The good old days.

[Chippy_Tea]

You didnt get ******* numptys letting display fireworks off in the next street scarnig evey animal in 1/4 of a mile (one has just gone off here and its only 19:23)

 

[kelper]

"While you have a future do not live too much in contemplation of your past: unless you are content to walk backward the mirror is a poor guide."

This quote is from “Epigrams” by Ambrose Bierce, published in “The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume 8″ (1911).

 

[Clint]

Yeah..got the fireworks lot active already....

 

[chillipickle]

Same with the fireworks here
Thankfully the dog is curled up on the couch and not to bothered for now.

 

[Clint]

Same with the fireworks here
Thankfully the dog is curled up on the couch and not to bothered for now.

Mine are guarding me gallantly.
They shall be rewarded with best ham and snuggles on the bed...

 

[chillipickle]

one of my old shar pei, never used to bat an eye lid at fire works, i could walk her on bonfire night and she didnt give a monkeys's.

 

[Chippy_Tea]

We used to have springer spaniels which didn't bother we now have a couple of cats that go into hiding every time one goes off.

 

[Rodcx500z]

Got a border collie who used to sits in the yard watching them when she was younger, now she scarpers behind the couch

 

[foxy]

 

[johncrobinson]

Fireworks at 16.00pm ruined my cats tea.
I don't remember fireworks by the general public at new year in the old days only ever saw them for Guy Fawkes
They were then removed from sale for another year.

 

[Clint]

Hard times...

 

[Appleyard]

THIS might be helpful, and aposite to the New Year:



(look at the comments by "Chris", and "User1 Region1", and listen...).

This was also the closing song to the old TV series "The Good Old Days", compered by Leonard Sachs, which ran from the 1950s to the early 1980s.

I also like this one a great deal (but the lyrics vary):



Also this one, which is *extremely* naughty if you listen to the pauses in the delivery!



(How d'you like my lips to taste, how'd you like to kiss me on my..... dimple). This was all well over 100 years ago. Very funny, clever too.


Edit: I have just realised the lyrics are wrong on the last... "Last night she met our Tommy/On the path and said" should be "On the parsley bed and said".

Edit again: Also in "Hold your hand out" (from beneath the sofa near the fire", not "underneath"!). Grr!

 

[Tanglefoot]

Were they really?

I remember being the first up to go to work we didn't have central heating or fan heaters back then so I would light the coal fire and sit next to it to try to get a bit of warmth which didn't work as it hadn't got going by the time I sett off , a couple of years later we got a new type grate that had a door on the front you could close at night if you smothered the fire it would glow until morning, opening the door on the grate in the morning would bring the fire back to life, kids today don't know how lucky they are.

First job of the new year - riddle the grate and get the Rayburn going !
Salvaged this ( and a flue liner ) and fitted it some 30 yrs ago when we bought our house.

There was an existing fireplace with back boiler so it was relatively straight forward.
We have no mains gas in our village and I've always had a good supply of wood from my work though we burn
boiler nuts too.
Heats rads and immersion for water though have since fitted another electric boiler with underfloor heating
for newer extended part of house.
Great for stews and baking, am thinking of trying a stove top partial mash this year.

 

[Rodcx500z]

First job of the new year - riddle the grate and get the Rayburn going !
Salvaged this ( and a flue liner ) and fitted it some 30 yrs ago when we bought our house.
View attachment 38697

There was an existing fireplace with back boiler so it was relatively straight forward.
We have no mains gas in our village and I've always had a good supply of wood from my work though we burn
boiler nuts too.
Heats rads and immersion for water though have since fitted another electric boiler with underfloor heating
for newer extended part of house.
Great for stews and baking, am thinking of trying a stove top partial mash this year.

That's quality Tanglefoot

 

[An Ankoù]

First job of the new year - riddle the grate and get the Rayburn going !
Salvaged this ( and a flue liner ) and fitted it some 30 yrs ago when we bought our house.
View attachment 38697

There was an existing fireplace with back boiler so it was relatively straight forward.
We have no mains gas in our village and I've always had a good supply of wood from my work though we burn
boiler nuts too.
Heats rads and immersion for water though have since fitted another electric boiler with underfloor heating
for newer extended part of house.
Great for stews and baking, am thinking of trying a stove top partial mash this year.

I always wondered how people got on with these. I was offered a Raeburn recently although we didn't talk about the price as I showed not much interest. How do you cook in the middle of summer without making the house unbearably hot?

 

[Tanglefoot]

I always wondered how people got on with these. I was offered a Raeburn recently although we didn't talk about the price as I showed not much interest. How do you cook in the middle of summer without making the house unbearably hot?

We also have an electric hob, the Rayburn only comes into use once the cold weather comes in autumn
though it's handy in a cold snap or in the event of power cuts especially as we have no gas in the village.
Some people would probably find the riddling, dust and cleaning a bit much, we don't mind and love the
ambience and warmth it brings to the house.
If you have solid fuel and burn logs it's really important to have the right stainless steel flue liner which can be an unexpected expense.

 

[An Ankoù]

We also have an electric hob, the Rayburn only comes into use once the cold weather comes in autumn
though it's handy in a cold snap or in the event of power cuts especially as we have no gas in the village.
Some people would probably find the riddling, dust and cleaning a bit much, we don't mind and love the
ambience and warmth it brings to the house.
If you have solid fuel and burn logs it's really important to have the right stainless steel flue liner which can be an unexpected expense.

Thanks, Tanglefoot, so it's in addition to the standard cooker, then. The only heating we have in the house is from 3 wood stoves so we're used to maintaining them and their chimneys. Might have a look again at the raeburn.

 

[MrRook]

Pulling the choke out to get the car started, 3 channels on the telly, oh and getting up to turn the telly over, net curtains frozen to the inside of the windows, toast toppers, not being able to see mum or dad though the smoke haze, taking the clock off the wall to reveal what colour the walls started out as, being sent to the shop to buy **** ..... Those were the days !

And having to explain why you were getting a different brand than your dad smokes.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Thanks, Tanglefoot, so it's in addition to the standard cooker, then. The only heating we have in the house is from 3 wood stoves so we're used to maintaining them and their chimneys. Might have a look again at the raeburn.
View attachment 38709View attachment 38710View attachment 38711

If you're already heating with solid fuel it makes sense, then you can also heat water and run
some radiators/towel rails at the same time with a looped indirect cylinder.
This can be either gravity fed or with an electric pump.
You really need a decent plumber you trust to advise you on adapting whatever system you have now.

If you're getting one second hand it'd be good to know that it's been in use prior to being removed,
so you know the casting is ok. Parts are easy to get, the firebricks and fireplates need
replacing periodically.

I've no idea what secondhand value is now, I paid £250 for a no2 (1952) the smallest basic model
around 30 yrs ago, as ever researching online is the best way to find out.
Also bear in mind that they are not easy to move, we used a flatbed with a tail lift, then 3 lengths
of scaffold bar to roll it on.

If you can get it for a good price it'd be worth the effort !

 

[Cwrw666]

I always wondered how people got on with these. I was offered a Raeburn recently although we didn't talk about the price as I showed not much interest. How do you cook in the middle of summer without making the house unbearably hot?

Our last house was a mid terrace quarrymans cottage and our only heating was a rayburn. Have to say it's the warmest house we've ever had and ever so cheap to run. We used to fill it twice a day with anthracite. Couple of bags a week, and it would run continuously. Never really used it for cooking though except for baked potatoes so we didn't have it on in the summer.
People think of them as inefficient cookers but in reality they're more equivalent to a woodburner with free cooking potential as an extra.