The Fire
Our little 3kW Charnwood Aire wood burning stove is the true heart of the Bothy especially during the cold winter months although it can be comforting to light it on colder evenings throughout the year. Not only does it keep the space toasty warm but it is also a focal point looking so cosy and inviting.
It is always left set and ready to light when new guests arrive. If they are arriving late or on a particularly bitter day we ask if they’d like us to light the fire ahead of their arrival. Usually the answer is, ‘Yes please!’ We are aware that for some people lighting the stove is an important part of the Bothy experience.
Also, I know that some of our guests have little or no experience of lighting fires so we have full instructions in the Bothy folder.
Our logs come mainly from our 2 acre garden as we take down trees which have fallen or outgrown their spot and replant. This provides a wonderful opportunity to plant trees which love our acid soils – eucryphias and crinodendron are two of my favourites. We continually plant native trees too such as oak, hazel and birch.
One of our neighbours, a tree surgeon, often has access to wood good for burning if we run short.
Not all wood is good to burn – the following poem written by Lady Celia Congreve in 1930 is incredibly helpful.
The Firewood Poem – an extract
Beechwood fires are bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut’s only good, they say,
If for long ’tis laid away.
But Ash new or Ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.
Birch and fir logs bum too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said,
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood bums like churchyard mould,
E’en the very flames are cold.
But Ash green or Ash brown,
Is fit for a queen with golden crown.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room,
With an incense like perfume.
Oaken logs if dry and old,
Keep away the winter’s cold.
But Ash wet or Ash dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.