I recently swept the flue of this Charnwood Island II Stove at an address in Clavering. As can be seen from the photo’s the baffle was very distorted and warped due to over firing the stove. I did explain to the customer how this might have occurred and suggested never filling the appliance more than two thirds full of fuel at any one time whilst burning the stove. He was more than glad of the advice and did admit to over stocking the stove at times. After some little persuasion I was able to remove the baffle to access the flue mouth and sweep the liner.

The sweeping done I ordered a new Baffle from Fire Spares in Barnsley who do a sizeable discount for Members of the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps. Fire Spares are a very efficient company, if they have the item sought for on the shelf it is dispatched immediately and received by the customer the following day. In this instance I was able to return to the customers address a couple of days later and fit the new baffle having disposed of the old baffle for the customer.

Fire Spares

Unit 4 Park Spring,

Springvale Road,

Grimethorpe,

Barnsley,

South Yorkshire, S72 7BQ

T: 01226 715100

Charnwood Stoves or more correctly, A J Wells & Sons Ltd, was founded in 1972 and is a privately owned, family controlled, British Company that specializes in the design of high-quality wood burning and multi-fuel stoves. The company commenced production at Niton on the Isle of Wight and are still based in the island today. They have a large range of different stoves and are the oldest existing manufacturers of stoves in the UK. Rather handily all their stoves have a pull up identity tag usually located to the rear of the stove at the top left-hand side, or below the stove at the front on the right hand side. This identity tag as can be seen in the photograph, provides details of the make, model and serial number of the appliance. Customers of mine who have Charnwood stoves are all very complimentary citing the stoves robustness and efficiency.

Charnwood Stoves

Bishops Way,

NewportIsle of Wight

PO30 5WS

T: 01983 537777

Technical : 01983 537799

https://www.charnwood.com/

An extra blog this week as I have so many things I want to put on here and not enough time to do so. One thing I have noted in the area is the amount of domestic biomass boilers that I am seeing around the area. Obviously, the renewables industry is growing and lots of domestic customers are opting for the installation of domestic biomass boilers in their homes. This example is an HDG Compact system at an address in Radwinter; however, another common make I see a lot of in the Saffron Walden area is Okofen. Yes, that is my toolbox that is in one of the shots! This system had a relatively short run of chimney at just over 5 meters and was fed with wood pellets.

HDG Kessel was founded over 40 years ago now in 1978 in Bavaria, Germany. They employ over 200 people and produce a wide range of biomass boilers.

HDG Baveria

Siemensstraße 22
DE-84323 Massing
Germany

Phone: +49 (0)8724/897-0
Fax: +49 (0)8724/897 888-100
Email: info(at)hdg-bavaria.com
Web: www.hdg-bavaria.com

Yes, its time for some more thatched animals; here is a lamentation of swans from a house in Debden where I was working last week. The British collective noun for a group of swans, but they can also be referred to as a Bevy, which I believe is an American version? The Americans also refer to a group of swans in flight as a wedge. Either way this collection are rather beautiful and elegant sailing across this Debden roof top. The customer told me that the roof was rethatched around four years ago, and it is still looking like it was just recently done, a splendid piece of thatching I think you will agree.

The house historically was a public house; online the licensees of which can be found dating from 1832, a John Mansfield right through to 1899 when the licensee was a William James Tannt. It was named the Ship or Old Ship whilst it was operating as a public house, although it would appear to have been private dwellings for some time now – search: https://pubwiki.co.uk/EssexPubs/Debden/ship.shtml

The building is now divided into two cottages and is Grade two listed. As you can see the heating appliance is a rather magnificent Clearview 750 Multi-Fuel stove, which the customer reports being more than adequate for his requirements. There are some photo’s of me cleaning the flue. I have had a quick look at poems about Swans, and here are some of the ones I liked best:

The Swan – S. F. Flint
Under the lily shadow
and the gold
and the blue and mauve
that the whin and the lilac
pour down on the water,
the fishes quiver.

Over the green cold leaves
and the rippled silver
and the tarnished copper
of its neck and beak,
toward the deep black water
beneath the arches,
the swan floats slowly.

Into the dark of the arch the swan floats
and into the black depth of my sorrow
it bears a white rose of flame.

Graceful Swan by Elegantni Lebed

On Vltava waters
I saw a Graceful Swan,
Peaceful and modest
Full of quiet confidence
She looked like a Fawn

I fall in love with her
From thousand miles away,
Frightened of thoughts
My crazy mind created

Swan spread her wings
To save me from darkness
I was one step away from jumping,
She embraced my sadness
And it felt like a heaven
Invited me to her secure haven

She patiently waited
Playing down her strength
Showing me a way to the calmness I crave

Above Vltava flow
In my mind I see
Gorgeous Swan dances
Twosome with Firebird

I came across this La Nordica Extraflame Domestic Pellet Boiler at an address in Stisted recently, and thought that it would make for a interesting blog. Although I do come across domestic pellet boilers in people’s homes, they are rather rare, and I can think of only a handful of examples that I do in the area. It certainly makes a bold statement in the room, this example heats both the central heating and all the hot water for the property. As the name suggests, the appliance runs off compressed wood pellets that are automatically fed to the appliance from a hopper. It has a very large glass frontage to the door so that the customer gets the full benefit of the flame effect when the appliance is in operation. The customer is more than happy with the systems performance and would recommend such a system to others who might be thinking of going renewable.

La Nordica Extraflame are an Italian Company based in the North East of Itally, originally concerned with making electrical heating appliances, they switched to making wood burning appliances in 1968 and now export to over 50 different countries. They make a huge range of pellet and other biomass boilers as well as wood-burning stoves, fires and cooking ranges. The pride themselves on developing the field with technological advancements in wood-burning appliances.

La Nordica Extraflame

104 Via Summano, 36030 Montecchio Prcecalcino VI, Italy

info@extraflame.com

info@lanordica.com

https://www.lanordica-extraflame.com/en/company

Here is another stove that I had not come across before, a J. R. Workshop Double-sided Nova Multi-Fuel Stove, that I swept at an address in Withersfield recently. The stove is fitted into a large bungalow, with a substantial sitting room on one side and the dining room/kitchen on the other. The customer stated that it is a very efficient appliance, which heats all these rooms more than adequately. He said that prior to installing the stove he had done a lot of research to find out which stove would work best in his home and that he had found this J. R. Workshop Double-sided Nova Multi-Fuel Stove

He said that J. R. Workshop are a small family company in Leicester and that they make stoves to order as well as coming to fit them. He said that they had been making stoves for over 25 years and that the were very friendly and helpful. He said that he would recommend them to anyone.

1B Radnor RoadLeicesterLeicestershireLE18 4XY

0116 278 4448
www.nova-stove.co.uk

Those of you who regularly follow my blog will remember that about a year ago my youngest daughter Katie joined me for a day’s work experience – This was part of fulfilling part of the National Curriculum in year 10. Well recently my eldest daughter Emma joined me for a full day’s work. This was not to fulfill any requirements of the National Curriculum, but Emma was at a lose end after not having to sit her A-Levels (Due to the Covid situation), and did not want to be outdone by her sister. We had quite a varied day of work on the day and covered quite a bit of ground.

The photo is of her outside an address in Epping where we swept two open fires. Emma said that she really enjoyed the day, especially driving between the villages to get to the jobs, but she went on to say that she didn’t think chimney sweeping was the job for her – Far too dirty a job! It didn’t seem that long ago that I took Emma on her year 10 work experience, in those days I was still a DS in the Met Police working on the East London Criminal Finance Team SCD7. One of the things we did that day was to go to Snaresbrook Crown Court and obtain a Bank Production Order. The judge was very kind after the Court Clerk had told him why Emma was there, and she was able then to meet the judge in his chambers. He took the time and trouble to explain to Emma his role and responsibilities.

I recently swept this ACR Neo 3 Wood-burning Stove at an address in Saffron Walden; in fact I have been sweeping the flue for this stove for the past few years now. I thought it would be good to include it in my blog though as not only is it an attractive stove and a very neat installation, it also has a rarity value. ACR stove are relatively few and far between in this area, but this is the only ACR Neo 3 Wood-burning Stove that I sweep and as I cover a relatively large area, I think this makes it a rare. What I really like about this stove is that it fits very well into its surroundings, a contemporary stove in a modern house.

ACR seem to specialize in contemporary stoves and they have a large range of different models, including: the Birchdale, Oakdale, Ashdale, Rowandale, Larchdale, Elmdale, Earlswood, Malvern, Wychwood, Novus, Buxton, Astwood, Tenbury, and Trinity, as well as four different versions of the Neo, 1W, 3F, 3C and 3P. ACR have been making stoves for over 30 years and are based in Birmingham the West Midlands.

ACR Heat Products,

Unit 1, Western Works,

Western Lane,

Birmingham B11 3RP

01217068266

https://www.acrheatproducts.com/

I realized this week that I have not had a blog of a thatched animal for quite some time now, so this week I thought I would put that right! All work and no play and all that!

These pictures of a running horse were taken at a cottage close to Great Bardfield, so tucked away, if you didn’t know where it was you would have extreme difficulty finding it. The customer has recently had the thatch ridge redone and added that horse as they keep horses themselves, three in fact. I was there to sweep the flue to their Yeoman Devon Mk1 stove that was fitted by the previous occupants over 30 years ago now. You wouldn’t believe this as the stove has been so well looked after it still looks almost new. Claire was quite taken with the thatched horse though, being a horsey person herself and she spent some time fussing the customers three horses in their stable.

Looking on the web there are a huge number of poems written about horses; I should think that there are more poems written about horses than any other creature? He are just a few that caught my eye:

Horse by James McDonald

To honor a friend,
That many have known,
To capture the words,
That action has shown.

Like a horse set to flight,
A pen dashes around,
And words fill the page,
like rocks on the ground.

With grace in their heart,
May the world hear them say,
That the horse is our friend,
Because there’s no other way.

And to you at the edge,
Of your poetic filled voice,
Charge in like a horse,
As if there was never a choice.

The Stallion by Walt Whitman

A gigantic beauty of a stallion, fresh and responsive
to my caresses.
Head high in the forehead, wide between the ears,
Limbs glossy and supple, tail dusting the ground,
Eyes full of sparkling wickedness, ears finely cut,
flexibly moving.
His nostrils dilate as my heels embrace him,
His well-built limbs tremble with pleasure as we
race around and return.

The Horse by William Shakespear

I will not change my horse with any that treads…
When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk,
He trots the air; the earth sings when he touches
it.
“The barest horn of his hoof is more musical than
the pipe of Hermes…
He’s of the color of the nutmeg and of the heat of
the ginger…
He is pure air and fire, and the dull elements
Of earth and water never appear in him,
But only in patient stillness his rider mounts him…
It is the prince of palfreys. His neigh is like
The bidding of a monarch, and his countenance
Enforces homage.

The Horses of the Sea by Christina Rossetti

The horses of the sea
Rear a foaming crest,
But the horses of the land
Serve us the best.

The horses of the land
Munch corn and clover,
While the foaming sea-horses
Toss and turn over.

Say this of Horses by Minnie Hite Moody

Across the ages they come thundering
On faithful hoofs, the horses man disowns.
Their velvet eyes are wide with wondering;
They whinny down the wind in silver tones
Vibrant with all the bulges of old wars;
Their nostrils quiver with the summer scent
Of grasses in deep fields lit by pale stars
Hung in a wide and silent firmament,
And in their hearts they keep the dreams of earth
Their patient plodding furrowed to the sun
Unnumbered springs before the engine’s birth
Doomed them to sadness and oblivion.
Across the swift new day I watch them go,
Driven by wheel and gear and dynamo.

Say this of horses: engines leave behind
No glorious legacy of waving manes
And wild, proud hearts, and heels before the wind,
No heritage of ancient Arab strains
Blazes within a cylinder’s cold spark;
An engine labors with a sullen force,
Hoarding no dreams of acres sweet and dark:
No love for man has ever surged through wire
Along the farthest slopes I hear the rumble
Of these last hoofs-tomorrow they will be still;
Then shall the strength of countless horses crumble
The staunchest rock and level the highest hill;
A man who made machines to gain an hour
Shall lose himself before their ruthless power.

Well, I had not seen one of these before, the Interoven Goodwood Stove – I swept this one recently at a farmhouse just outside Hempstead. The customer told me that her father had installed the stove in the late 1940’s when he had renovated the farmhouse. She said that she believed that the stove was secondhand even then, and that her father had picked it up somewhere at a reasonable price. Worryingly, she told me that she believed that the stove had not been swept since it had been installed. This I believe proved to be the case, the chimney was incredibly dirty and was full of rather dangerous tar deposits. How the family had not burned the farmhouse down, I just don’t know! In the end I removed a couple of large trugs full of tar and soot from what is a relatively short run of chimney!

I have had a look on the internet and it would appear that the Interoven company 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

Yes, Last week we returned to work in London when we swept the biomass boiler flue at the Arches Apartment Block in Childers Street Deptford. This apartment complex is rather large, occupying as it does half the length of one side of Childers Street which is quite a long road. The Gilles biomass boiler that provides the heating and hot water for the complex is rather sizeable at 55Kw rating, as can be seen in the photographs. The biomass boiler is situated in a basement boiler room below a seven story section of the complex, so as you can imagine it is rather tall flue, running as it does from the basement up seven stories and out on to the roof. The flue itself is integral to the building, i.e. running inside the structure of the block as opposed to along the outside. In total this meant that there was over 30 Meters of flue that required sweeping. The system operates on wood pellets which are fed into the boiler from two large hoppers. These hoppers are in turn filled with pellets via access hatches at street level.

The agent for the management company told me before I commenced the work that the system was 10 years old. However, the system had only been run for the first 5 years of its life and had lain dormant and unused for the past 5 years. In all this time the flue had never been swept. The management company were having the chimney swept in preparation for recommissioning the boiler prior to its reuse in the coming winter. Surprisingly, considering the amount of time had passed without sweeping, the flue was not particularly dirty. Although a reasonable quantity of soot was removed from the flue, it was not consistent with the amount of time the system had been operational and dormant. As expected, though the soot was very fine in nature. The management company who are new to looking after the complex have wisely determined to have the flue swept annually.

Gilles Biomass Heating are a West Country Company based at Unit 215B Holme Lacy Road, Hereford HR2 6BQ 01432513777 office@gilles-biomassheating.co.uk

https://www.gilles-biomassheating.co.uk/contact/ – They have been developing biomass boiler systems over the last 25 years.