Lighting a Wood Burning / Multi Fuel stove

[Highlander]

BP I also remember that we had a tin bath in front of the fire up to about 1962 I think, we had no mains water only a rain water tap,.. my dad came home from work and swapped his bait bag for a 5 gall water container and an empty 1 gall milk can then went to the local farm about three miles away and filled them both, that was the milk and water for the next day

[Digger]

(26 May 2013, 18:59)bigpaul Wrote: most people in this country PRE central heating grew up with coal fires in the fireplace, I know I did! as a baby I would sometimes be washed in a small bath in front of the fire......hard to realise now! point is anyone who grew up POST central heating has never had to light a coal fire and wouldn't have a clue how to do it!

Completely agree BP, there is an age-life experience thing happening in society. I am very grateful of the supposed hardships I endured as a kid. They were not hardships at all, of course, just dealing with the real world face to face.

We spent this w/e at the retreat. Upon arrival, water main was inoperative and electrical power was down.

The younger members of our group viewed this as a complete disaster.

Reality was that wood burner was fired up, water drawn from well and boiled on the stove. Toilets got flushed with buckets of water and in the evening oil lamps lit.

Rather than the disaster that the 20 somethings expected, it turned out to be a very fun weekend. So much so that when electrical power was restored it came as a bit of a disappointment to these guys. Their only gripe was at the level of labour intensity involved in keeping the stove fed with wood...... next visit I'm planning to gently welcome them to the real world with 1/2 a days worth of cutting and chopping fire-wood

[NorthernRaider]

Yup age does have its benefits, when i was a kid our family used to spend the summer hols in a couple of log chalets on the coast in order to get away from the pollution and deprivation of 1960s Teesside We had GAS lighting I had the job to change the mantels when they burned out, I also had the job of collecting the milk which was a 2 mile walk to the farm and back. Coal and wood fire provided cooking and heating and hot water for bating was done using SEA water. Saying that in the summer a small pool caused by a fresh water stream running down to the sea often used to get quite warm so we would often bath in that. We all had to learn how to light fires on a morning.