://www.mczgroup.it/

Yes, within a few weeks I have been called to remove a live bird which had fallen down an uncapped redundant chimney. On this occasion the bird was a big pigeon which had dropped down a chimney at a house in Saffron Walden. The poor pigeon was stuck at the bottom of the redundant chimney and could not get out because the fireplace was bricked up. The only chance of escape was a small air vent in the base of the fireplace, which allows the chimney to breath. I removed the vent cover and was quickly able to establish that I would be unable to remove the pigeon via the vent by taking hold of the bird, as once holding the birds folded wings, my hand was then too wide to withdraw through the hole. So what I did was to put both hands through the hole and behind the pigeon. I then ushered the bird forward and into the hole. The pigeon was then able to do the rest as it scrambled out through the vent hole. Whilst he was doing this, I was able to withdraw one of my hands and gently take hold of his folded wings as he emerged from the hole. I then took the lucky pigeon outside and threw him up in the air, he happily and rather quickly flew off into the distance towards Saffron Walden church. This was truly a great escape for the pigeon, he is a very luck bird!