I recently swept the flue of this rather attractive Dik Geurts Ivar 5 Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Great Sampford. I was quite taken with this stove as it has a nice big piece of stove glass through which the fire can be seen and a sizable fire box that will take reasonable size logs for a 5Kw stove. To be honest I don’t see that many Dik Geurts stoves on my rounds, sweeping for may be 10 such stoves across the area, so they are relatively rare. Having said this, I think that they are very attractive well-made stoves, and my customers who have them, speak very highly of them. The installation is in a very modern house that was only built around four years ago, consequently the stove installation has two permanently open air-vents positioned either side of the stove in the fireplace. The stove therefore complies with Building Regulations as per Approved Document J.

Dik Geurts stoves are a Dutch brand and have been manufactured in Holland since 1981. They are a household name in Holland for their distinctive products, although anyone wishing to purchase a stove hear has to go through a recommended UK stockiest. Dik Geurts are now a trade name of a larger company called DRU which has an even longer history in Holland, commencing operation as a new blast furnace on 17^th May 1754 under proprietor Johan Baptist van den Bergh and some local entrepreneurs. They furnace was in a small town called Ulft where the company is still located today. In full the company is called Koninklijke Diepenbrock en Reigers of Ulft, which is a proper mouthful I think you will agree, so they call themselves DRU for short.

Yes, we wish all our customers and friends a Very Happy Christmas! And a Happy and much improved New Year. The Christmasy photos are of my own chimneys and Maple Lane in Radwinter during the recent fall of snow in early December – Very festive looking they are too, but they made working that day very difficult indeed! Still, it’s Christmas now and time to put our feet up for a bit in front of a glowing Wood-Burner!

I recently swept the flue of this rather attractive Piazzetta Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Cuttlers Green Thaxted. It is an unusual and somewhat rare stove in this area, in fact I only sweep one other of this kind and that is located in an address in Stebbing. Both these stoves come in this rather attractive Red enameled finish, just the right colour for a Liverpool FC Supporter, come on you Reds!

Piazzata are an Italian company, their write up on their website is as follows: The Piazzetta Group continues to shape its future by relying on people who invest their passion and dedication to develop innovative heating solutions. The story unfolds at the foot of Asolo, a historical town laden with artistic treasures, which is also one of Italy’s manufacturing hubs. The Group has emerged from this backdrop as a large-size company with research and development laboratories, production and logistics facilities, and management offices. A solid industrial reality that offers an extensive range of stoves and fireplaces to satisfy any personal need and taste.

I’ve not seen one of these before, a Sampson Stove – I have had a look on the internet and can find nothing about it or the company that made it? The stove was in a thatched property in Great Chesterford. I swept the flue via an inspection hatch in the elbow joint of the stove pipe at the rear of the appliance. The stove itself has a fixed baffle which cannot be removed to access the flue mouth. I spoke with the customer, who told me that he had bought it from a pub in Great Chesterford when it closed down many years ago! He went on to say that it had been installed in his home ever since and had worked brilliantly without any issues.

Yes, you don’t see many of these Godin stoves around, they are quite rare! Many people actually go over to France to buy these retro stoves. A lot of the ones I see and have included in my blog have a coloured enamel finish to them and are frequently very ornate. This one however has a more traditional matt black finish, like the majority of stoves, I will keep a lookout for any more unusual stoves that I might come across, which I can then include in my blog!

The Godin stove is the foundational of the history of French stove making, and indeed to the history of domestic stove manufacturing as a whole. Before the era of cast iron, domestic fuel took on many forms from the open hearth fire to the clay or stone kiln, but then the 23 year Godin started his business in 1840 making fireplaces in a shed in the centre of Thierache with a loan of about 4,000 francs from his parent, this quickly became too small.

The works soon moved to Guise where he started employing 30 people and in spite of fierce competition his business grew rapidly. The most important reason for this was his innovation. Godin applied for many patents for his products and concentrated on continually improving them both aesthetically and technically, making antique stoves from his era especially valuable.
Godin became a figure to know in French industrial relations. Godin offered his employees living wages or higher at a time of economic downturn, hired from a small pool of people in one geographical area reducing turn over and improving employee reliability.

By the end of the 1900’s, with a further 2000 employees, Godin was dominating the European stove market. Stove designs became ornate and stylised with the advent of the 20^th century and the Art Nouveau and Art Deco movements. Godin’s stove design in this period did not become as elaborate and decorative as some other companies, such as Deville and Rosières, etc. But the stoves they produced in the early 20^th century were, as always with Godin, extremely efficient and featured superb quality enamelling. Some of these original designs are still in production in the Godin factory today, laying testament to their design and efficiency.

I thought I would include this Invicta Wood-Burning stove in my blog, that I recently swept in a large house in Gosfield. I thought it would be of interest as not only is it unusual and very ornate, you don’t see many Invicta stoves in the area. It is unusual as can be seen in the photo, it is in white enamel and has unusual designs on the casting. This stove installation was also unusual as it was located in a bedroom, something you don’t see a great deal of when sweeping! The room also had white carpets and white bedding, so there was a pressing need for lots of dust sheets before any sweeping took place!

I have looked on the Invictus website, https://www.invicta.fr/en/ – But have been unable to find this model, so I’m guessing that they don’t make it any more. Invictus are a French company who sell their stoves through dealerships in the UK.

For this week’s blog I thought I would use this very attractive contemporary Scan 40 6Kw Wood-Burning stove I swept this week when I spent a day in Hertfordshire sweeping around the Pelhams.

I was quite taken with this stove, which although it very modern contemporary appearance, was located very effectively in an old, thatched cottage. The juxtaposition of old and very modern worked extremely well. I was however surprised to learn that the stove was only 6Kw rated, as it has quite a large firebox, that could take a significant quantity of fuel – Obviously this is somewhat deceptive.

Scan Stoves are a Danish company founded only in 1978. Scan pride themselves on there modern Scandinavian designs and recognizable ‘clean lines’. The company is now owned by the Norwegian stove company Jotul. Obviously Jotul have kept this brand because of their modern, contemporary designs. Whereas many Jotul designs have a very traditional or retro appearance. Clearly the Scan brand gives Jotul a much broader design appeal to a mass market – Jotul sell stoves all over the world.

I came across this rather unusual and quite attractive retro/Traditional Stove at a property in Ashdon last week and thought I would share it with everyone. It is unusual as it has a very narrow, but very long fire-box combined with an old fashioned traditional design which is reminiscent of some of the old Morso wood-burning stoves. Like the Morso Squirrel (Squirrel on the sides) and the inside of some Dovre Combination Stoves (Climbing goats on the inside), it has an embossed picture design on the outside of the casting.

It is an attractive image of a draught horse pulling what appears to be a sled loaded with logs with countryside and mountains in the background. Quite an appealing scene of rural life, but unusual to have such a thing on the side of a stove? Still, most attractive and unusual all the same! As I say I don’t know the make of this stove, but if anyone out there would like to enlighten me, I would be interested to learn who it is. Here’s hoping!

Jackdaw nests, the Ashworth of every chimney sweeps working life! Dirty and time consuming to remove; I have taken a couple out of chimneys in the area during the past week. It still amazes me just how much nest material Jackdaw’s can post down a chimney in a single season. The material they use is in the main sticks of various sizes, but can also include soil, moss, feathers, dead Jackdaws, droppings, paper, animal fur and anything else they can get their beaks on! This one in the photo is at an address in Radwinter.

Why do Jackdaws build nests in chimneys? The simple answer is that chimneys offer ideal place to set up home owing to the warmth and shelter that they provide.

There is a famous poem about the Jackdaw by William Cowper, written in the 1700. Cowper was a local Hertfordshire man.

The Jackdaw

There is a bird who, by his coat
And by the hoarseness of his note,
Might be supposed a crow;
A great frequenter of the church,
Where, bishop-like, he finds a perch,
And dormitory too.

Above the steeple shines a plate,
That turns and turns, to indicate
From what point blows the weather.
Look up — your brains begin to swim,
‘Tis in the clouds — that pleases him,
He chooses it the rather.

Fond of the speculative height,
Thither he wings his airy flight,
And thence securely sees
The bustle and the rareeshow,
That occupy mankind below,
Secure and at his ease.

You think, no doubt, he sits and muses
On future broken bones and bruises,
If he should chance to fall.
No; not a single thought like that
Employs his philosophic pate,
Or troubles it at all.

He sees that this great roundabout,
The world, with all its motley rout,
Church, army, physic, law,
Its customs and its businesses,
Is no concern at all of his,
And says — what says he? — Caw.

Thrice happy bird! I too have seen
Much of the vanities of men;
And, sick of having seen ’em,
Would cheerfully these limbs resign
For such a pair of wings as thine
And such a head between ’em.

No Parking! – Well I have seen some strange sights, but this really does take the proverbial biscuit and did make me laugh when I saw it! Is this revenge on the parking system, or is it just an example of effective recycling? Or did the stove fitter run out of steel plate or is it as I suspect a bit of amateurish DIY???? Just when you think you have seen it all something else crops up – That’s life and chimney sweeping I suppose! Having said all this, the plate was doing everything that it needed to do, it was structurally sound and was sealing the chimney from the room – The appliance was lined by the way! I hope everyone out there found this as amusing as I did!