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!

I came across this solid fuel stove/Range cooker at a thatched address in Clavering. I had not seen one of these or was familiar with the make, having not come across it before. It is a very compact little stove, with a tiny but long fire-box. Even so I should think that you would not get a great deal of fuel into it at any one time, even using coal. Looking at the stove I can not be certain whether it is really old and has been restored, or a retro style reproduction? I have has a look on the internet and the only reference I can find to Stratford stoves is that Villager in the West Country used to make a Stratford stove?

Yes, I swept this contemporary and attractive Westfire WF27 Wood-Burning Stove Swept in Balsham this week, but wanted to include it in my blog not because it is an attractive stove that I don’t often see, but because as you can see from the photograph, the flue goes out through the glass roof of the conservatory. Most unusual; I have never seen this anywhere before. This is such a specialized installation; special materials had to be used that come in an installation kit. The customer told me that the installation is so rare, that the reputable HETAS installer had never done one before and had to research how to do it and source the required materials.

Westfire Stoves are a Danish company who pride themselves on developing cutting edge stove technology and are based in the town of Varde. Westfire produce a large range of stoves and fireplace solutions, including freestanding and cassette stoves as well as the WF2 series of contemporary stoves.

Tomrervej 3, 6800 Varde, Danemark.

T:045 74225352

E: info@westfire.dk

Yes, it’s a bit of a mystery this one! Something of a museum piece, but still working efficiently according to the customer. It is some age as well, the customer told me that it was already in the address when his parents and him moved into the address in the late 1940’s! The customer said that he only burns smokeless fuel on the stove and that to his mind he can hardly remember it ever going wrong. The boiler heats all the hot water in the property and a number of radiators and is on 24 seven 365 days a year! But what make and model is it, as you can see in the photo, the name plate is missing from the stove. The customer said that he seemed to remember that it was a Rayburn?

I swept this fantastic Hwam 4640 Wood-Burning Stove in the Haverhill area only yesterday, but thought it so worthy of comment I have included it in this week’s blog. I have not come across this make of stove previously, so it was quite exciting and interesting to see. One of the key features of this stove is the soapstone top, which is not only an attractive feature of the stove but acts as a massive radiator when the stove is in operation. As can also be seen, the stove has a huge firebox, so must push out a terrific amount of heat when lit and has a large stove glass so the fire will be visible, a most attractive feature.

Hwam are a Danish company who have been making high quality stoves for over 40 years. They have a huge range of contemporary and cassette stoves, which can be viewed on their web site. They produce stoves under two brand names Hwam and Wiking. They were formally known as ABC stoves, but have undergone a rebranding in recent times.

Hwam A/S

Nydamsvej 53

DK-8362 Horning

Denmark

0045-86921833

info@hwam.com

http://www.hwam.com