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Chestnuts roasting on the open fire. I don’t think so. Even if the weather outside is frightful, the fire inside will soon no longer be delightful. Yes, the open fire is becoming a thing of the past.
Most new builds can’t include an open fire or a chimney so I’m wondering how Santy is going to get in. I presume he’ll come through one of the triple glazed windows making sure he closes it after him to keep the house airtight. He’ll then enjoy some chestnuts roasted in the airfryer and a few gluten, dairy, fat, sugar free mince pies.
So many Christmas cards, movies and songs include roaring fires that future generations will look at and say, “Did they really only have that to heat the house?” Yes we did and some still do. Many homes have backboilers so the fire does triple duty heating the room, the radiators and water.
“Did they really only have that to heat the house?”
My daughter, Aishling, asked me the other day what happened to the ash bucket when we moved house? The galvanised bucket, that was only replaced when the bottom fell out of it after years of holding hot ashes,
was the first thing brought into the house every morning.
The ashes under the grate would be emptied making sure to leave any embers to start the fire again. If you went out the back door on a windy day there would literally be sparks flying as hot ash got blown around.
Stove fire
I put in a stove a few years ago and I have to say despite my initial misgivings, it really does give off much more heat then the open fire. The ash pan also only needs emptying every week so no more ash bucket required. Sidenote: after she said it to me I went hunting in the shed and found the ash bucket, its thin layer of old ashes still clinging to the sides and bottom.
The same ash would have covered any stockings that hung on the mantle pieces so I think that set up is just for show or perhaps, a fire effect fire. A fire effect fire. It looks like a fire, it has what are meant to be moving flames but it’s not a fire, it doesn’t even need a chimney.
I am well aware of why open fires are being phased out but that doesn’t stop me missing them. Despite the work involved in saving turf, clearing out ashes etc, the open fire has been at the centre of many of our homes. The first thing most visitors do when they enter a home is stand with their back to the fire warming themselves.
My mother-in-law, Kathleen, only ever boiled her egg in an empty Batchelors peas can set among the sods of turf. Before my time, the kettle would have hung from the crane over the open fire and bread cooked in a bastible set among the hot coals. When my neighbour Mary closed up her open fire 30 years ago, they found a ham still hanging up in the chimney. They were hung there to be smoked as a means of preservation.
Four elements
Fire is one of the four elements of nature along with wind, water and earth. It is used for heat, cooking, to light the way and in celebrations. Many communities still light fires along the road to celebrate a win at football or hurling or to congratulate someone.
Traditionally we have Bonfire night on 23 June, St. John’s Eve. As we approach the winter solstice on 21 December, fire is seen as the triumph of light over darkness as the days start to lengthen after the shortest day.
I will leave my ode to real fires with: Níl aon tinteán mar do thinteán féin.
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