New Woodburner

I’ve had a woodburning stove (A Hunter Hawk 3) in my lounge for around 5 years.

The old Hunter Hawk 3, just prior to removal

It’s certainly cut my gas bill since I’ve been using it but I’ve never been entirely happy with it for lots of reasons:
a) I felt it wasn’t particularly controllable compared to other stove installations I’ve seen.
b) The heat output wasn’t a great as I would have expected.
c) It didn’t seem particularly efficient.
d) It was a bit messy.
A few weeks ago I decided enough was enough and after some considerable research put my hand in Barclaycard’s pocket and bought a new stove – a Belge-Franco Montfort Elegance. It’s larger than the Hunter stove, but not hugely so.  It will take larger logs, and like the Hunter, will burn solid fuel as well as wood.

The new Belge-Franco Montfort Elegance – loaded and ready to launch

At 80kg+ it’s a lump to move, but now it’s in situ it won’t be going anywhere soon. Installation took no time at all, I just took the old stove out and slid the new stove into it’s place. Even the stove pipe was the same diameter as the Hunter’s.
What a difference! This stove is everything the old one wasn’t. The heat output is quite phenomenal, it’s absolutely controllable, it’s considerably less messy, it’s efficient….the list could go on. And on.
This stove benefits from a cast iron body whereas the Hunter was made from mild steel. Cast iron seems to stay warm and radiate heat long after the fire has gone out.
I’m well pleased.

Mid-November to Mid-December 2012

Recent attempts at hacking into this blog have caused me to restrict access rights to it of late. Hopefully these measures will stop the unwelcome attention and things can return to something like normal.
Few words, just some photos from the last few weeks.























It’s been a quiet few weeks.

1st-10th November, Souling in Warburton

The Warburton Souling Gang ready to hit the road

The Warburton Souling Play is a traditional play performed at this time of the year (All Souls) in pubs in the towns and villages in the area.

It’s both fun and interesting. and if my liver is up to it, the last performance of the year will take place this evening at the Saracen’s Head, Warburton, a small town near Lymm, Cheshire.

The year’s final performance is always a good do, attracting an audience from all over the region. The post-Play party is now a firm fixture in the diaries of many singers and musicians – the session doesn’t usually finish until the early hours of Sunday morning. I usually cancel Sunday. 

Turkish Champion in action

One way of getting a free beer!

Such an ugly bunch I’ve never seen before!

Beelzebub ignoring the dress code

Out to scare the kids

Added 12th November 2012: Photos from the 2012 season

5th November, Tockholes recce

Cheshire Tally-ho! Hare & Hounds

Members of the Cheshire Tally-Ho! all have to take their turn in setting and laying a trail. To do so properly involves some planning and a recce of the route – the route needs to be runnable and have a nice balance of tracks, hills, fetid swamps, bogs…and a good pub at the end.
And so it was that Fast Blackshaw, who had planned this route on behalf of the two of us, drove me north, on a very sunny morning, to Tockholes, near Darwen (‘Darren’ as it’s pronounced locally) in Lancashire.
Parking next to the Royal Arms at Ryal Fold, we walked (no running today!) SE up to Darwen Moor. Autumn colours were still very much in evidence:
Our sometimes muddy route included a brief liaison with the Witton Weavers Way before going over the northern edge of Turton Moor.

The Peak and Northern Footpaths Society have done a good job in signposting many of the paths around here:
We continued east-ish almost as far as the A666 before turning north-ish, skirting Darwen Moor.


There were good views over Darwen and Blackburn, and over to Pendle Hill. Then it was time for lunch and messing about with the camera on my Bat-phone, the poor phone may never recover:

Suitably refreshed, we continued our recce around Darwen Moor in the continuing sunshine.

 Near Cadshaw: trees in winter mode

As Darwen Hill came into view we saw what appeared to be the prototype for Thunderbird 3 in the distance:

 

The Jubilee Tower, Darwen Hill

The tower, which dates from 1898, was built to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The old wooden dome at the top of the tower blew off in high winds and was replaced with a fibreglass in 1971. That dome suffered a similar fate to the old wooden one a couple of years ago. A new powder-coated stainless steel dome was winched into position from a helicopter earlier this year – I wonder how long it with stay put? The winds can be quite strong around here.
Shadows lengthened as we dropped off the moor, the autumn sun colouring the landscape beautifully:
Four hours after setting off on our recce we arrived back at the car to find a huge bonfire being built for the evening’s festivities. Tockholes has hosted a bonfire party for the last ninety years, the very excellent Royal Arms playing a key role in the organisation of the event.
‘Tis a good route, if a little longer than is the general rule for Tally-Ho! trails. The route is highly runnable, even the boggy bits. Hopefully the extra distance won’t be noticed by the hounds.
This is what we did:

Approx 9.5 miles with 1500ft of upness. Ish.

You can tell when the area's in decline....

Agden in Cheshire