I thought it was time for another thatched animal – I took this photo on a frosty February morning at a house in Arrington where I was working. As you can see it’s a rather handsome fox. Confusingly, the thatch roof is immediately behind the tiled roof. The lady customer ‘rides to hounds’ as they used to say, in other words she enjoys fox hunting, albeit in its new modern form! Hence the fox on her thatched roof. Inside her house she had many other pictures and ornaments of a foxy, hunting theme, highlighting her interest in this country past time.

An internet search tells us that fox hunting is: An activity involving the tracking, chase and, if caught, the killing of a fox, traditionally a red fox, by trained foxhounds or other scent hounds, and a group of unarmed followers led by a “master of foxhounds” (“master of hounds”), who follow the hounds on foot or on horseback.

Fox hunting with hounds, as a formalised activity, originated in England in the sixteenth century, in a form very similar to that practised until February 2005, when a law banning the activity in England and Wales came into force. A ban on hunting in Scotland had been passed in 2002, but it continues to be within the law in Northern Ireland and several other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Ireland and the United States. In Australia, the term also refers to the hunting of foxes with firearms, similar to deer hunting.

Todays blog is all about the Morso Squirrel Multi-Fuel Stove as I see so many of the on my travels around the Saffron Walden area. The one pictured is in an address in Saffron Walden, but I do see them everywhere, for example have customers with in Littlebury, Great Chesterford, Elmdon, Newport, Castle Camps, Clare, West Wratting and Cavendish to name just a few.  

Morso who are a Danish company, have a long history having been making stoves since 1853. They make stoves by appointment to the Royal Family of Denmark. I suspect from my customers that Morso have been making the Squirrel model for a very long time as many of the stoves I sweep are rather old. Having said this, customers report that they all still work very efficiently. Indeed, Morso make many different versions of the Squirrel model from the 1410 right up to the 1446 and including the 1442 Royal edition. These versions are all variations on a theme and all have the attractive embossed Squirrel on the side of the casting. Many of the Squirrels are Multi-Fuel versions, however some are purely wood-burning stoves.

In the last week I swept a Morso Squirrel 1412 Multi-Fuel Stove at an address in Haverhill. This version of the Squirrel is unusual as it has an additional component in the stove, a smoke hood. This smoke hood is a roughly semicircular cowl which fits into the roof of the stove above the baffle. It is removed and refitted it by twisting it. So when removing it is twisted anti-clockwise with the right hand hood lug emerging from the rear retaining bracket in the roof of the stove and the left hand hood lug emerging from the front of its retaining bracket. To refit the hood the opposite procedure is adopted, twisting the hood clockwise. Having not seen one of these smoke hoods before I contacted Morso Technical Department 01788554410 – Tony at Morso Technical told me that the smoke hood had been added to the stoves because an environmental requirement for the Norwegian market because of emissions rules in that country. It had been expected that the smoke hood would improve the performance of the stove and reduce emissions, when it actually did the opposite reducing the performance of the stove by reducing the draw of the flue. Some of these stoves have been introduced into the UK market and it was Tony’s advice to discard this unnecessary component and this would actually improve the performance of the stove.

I am pleased to announce to all my customers that I am now HETAS Registered, having completed the Chimney Sweeps Service and Maintenance course a couple of weeks ago. I travelled to a Company in Sudbury, Specflue Training Centre, to complete the course. Although much of the course was something of a refresher for me having previously completed the Guild of Master Chimney Sweeps rigorous training course which included on the job training. This said I did learn new things; some things have changed in the time since I completed the Guild training and somethings were new to me. HETAS do an intensive safety check for appliances and chimneys, with a detailed proforma to be completed as you progress through a variety of different safety checks. The results of these checks are noted on the proforma and allow the user to come up with a detailed risk assessment at the completion of the tests which can be supplied to the customer and/or insurance companies. Some of checks include Type One and Type Two Smoke Testing, Seepage Testing, Spillage Testing and Flow Testing – A very comprehensive series of test; all good news for the customer.

I recently swept this impressive Franco-Belge Monte Carlo Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Great Sampford. The Monte Carlo is a very large stove with a massive heat out-put of 11.5 Kw. This is because the stove has a very large fire box that can take logs that are up to 55cm long. The stove also has a large baffle that runs along the entire length of the roof of the stove and is an extremely heavy piece of cast iron. I have found the best way to remove it and refit it is to lye on your back and in the fashion of bench pressing, take it out or place it back into the stove. One negative feature is that this baffle is bolted in place. To my mind, having bolt on components in a stove is a mistake as the bolts can very easily become seized in place due to the heat generated by the stove. This said, it is a fantastic large stove, and the customer is very pleased with its performance and efficiency.

The Franco-Belge company have been making cast iron stoves for over 90 years, the are based in Mariembourg in Belgium: Franco Belge Europe S.A. 127ieme RIF, 15 Zoning industriel 5660, Mariembourg http://www.fbeurope.be/en/5-contact

I recently swept this contemporary cylindrical wood-burning stove at an address in Debden Green. I thought the picture was of interest because of the amount of ironmongery that I found in the bottom of the stove. These consisted mostly of assorted nails of differing shapes and sizes, staples, clips and nuts and bolts. I understand from the customer that he had been breaking up old pallets and exclusively burning them. I gently suggested that this was not the best of ideas because of the type of deposits that burning such wood would leave in his chimney, i.e. poor-quality resinous wood leading to fire risk deposits. I suggested that if he wished to continue burning old pallets he might use it more sparingly and mix it with hard wood logs. Of course, the best course of action would be not to burn old pallets in the first place! I removed the nails from the stove using one of my industrial magnets; a quick and easy way to get them out of the stove. There was so many of them, they eventually filled half a large trugg.

I recently swept the flue to this rather space-age Invicta Ove Wood-Burning Stove in an address in Wicken Bonhunt. I think it is a fabulously shaped stove; it has a massive 10 Kw firebox. The stove was positioned in a very large room with a very high ceiling, yet the customer told me that within a very short time of lighting the stove the room gets rather warm and cozy.

Invicta are a French Company and as their Website states: Invicta specializes in individual wood-burning heaters, developing innovative wood and pellet stoves at affordable prices. Established in France’s Champagne-Ardenne region since 1924, the Invicta foundry and enameling company is renowned for its craftsmanship. Its cast-iron (laminar) wood-burning heating units are made in France (certified Origine France Garantie), and nearly all of them bear the Flamme Verte environmental label. When you choose Invicta, you are choosing an economical, high-performing stove or fireplace insert with a one-of-a-kind design! Enjoy the charm and comfort of wood heat, the #1 renewable energy source in France, and transform your interior decor by introducing a modern heating unit with a contemporary, designer look that you’ll be proud to display.

Here is a really nice photo of a family’s pet dogs enshrined in the thatch on the roof of their house. What a really nice idea I thought and a lovely tribute to their pets. I don’t know if you can recognize the breed of dogs from the photo, but they are a Boarder Terrier, Jack Russell and a West Highland Terrier. The house its self is tucked away and not that easy to find, so if you are casually driving through Ashdon and don’t know where it is, you will probably miss it all together. A shame, but I hope the photo will suffice? The customer has two wood-burning stoves in the property that require sweeping twice a year, a large Villager Stove and a large ‘Witches Hat’ style Woodwarm wood-burning stove.

I recently swept this unusual Clearview Pioneer Multi-Fuel Stove at an address in Newport. It is unusual because as you can see in the photograph it has a cooking compartment above the fire box. Quite appropriately this stove was in the kitchen of the house and the customer said that she had used it successfully to make bread and to roast joints of meat. She said that it was also very good for making homemade pizzas. I have come across stoves with cooking compartments before whilst sweeping, but the have usually been Dean Forge or Chilli Penguin stoves, I have not seen a Clearview with a cooking compartment. This is surprising as locally there are a large number of Clearview stoves.

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/

A Happy New Year and New Decade to everyone, to make the point here is a picture of one of my brushes emerging from a chimney at a house in Widdington just before Christmas! It is supposed to be lucky to see the brush out of the chimney and many people like to make a wish on the brush. Apparently, you have to keep the nature of the wish to yourself or it won’t come true!

British folk law has it that it is lucky to see a chimney sweeps brush out of the top of a chimney. The mythology goes that the customer or any passer-by can make a wish on the brush when they see it emerge from the chimney; however they mustn’t tell anyone their whish as it will then never come true! Chimney sweeps themselves are also thought to be luck; folk law states that it luck to shake the hand of a chimney sweep, or to see a chimney sweep on your wedding day or even be kissed by the sweep!

So how did the chimney sweep become a good luck charm? Folklore experts report several theories. These may or may not be true, but they’re the common legends passed down through time.
All the way back in 1066, King William of Great Britain found himself in the way of an out-of-control carriage. A chimney sweep pushed him to safety and the King, believing the sweep brought him good fortune, declared chimney sweeps lucky.

Another theory involves King George III in the 1700s. The King was traveling in his carriage when a growling dog spooked his horses. A chimney sweep came to his rescue and prevented the carriage from turning over. King George also declared chimney sweeps to be lucky.
The most romantic, undated, theory talks about a chimney sweep who lost his footing and ended up hanging precariously from a gutter. A woman in the house spotted him and pulled him inside to safety. The two instantly fell in love and were married. This is why having a chimney sweep at your wedding (and having him give a little smooch to the bride) is considered a good sign of things to come. Prince Philip reportedly dashed out of Kensington Palace on the day of his wedding to Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth to shake a chimney sweep’s hand.
Chimney sweeps are also thought to bring luck in other countries aside from in Britain. In Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Estonia chimney sweeps still wear the traditional all-black uniform with a black or white hat. It is considered good luck to rub or grasp one of your buttons if you pass one in the street. As a Lucky symbol, depictions of chimney sweeps are a popular New Year’s gift in Germany; either as small ornaments attached to flower bouquets or candy, e.g. marzipan chimney sweeps. Their traditional uniform is an all-black suit with golden jacket buttons and a black top-hat.

Wishing all my Customers a very Happy Christmas – and I hope you have lots of warming fires over the Christmas break with friends and family gathered around the winter fireside. For todays Christmas blog I have a photo of a snowy fox and a pig (unusual Combination) on a thatched roof Stoke Bruerne in Northamptonshire – No I was not sweeping there, it’s a photo off the internet! But hopefully it will bring a Christmas smile to peoples faces! A very Happy Christmas to every one from Paddy and Claire at Walden Sweeps and wishing you a very happy and prosperous New Year!