Joanna here, philosophising for a minute.
One of the ironies that strikes me from time to time is the realization that a somebody living in a simple suburban rambler or a condo in Cincinnati in 2013 is probably more physically comfortable than a duchess in 1780.
Your Georgian dowager duchess warmed her tootsies at an open hearth. She used a fire screen to shield her face from the direct heat of the fire. She had a wing-back chair, maybe, to wrap the heat around her before it dissipated in the balmy 48 degrees of the rest of the room. That chill whistle at the back of her neck was the cold air rushing in
to run up the chimney, taking much of the heat of the fire with it.
That's why the 'drafty old manor house' in a Romance book is drafty.
What was the dowager burning on that hearth? Into the Eighteenth Century, well-to-do Englishmen burned wood — and didn't they have a lovely open hearth with logs and firedogs and pokers on the side that were handy for fighting off unwanted advances.
By the Regency, most
English city houses, and a goodly proportion of houses in the country, had refitted their chimneys to burn coal. The firedogs on that open hearth were replaced with a cast iron basket for coal — still on an open hearth. Oddly, the 'efficient and pretty tiled stove in the parlor' concept remained the property of Germans and Russians and those Americans in
their wild, snowy north.
That was the Dowager and the vulgar City merchant and the vicar's wife in Little Tweeting, Hamps. The country poor weren't nearly as well off. They burned what wood they could gather, what coal they could afford. Where peat was available, the countryfolk burned peat. 
Today, we think of peat fires as Scottish and Irish. Writers in the Regency period felt the same way. Peat fires — turf fires, they were called — were treated as a Scots and Irish specialty. They were deplored as a product of dire poverty by some writers and lauded as picturesque by others. But to get to the Scots and Irish peat fires, those writers must have bowled right past any number of English cottages in Lincolnshire, Somerset, and Northamptonshire busily burning peat.
There's not much said about these English peat fires. A Regency couple fleeing villains might well have found the kindly old farm couple who took them in sitting by a thoroughly English peat fire.
So we turn to the question — What is peat and how come we can burn dirt?
In what may be the first description of European peat fires, Pliny says the natives of north Germany ". . . form mud with their
hands, which, when dried in the wind rather than in the sun, is burned
to cook their food, and warm their bodies chilled by the cold north
wind."
Pliny, Natural History
Despite Pliny, good peat is not 'mud'. It's decayed vegetable matter, compreessed and concentrated over thousands of years.
When a lowland is so waterlogged you can't farm it, so marshy it won't 
grow trees, so spongy you can't build a road across it, so mushy you can't graze animals on it — you may have yourself a peat bog.
Here's a video about how you cut peat. The guy makes it look easy. I suspect it is not.
The very general idea behind peat cutting is you slice yer waterlogged peat, which is sitting in its bog as it has been for millennia, and lift it out . You get largish bricks which are 95% water and not, in this condition, inclined to burn. Then:
"They cut it out in long pieces, they lay them in a regular order carefully, in rows upon the ground, to be dried by the sun and wind. … As the peat dries, and is turned by persons appointed for that purpose, to dry it the better, it breaks into smaller lengths, and then it serves not only the poor but many other persons, for firing, and gives a good heat."
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volum
es 50-51, 1758.
After a week or two, when the bricks have shed most of their water, you stack them up in piles and let them dry some more, because you do not generally want to be carting all that water home.
Along the right here are various interesting photos of Victorians cutting peat, pretty much the way their ancestors did it centuries ago, I should think.
Click on the photograph for a better view.
When your peat is well dried and hard, you bring it home. You might pile it in a simple heap, or store it in an outbuilding, or maybe make a neat little stack and thatch it on top to keep the rain off. Folks also took it off and sold it in town. It was a fuel for the urban poor in some places.
"It is sold for about ten shillings a waggonload, delivered at their
houses in the town. The ashes also prove very good manure for both grass
and arable land and the farmers give from four pence to fix pence a
bushel for them, which renders this firing very cheap."
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Volumes 50-51, 1758.
There's a good bit written, now and in the Regency, about the particular pungent, intriguing, and characteristic odor of a peat fire. My own experience is that peat fires just smell like fires. There's also some mention made of 'roaring' or 'blazing' peat fires — generally in advertising brochures. I've found peat fires to be low and slow and pleasantly warm.
I am ready to be persuaded by other folks' experiences.
Considering the antiquity of peat cutting, I can't find much on interesting folk customs associated with peat fires or cutting peat. That does feel strange to me.
I miss having peat-gathering songs and maybe maypole dances to open the 'turfing season'.
If you had to choose between a wood fire or a peat fire, which would you pick? You don't have to cook on it or anything. And you don't have to go out and dig the peat or cut the trees. The fireplace fairy does all that.
Turf or wood . . . or maybe something else. What would you want in your fireplace?
Some lucky commenter wins one of my books, her choice.
Hello Joanna,
Having grown up in the Northwest where wood stoves are common, I’m intimately familiar with burning wood, but have been curious about peat fires. Someday I hope to travel to the UK and experience it first hand, especially the “peculiarly pungent odor” I’ve heard about and you mentioned.
If I had a choice for my fireplace/stove, I’d pick both. Wood to warm and light the room with its crackling blaze, and peat for the night fire, to burn low and slow through the night just enough to keep the chill off and not burn up in a flash the way some dry woods do. Yup, I think I’d like to try that.
I’d also like to try one of your books, haven’t had the opportunity yet, although you are on my wish list 🙂
Great post. Fascinating pictures.
Nan
Hello Joanna,
Having grown up in the Northwest where wood stoves are common, I’m intimately familiar with burning wood, but have been curious about peat fires. Someday I hope to travel to the UK and experience it first hand, especially the “peculiarly pungent odor” I’ve heard about and you mentioned.
If I had a choice for my fireplace/stove, I’d pick both. Wood to warm and light the room with its crackling blaze, and peat for the night fire, to burn low and slow through the night just enough to keep the chill off and not burn up in a flash the way some dry woods do. Yup, I think I’d like to try that.
I’d also like to try one of your books, haven’t had the opportunity yet, although you are on my wish list 🙂
Great post. Fascinating pictures.
Nan
Hello Joanna,
Having grown up in the Northwest where wood stoves are common, I’m intimately familiar with burning wood, but have been curious about peat fires. Someday I hope to travel to the UK and experience it first hand, especially the “peculiarly pungent odor” I’ve heard about and you mentioned.
If I had a choice for my fireplace/stove, I’d pick both. Wood to warm and light the room with its crackling blaze, and peat for the night fire, to burn low and slow through the night just enough to keep the chill off and not burn up in a flash the way some dry woods do. Yup, I think I’d like to try that.
I’d also like to try one of your books, haven’t had the opportunity yet, although you are on my wish list 🙂
Great post. Fascinating pictures.
Nan
Hello Joanna,
Having grown up in the Northwest where wood stoves are common, I’m intimately familiar with burning wood, but have been curious about peat fires. Someday I hope to travel to the UK and experience it first hand, especially the “peculiarly pungent odor” I’ve heard about and you mentioned.
If I had a choice for my fireplace/stove, I’d pick both. Wood to warm and light the room with its crackling blaze, and peat for the night fire, to burn low and slow through the night just enough to keep the chill off and not burn up in a flash the way some dry woods do. Yup, I think I’d like to try that.
I’d also like to try one of your books, haven’t had the opportunity yet, although you are on my wish list 🙂
Great post. Fascinating pictures.
Nan
Hello Joanna,
Having grown up in the Northwest where wood stoves are common, I’m intimately familiar with burning wood, but have been curious about peat fires. Someday I hope to travel to the UK and experience it first hand, especially the “peculiarly pungent odor” I’ve heard about and you mentioned.
If I had a choice for my fireplace/stove, I’d pick both. Wood to warm and light the room with its crackling blaze, and peat for the night fire, to burn low and slow through the night just enough to keep the chill off and not burn up in a flash the way some dry woods do. Yup, I think I’d like to try that.
I’d also like to try one of your books, haven’t had the opportunity yet, although you are on my wish list 🙂
Great post. Fascinating pictures.
Nan
Your post reminds me to be soooo grateful for central heating! I like watching the glow and spark of a wood fire, but not if that is all I have to heat my house. Not to mention all of the work involved, whether wood or peat. In areas where wood was scarce, I can imagine that people were very glad to be able to harvest peat, however.
Your post reminds me to be soooo grateful for central heating! I like watching the glow and spark of a wood fire, but not if that is all I have to heat my house. Not to mention all of the work involved, whether wood or peat. In areas where wood was scarce, I can imagine that people were very glad to be able to harvest peat, however.
Your post reminds me to be soooo grateful for central heating! I like watching the glow and spark of a wood fire, but not if that is all I have to heat my house. Not to mention all of the work involved, whether wood or peat. In areas where wood was scarce, I can imagine that people were very glad to be able to harvest peat, however.
Your post reminds me to be soooo grateful for central heating! I like watching the glow and spark of a wood fire, but not if that is all I have to heat my house. Not to mention all of the work involved, whether wood or peat. In areas where wood was scarce, I can imagine that people were very glad to be able to harvest peat, however.
Your post reminds me to be soooo grateful for central heating! I like watching the glow and spark of a wood fire, but not if that is all I have to heat my house. Not to mention all of the work involved, whether wood or peat. In areas where wood was scarce, I can imagine that people were very glad to be able to harvest peat, however.
I do love a wood fire, but a peat fire is just as warm and the smell is wonderful. We experienced peat fires in an Orkney cottage we rented for a family holiday a few years ago. There are few trees on Orkney, so peat became a major fuel. This post brought back some lovely memories of that holiday.
Liz
I do love a wood fire, but a peat fire is just as warm and the smell is wonderful. We experienced peat fires in an Orkney cottage we rented for a family holiday a few years ago. There are few trees on Orkney, so peat became a major fuel. This post brought back some lovely memories of that holiday.
Liz
I do love a wood fire, but a peat fire is just as warm and the smell is wonderful. We experienced peat fires in an Orkney cottage we rented for a family holiday a few years ago. There are few trees on Orkney, so peat became a major fuel. This post brought back some lovely memories of that holiday.
Liz
I do love a wood fire, but a peat fire is just as warm and the smell is wonderful. We experienced peat fires in an Orkney cottage we rented for a family holiday a few years ago. There are few trees on Orkney, so peat became a major fuel. This post brought back some lovely memories of that holiday.
Liz
I do love a wood fire, but a peat fire is just as warm and the smell is wonderful. We experienced peat fires in an Orkney cottage we rented for a family holiday a few years ago. There are few trees on Orkney, so peat became a major fuel. This post brought back some lovely memories of that holiday.
Liz
Wonderful post, Joanna! I’m surprised that you didn’t smell a difference between peat and wood. When I was in Scotland, the peat fire seemed to have a much “earthier”scent. I liked it very much. But I have to say, I love the crackle and blaze of wood—for me, a fire in a hearth is as much about the cheerful visual effect of dancing flames as it is about heat.
Wonderful post, Joanna! I’m surprised that you didn’t smell a difference between peat and wood. When I was in Scotland, the peat fire seemed to have a much “earthier”scent. I liked it very much. But I have to say, I love the crackle and blaze of wood—for me, a fire in a hearth is as much about the cheerful visual effect of dancing flames as it is about heat.
Wonderful post, Joanna! I’m surprised that you didn’t smell a difference between peat and wood. When I was in Scotland, the peat fire seemed to have a much “earthier”scent. I liked it very much. But I have to say, I love the crackle and blaze of wood—for me, a fire in a hearth is as much about the cheerful visual effect of dancing flames as it is about heat.
Wonderful post, Joanna! I’m surprised that you didn’t smell a difference between peat and wood. When I was in Scotland, the peat fire seemed to have a much “earthier”scent. I liked it very much. But I have to say, I love the crackle and blaze of wood—for me, a fire in a hearth is as much about the cheerful visual effect of dancing flames as it is about heat.
Wonderful post, Joanna! I’m surprised that you didn’t smell a difference between peat and wood. When I was in Scotland, the peat fire seemed to have a much “earthier”scent. I liked it very much. But I have to say, I love the crackle and blaze of wood—for me, a fire in a hearth is as much about the cheerful visual effect of dancing flames as it is about heat.
I live in an area that was once wetland. It was drained in the 19th Century by settlers and is some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. We still have areas where peat can be found and, occasionally, the stuff catches fire and smolders for weeks. It’s almost impossible to put out the fire. Pouring water over it is useless because the liquid just sinks into the wet ground beneath the peat.
I live in an area that was once wetland. It was drained in the 19th Century by settlers and is some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. We still have areas where peat can be found and, occasionally, the stuff catches fire and smolders for weeks. It’s almost impossible to put out the fire. Pouring water over it is useless because the liquid just sinks into the wet ground beneath the peat.
I live in an area that was once wetland. It was drained in the 19th Century by settlers and is some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. We still have areas where peat can be found and, occasionally, the stuff catches fire and smolders for weeks. It’s almost impossible to put out the fire. Pouring water over it is useless because the liquid just sinks into the wet ground beneath the peat.
I live in an area that was once wetland. It was drained in the 19th Century by settlers and is some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. We still have areas where peat can be found and, occasionally, the stuff catches fire and smolders for weeks. It’s almost impossible to put out the fire. Pouring water over it is useless because the liquid just sinks into the wet ground beneath the peat.
I live in an area that was once wetland. It was drained in the 19th Century by settlers and is some of the richest farmland in the Midwest. We still have areas where peat can be found and, occasionally, the stuff catches fire and smolders for weeks. It’s almost impossible to put out the fire. Pouring water over it is useless because the liquid just sinks into the wet ground beneath the peat.
Good morning! I went to Ireland in 1976 and stayed with my great-grandmother and uncle on their farm in Sligo. We went with family to the bog to get the peat that had been cut and dried previously, brought it home and stacked it. It is curiously light in weight and I didn’t think it was particularly pungent though it had a pleasant homey smell while burning. Since it was the principal source of heat in the house and used for cooking as well, I got used to the scent very quickly. After 3 weeks, it was just warmth. I think there is some type of central heating there now, and I would miss the warmth and hominess of the peat fire. Then again, I was there in August, not December, when a nice peat fire might only provide the illusion of heat for a house.
Good morning! I went to Ireland in 1976 and stayed with my great-grandmother and uncle on their farm in Sligo. We went with family to the bog to get the peat that had been cut and dried previously, brought it home and stacked it. It is curiously light in weight and I didn’t think it was particularly pungent though it had a pleasant homey smell while burning. Since it was the principal source of heat in the house and used for cooking as well, I got used to the scent very quickly. After 3 weeks, it was just warmth. I think there is some type of central heating there now, and I would miss the warmth and hominess of the peat fire. Then again, I was there in August, not December, when a nice peat fire might only provide the illusion of heat for a house.
Good morning! I went to Ireland in 1976 and stayed with my great-grandmother and uncle on their farm in Sligo. We went with family to the bog to get the peat that had been cut and dried previously, brought it home and stacked it. It is curiously light in weight and I didn’t think it was particularly pungent though it had a pleasant homey smell while burning. Since it was the principal source of heat in the house and used for cooking as well, I got used to the scent very quickly. After 3 weeks, it was just warmth. I think there is some type of central heating there now, and I would miss the warmth and hominess of the peat fire. Then again, I was there in August, not December, when a nice peat fire might only provide the illusion of heat for a house.
Good morning! I went to Ireland in 1976 and stayed with my great-grandmother and uncle on their farm in Sligo. We went with family to the bog to get the peat that had been cut and dried previously, brought it home and stacked it. It is curiously light in weight and I didn’t think it was particularly pungent though it had a pleasant homey smell while burning. Since it was the principal source of heat in the house and used for cooking as well, I got used to the scent very quickly. After 3 weeks, it was just warmth. I think there is some type of central heating there now, and I would miss the warmth and hominess of the peat fire. Then again, I was there in August, not December, when a nice peat fire might only provide the illusion of heat for a house.
Good morning! I went to Ireland in 1976 and stayed with my great-grandmother and uncle on their farm in Sligo. We went with family to the bog to get the peat that had been cut and dried previously, brought it home and stacked it. It is curiously light in weight and I didn’t think it was particularly pungent though it had a pleasant homey smell while burning. Since it was the principal source of heat in the house and used for cooking as well, I got used to the scent very quickly. After 3 weeks, it was just warmth. I think there is some type of central heating there now, and I would miss the warmth and hominess of the peat fire. Then again, I was there in August, not December, when a nice peat fire might only provide the illusion of heat for a house.
We have a wood-burning fireplace that we use in the winter. There is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire and reading while a blizzard is raging outside.
I often wondered how peat would stack up – no pun intended. Dee
We have a wood-burning fireplace that we use in the winter. There is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire and reading while a blizzard is raging outside.
I often wondered how peat would stack up – no pun intended. Dee
We have a wood-burning fireplace that we use in the winter. There is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire and reading while a blizzard is raging outside.
I often wondered how peat would stack up – no pun intended. Dee
We have a wood-burning fireplace that we use in the winter. There is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire and reading while a blizzard is raging outside.
I often wondered how peat would stack up – no pun intended. Dee
We have a wood-burning fireplace that we use in the winter. There is nothing better than sitting in front of the fire and reading while a blizzard is raging outside.
I often wondered how peat would stack up – no pun intended. Dee
Hi Nan —
I heat and do some of my cooking in the winter with a little Hearthstone wood stove. I had not considered your solution — using both wood and peat, for different tasks — but it sounds like a good one. The ‘keeping it running overnight’ is always a bit tricky.
Hi Nan —
I heat and do some of my cooking in the winter with a little Hearthstone wood stove. I had not considered your solution — using both wood and peat, for different tasks — but it sounds like a good one. The ‘keeping it running overnight’ is always a bit tricky.
Hi Nan —
I heat and do some of my cooking in the winter with a little Hearthstone wood stove. I had not considered your solution — using both wood and peat, for different tasks — but it sounds like a good one. The ‘keeping it running overnight’ is always a bit tricky.
Hi Nan —
I heat and do some of my cooking in the winter with a little Hearthstone wood stove. I had not considered your solution — using both wood and peat, for different tasks — but it sounds like a good one. The ‘keeping it running overnight’ is always a bit tricky.
Hi Nan —
I heat and do some of my cooking in the winter with a little Hearthstone wood stove. I had not considered your solution — using both wood and peat, for different tasks — but it sounds like a good one. The ‘keeping it running overnight’ is always a bit tricky.
Hi Elaine —
I am with you on how much work and trouble it is. The woodstove is my own private aerobic class.
But it is so beautiful — the sight and smell and the dry glow of heat — and I love the gradations of heat as I go to different parts of the cabin.
From a practical standpoint, we lose power up here for a couple weeks every winter, so everybody has a woodstove for backup. *g*
I don’t know how the ‘rights’ to gather peat were worked out. I suppose it was mostly on common land.
Hi Elaine —
I am with you on how much work and trouble it is. The woodstove is my own private aerobic class.
But it is so beautiful — the sight and smell and the dry glow of heat — and I love the gradations of heat as I go to different parts of the cabin.
From a practical standpoint, we lose power up here for a couple weeks every winter, so everybody has a woodstove for backup. *g*
I don’t know how the ‘rights’ to gather peat were worked out. I suppose it was mostly on common land.
Hi Elaine —
I am with you on how much work and trouble it is. The woodstove is my own private aerobic class.
But it is so beautiful — the sight and smell and the dry glow of heat — and I love the gradations of heat as I go to different parts of the cabin.
From a practical standpoint, we lose power up here for a couple weeks every winter, so everybody has a woodstove for backup. *g*
I don’t know how the ‘rights’ to gather peat were worked out. I suppose it was mostly on common land.
Hi Elaine —
I am with you on how much work and trouble it is. The woodstove is my own private aerobic class.
But it is so beautiful — the sight and smell and the dry glow of heat — and I love the gradations of heat as I go to different parts of the cabin.
From a practical standpoint, we lose power up here for a couple weeks every winter, so everybody has a woodstove for backup. *g*
I don’t know how the ‘rights’ to gather peat were worked out. I suppose it was mostly on common land.
Hi Elaine —
I am with you on how much work and trouble it is. The woodstove is my own private aerobic class.
But it is so beautiful — the sight and smell and the dry glow of heat — and I love the gradations of heat as I go to different parts of the cabin.
From a practical standpoint, we lose power up here for a couple weeks every winter, so everybody has a woodstove for backup. *g*
I don’t know how the ‘rights’ to gather peat were worked out. I suppose it was mostly on common land.
Hi Liz —
I envy you your vacation on Orkney. That must have been beyond lovely.
I wonder if they have internet ….
Hi Liz —
I envy you your vacation on Orkney. That must have been beyond lovely.
I wonder if they have internet ….
Hi Liz —
I envy you your vacation on Orkney. That must have been beyond lovely.
I wonder if they have internet ….
Hi Liz —
I envy you your vacation on Orkney. That must have been beyond lovely.
I wonder if they have internet ….
Hi Liz —
I envy you your vacation on Orkney. That must have been beyond lovely.
I wonder if they have internet ….
Hi Cara —
When I was hanging about peat fires, I was … leesee … it was the summer I was seventeen and went hitchhiking about Ireland.
I was wet for most of the time. I don’t say it was always raining but there was much precipitation involved. I’d come into a place for the night and huddle down next to the fire like some kinda hound.
Don’t remember noticing the fire smelling any differently than a wood fire, but, then, I suspect I had a cold about continually.
Hi Cara —
When I was hanging about peat fires, I was … leesee … it was the summer I was seventeen and went hitchhiking about Ireland.
I was wet for most of the time. I don’t say it was always raining but there was much precipitation involved. I’d come into a place for the night and huddle down next to the fire like some kinda hound.
Don’t remember noticing the fire smelling any differently than a wood fire, but, then, I suspect I had a cold about continually.
Hi Cara —
When I was hanging about peat fires, I was … leesee … it was the summer I was seventeen and went hitchhiking about Ireland.
I was wet for most of the time. I don’t say it was always raining but there was much precipitation involved. I’d come into a place for the night and huddle down next to the fire like some kinda hound.
Don’t remember noticing the fire smelling any differently than a wood fire, but, then, I suspect I had a cold about continually.
Hi Cara —
When I was hanging about peat fires, I was … leesee … it was the summer I was seventeen and went hitchhiking about Ireland.
I was wet for most of the time. I don’t say it was always raining but there was much precipitation involved. I’d come into a place for the night and huddle down next to the fire like some kinda hound.
Don’t remember noticing the fire smelling any differently than a wood fire, but, then, I suspect I had a cold about continually.
Hi Cara —
When I was hanging about peat fires, I was … leesee … it was the summer I was seventeen and went hitchhiking about Ireland.
I was wet for most of the time. I don’t say it was always raining but there was much precipitation involved. I’d come into a place for the night and huddle down next to the fire like some kinda hound.
Don’t remember noticing the fire smelling any differently than a wood fire, but, then, I suspect I had a cold about continually.
Hi Joanna —
Peat catching on fire is one of the interesting aspects I didn’t go into in this posting. (Also ignored — finding Iron Age bodies in a state of remarkable preservation.)
This ‘peat burning out of control’ is a major problem worldwide. There is not, as you say, much one can do about it. Coal seams do the same thing. Anyhow, they get fires that burn for years, underground.
Hi Joanna —
Peat catching on fire is one of the interesting aspects I didn’t go into in this posting. (Also ignored — finding Iron Age bodies in a state of remarkable preservation.)
This ‘peat burning out of control’ is a major problem worldwide. There is not, as you say, much one can do about it. Coal seams do the same thing. Anyhow, they get fires that burn for years, underground.
Hi Joanna —
Peat catching on fire is one of the interesting aspects I didn’t go into in this posting. (Also ignored — finding Iron Age bodies in a state of remarkable preservation.)
This ‘peat burning out of control’ is a major problem worldwide. There is not, as you say, much one can do about it. Coal seams do the same thing. Anyhow, they get fires that burn for years, underground.
Hi Joanna —
Peat catching on fire is one of the interesting aspects I didn’t go into in this posting. (Also ignored — finding Iron Age bodies in a state of remarkable preservation.)
This ‘peat burning out of control’ is a major problem worldwide. There is not, as you say, much one can do about it. Coal seams do the same thing. Anyhow, they get fires that burn for years, underground.
Hi Joanna —
Peat catching on fire is one of the interesting aspects I didn’t go into in this posting. (Also ignored — finding Iron Age bodies in a state of remarkable preservation.)
This ‘peat burning out of control’ is a major problem worldwide. There is not, as you say, much one can do about it. Coal seams do the same thing. Anyhow, they get fires that burn for years, underground.
Hi Ellen —
What a wonderful memory. A line of continuity to the past.
Thinking about it, maybe that’s part of what peat fires do. They put us in touch with our thousand-years-ago ancestors in a way castles and great cathedrals don’t.
Hi Ellen —
What a wonderful memory. A line of continuity to the past.
Thinking about it, maybe that’s part of what peat fires do. They put us in touch with our thousand-years-ago ancestors in a way castles and great cathedrals don’t.
Hi Ellen —
What a wonderful memory. A line of continuity to the past.
Thinking about it, maybe that’s part of what peat fires do. They put us in touch with our thousand-years-ago ancestors in a way castles and great cathedrals don’t.
Hi Ellen —
What a wonderful memory. A line of continuity to the past.
Thinking about it, maybe that’s part of what peat fires do. They put us in touch with our thousand-years-ago ancestors in a way castles and great cathedrals don’t.
Hi Ellen —
What a wonderful memory. A line of continuity to the past.
Thinking about it, maybe that’s part of what peat fires do. They put us in touch with our thousand-years-ago ancestors in a way castles and great cathedrals don’t.
Hi Dee —
‘How peat would stack up.’ *giggle*
It takes a bit of skill and practice to keep peat burning at just the right rate. Lovely to watch someone do this stacking and adding and raking about when it’s second nature to them and very simple and quick.
Hi Dee —
‘How peat would stack up.’ *giggle*
It takes a bit of skill and practice to keep peat burning at just the right rate. Lovely to watch someone do this stacking and adding and raking about when it’s second nature to them and very simple and quick.
Hi Dee —
‘How peat would stack up.’ *giggle*
It takes a bit of skill and practice to keep peat burning at just the right rate. Lovely to watch someone do this stacking and adding and raking about when it’s second nature to them and very simple and quick.
Hi Dee —
‘How peat would stack up.’ *giggle*
It takes a bit of skill and practice to keep peat burning at just the right rate. Lovely to watch someone do this stacking and adding and raking about when it’s second nature to them and very simple and quick.
Hi Dee —
‘How peat would stack up.’ *giggle*
It takes a bit of skill and practice to keep peat burning at just the right rate. Lovely to watch someone do this stacking and adding and raking about when it’s second nature to them and very simple and quick.
Mmmm. I love peat fires. I grew up with wood, but whenever we’d go to visit family in Ireland, the winter air was tinged with the earthy scent of people burning their turf. What I love about those fires is that they are slow burning and give off a fabulous heat.
I also helped to bring in the turf when I was little. It was a huge family affair with the dogs running about and I remember the dry turf feeling all scratchy as we stacked it into the back of the truck.
Great post!
Mmmm. I love peat fires. I grew up with wood, but whenever we’d go to visit family in Ireland, the winter air was tinged with the earthy scent of people burning their turf. What I love about those fires is that they are slow burning and give off a fabulous heat.
I also helped to bring in the turf when I was little. It was a huge family affair with the dogs running about and I remember the dry turf feeling all scratchy as we stacked it into the back of the truck.
Great post!
Mmmm. I love peat fires. I grew up with wood, but whenever we’d go to visit family in Ireland, the winter air was tinged with the earthy scent of people burning their turf. What I love about those fires is that they are slow burning and give off a fabulous heat.
I also helped to bring in the turf when I was little. It was a huge family affair with the dogs running about and I remember the dry turf feeling all scratchy as we stacked it into the back of the truck.
Great post!
Mmmm. I love peat fires. I grew up with wood, but whenever we’d go to visit family in Ireland, the winter air was tinged with the earthy scent of people burning their turf. What I love about those fires is that they are slow burning and give off a fabulous heat.
I also helped to bring in the turf when I was little. It was a huge family affair with the dogs running about and I remember the dry turf feeling all scratchy as we stacked it into the back of the truck.
Great post!
Mmmm. I love peat fires. I grew up with wood, but whenever we’d go to visit family in Ireland, the winter air was tinged with the earthy scent of people burning their turf. What I love about those fires is that they are slow burning and give off a fabulous heat.
I also helped to bring in the turf when I was little. It was a huge family affair with the dogs running about and I remember the dry turf feeling all scratchy as we stacked it into the back of the truck.
Great post!
Hi Marie —
And what a great scene to share. I don’t think I’ll ever be writing about bringing in the peat. Might have a peat fire in some scene.
If I ever do, I’ll think about the direct experiences here and try to add that in.
We may be the last generation to experience peat fires. Peat is not so much a reneable resource …
Hi Marie —
And what a great scene to share. I don’t think I’ll ever be writing about bringing in the peat. Might have a peat fire in some scene.
If I ever do, I’ll think about the direct experiences here and try to add that in.
We may be the last generation to experience peat fires. Peat is not so much a reneable resource …
Hi Marie —
And what a great scene to share. I don’t think I’ll ever be writing about bringing in the peat. Might have a peat fire in some scene.
If I ever do, I’ll think about the direct experiences here and try to add that in.
We may be the last generation to experience peat fires. Peat is not so much a reneable resource …
Hi Marie —
And what a great scene to share. I don’t think I’ll ever be writing about bringing in the peat. Might have a peat fire in some scene.
If I ever do, I’ll think about the direct experiences here and try to add that in.
We may be the last generation to experience peat fires. Peat is not so much a reneable resource …
Hi Marie —
And what a great scene to share. I don’t think I’ll ever be writing about bringing in the peat. Might have a peat fire in some scene.
If I ever do, I’ll think about the direct experiences here and try to add that in.
We may be the last generation to experience peat fires. Peat is not so much a reneable resource …
Thanks Joanna,
I just had to add, you’re so right. There’s a huge debate in Ireland and has been for the last twenty years over machine cutting versus handcutting and how the mass cutting with machines is terrible for the bogs.
Thanks Joanna,
I just had to add, you’re so right. There’s a huge debate in Ireland and has been for the last twenty years over machine cutting versus handcutting and how the mass cutting with machines is terrible for the bogs.
Thanks Joanna,
I just had to add, you’re so right. There’s a huge debate in Ireland and has been for the last twenty years over machine cutting versus handcutting and how the mass cutting with machines is terrible for the bogs.
Thanks Joanna,
I just had to add, you’re so right. There’s a huge debate in Ireland and has been for the last twenty years over machine cutting versus handcutting and how the mass cutting with machines is terrible for the bogs.
Thanks Joanna,
I just had to add, you’re so right. There’s a huge debate in Ireland and has been for the last twenty years over machine cutting versus handcutting and how the mass cutting with machines is terrible for the bogs.
There is a huge, current, complicated and important debate on bog cutting. I didn’t touch on this because I’m writing about the history.
I keep thinking peat cutting might be handled the way North America deals with the Native Nations and whaling. Hand harpooning pf whales in small boats by those for whom this is a part of their culture continues. Commercial whaling is forbidden.
Perhaps hand cutting of peat could be left in peace but machine cutting and sale of peat disallowed …
I know it’s not that easy.
There is a huge, current, complicated and important debate on bog cutting. I didn’t touch on this because I’m writing about the history.
I keep thinking peat cutting might be handled the way North America deals with the Native Nations and whaling. Hand harpooning pf whales in small boats by those for whom this is a part of their culture continues. Commercial whaling is forbidden.
Perhaps hand cutting of peat could be left in peace but machine cutting and sale of peat disallowed …
I know it’s not that easy.
There is a huge, current, complicated and important debate on bog cutting. I didn’t touch on this because I’m writing about the history.
I keep thinking peat cutting might be handled the way North America deals with the Native Nations and whaling. Hand harpooning pf whales in small boats by those for whom this is a part of their culture continues. Commercial whaling is forbidden.
Perhaps hand cutting of peat could be left in peace but machine cutting and sale of peat disallowed …
I know it’s not that easy.
There is a huge, current, complicated and important debate on bog cutting. I didn’t touch on this because I’m writing about the history.
I keep thinking peat cutting might be handled the way North America deals with the Native Nations and whaling. Hand harpooning pf whales in small boats by those for whom this is a part of their culture continues. Commercial whaling is forbidden.
Perhaps hand cutting of peat could be left in peace but machine cutting and sale of peat disallowed …
I know it’s not that easy.
There is a huge, current, complicated and important debate on bog cutting. I didn’t touch on this because I’m writing about the history.
I keep thinking peat cutting might be handled the way North America deals with the Native Nations and whaling. Hand harpooning pf whales in small boats by those for whom this is a part of their culture continues. Commercial whaling is forbidden.
Perhaps hand cutting of peat could be left in peace but machine cutting and sale of peat disallowed …
I know it’s not that easy.
Once a renewable source of energy, until too much was taken. Sad.
Have a wood stove. Never been around peat.
Once a renewable source of energy, until too much was taken. Sad.
Have a wood stove. Never been around peat.
Once a renewable source of energy, until too much was taken. Sad.
Have a wood stove. Never been around peat.
Once a renewable source of energy, until too much was taken. Sad.
Have a wood stove. Never been around peat.
Once a renewable source of energy, until too much was taken. Sad.
Have a wood stove. Never been around peat.
Hi Liz —
Peat renews itself at a rate of about a millimeter a year. This makes peat technically a ‘renewable resource’, but in practice, not so much.
Essentially, once the peat is cut, it’s gone — like oil or coal. There’s no ‘sustainable harvest rate’ for peat as there is for pine forests or salmon.
Hi Liz —
Peat renews itself at a rate of about a millimeter a year. This makes peat technically a ‘renewable resource’, but in practice, not so much.
Essentially, once the peat is cut, it’s gone — like oil or coal. There’s no ‘sustainable harvest rate’ for peat as there is for pine forests or salmon.
Hi Liz —
Peat renews itself at a rate of about a millimeter a year. This makes peat technically a ‘renewable resource’, but in practice, not so much.
Essentially, once the peat is cut, it’s gone — like oil or coal. There’s no ‘sustainable harvest rate’ for peat as there is for pine forests or salmon.
Hi Liz —
Peat renews itself at a rate of about a millimeter a year. This makes peat technically a ‘renewable resource’, but in practice, not so much.
Essentially, once the peat is cut, it’s gone — like oil or coal. There’s no ‘sustainable harvest rate’ for peat as there is for pine forests or salmon.
Hi Liz —
Peat renews itself at a rate of about a millimeter a year. This makes peat technically a ‘renewable resource’, but in practice, not so much.
Essentially, once the peat is cut, it’s gone — like oil or coal. There’s no ‘sustainable harvest rate’ for peat as there is for pine forests or salmon.
(1) I grew up in a house with a huge coal-fired furnace in the basement, and I remember the coal being delivered down the chute into the bin the size of a small room. Every Pittsburgh child was taught in grade school about the difference between anthracite and bituminous coal. When “smoke control” was enacted, a percentage of the coal had to be “coke” to reduce the smoke. Ironically it fell to my petite Grandma to bed the furnace down for the night. Granddad was a blacksmith up till the mid-1930s and he always made the fire too hot!
The fire that ended the house came not from the furnace, but from a drunk’s cigarette on the other side of the duplex.
(2) Several years ago here in Florida we had a bad week or two from “muck fires” both nearby and as far away as Georgia. It was as bad as any smog inversion, with a smoky red sky, and the smell was just awful. Nothing “homey” about it.
(1) I grew up in a house with a huge coal-fired furnace in the basement, and I remember the coal being delivered down the chute into the bin the size of a small room. Every Pittsburgh child was taught in grade school about the difference between anthracite and bituminous coal. When “smoke control” was enacted, a percentage of the coal had to be “coke” to reduce the smoke. Ironically it fell to my petite Grandma to bed the furnace down for the night. Granddad was a blacksmith up till the mid-1930s and he always made the fire too hot!
The fire that ended the house came not from the furnace, but from a drunk’s cigarette on the other side of the duplex.
(2) Several years ago here in Florida we had a bad week or two from “muck fires” both nearby and as far away as Georgia. It was as bad as any smog inversion, with a smoky red sky, and the smell was just awful. Nothing “homey” about it.
(1) I grew up in a house with a huge coal-fired furnace in the basement, and I remember the coal being delivered down the chute into the bin the size of a small room. Every Pittsburgh child was taught in grade school about the difference between anthracite and bituminous coal. When “smoke control” was enacted, a percentage of the coal had to be “coke” to reduce the smoke. Ironically it fell to my petite Grandma to bed the furnace down for the night. Granddad was a blacksmith up till the mid-1930s and he always made the fire too hot!
The fire that ended the house came not from the furnace, but from a drunk’s cigarette on the other side of the duplex.
(2) Several years ago here in Florida we had a bad week or two from “muck fires” both nearby and as far away as Georgia. It was as bad as any smog inversion, with a smoky red sky, and the smell was just awful. Nothing “homey” about it.
(1) I grew up in a house with a huge coal-fired furnace in the basement, and I remember the coal being delivered down the chute into the bin the size of a small room. Every Pittsburgh child was taught in grade school about the difference between anthracite and bituminous coal. When “smoke control” was enacted, a percentage of the coal had to be “coke” to reduce the smoke. Ironically it fell to my petite Grandma to bed the furnace down for the night. Granddad was a blacksmith up till the mid-1930s and he always made the fire too hot!
The fire that ended the house came not from the furnace, but from a drunk’s cigarette on the other side of the duplex.
(2) Several years ago here in Florida we had a bad week or two from “muck fires” both nearby and as far away as Georgia. It was as bad as any smog inversion, with a smoky red sky, and the smell was just awful. Nothing “homey” about it.
(1) I grew up in a house with a huge coal-fired furnace in the basement, and I remember the coal being delivered down the chute into the bin the size of a small room. Every Pittsburgh child was taught in grade school about the difference between anthracite and bituminous coal. When “smoke control” was enacted, a percentage of the coal had to be “coke” to reduce the smoke. Ironically it fell to my petite Grandma to bed the furnace down for the night. Granddad was a blacksmith up till the mid-1930s and he always made the fire too hot!
The fire that ended the house came not from the furnace, but from a drunk’s cigarette on the other side of the duplex.
(2) Several years ago here in Florida we had a bad week or two from “muck fires” both nearby and as far away as Georgia. It was as bad as any smog inversion, with a smoky red sky, and the smell was just awful. Nothing “homey” about it.
Oh, I like the idea of a peat fire and I’ve often wondered what they smelled like and how smoky they were… because I have trouble breathing anything close to smoke. I do love a good fire in a fireplace or at a campsite. I loved my dad smoking a pipe. It smelled wonderful!
All that said, I’d love a wood, or peat, burning stove, but I’m fairly sure my lungs wouldn’t like it. I’d love to be able to live off the grid, but “anything” burning wouldn’t be a good thing for me…. unless lots of air-filtering was involved.
I’d still like to smell a peat fire… just because.
Oh, I like the idea of a peat fire and I’ve often wondered what they smelled like and how smoky they were… because I have trouble breathing anything close to smoke. I do love a good fire in a fireplace or at a campsite. I loved my dad smoking a pipe. It smelled wonderful!
All that said, I’d love a wood, or peat, burning stove, but I’m fairly sure my lungs wouldn’t like it. I’d love to be able to live off the grid, but “anything” burning wouldn’t be a good thing for me…. unless lots of air-filtering was involved.
I’d still like to smell a peat fire… just because.
Oh, I like the idea of a peat fire and I’ve often wondered what they smelled like and how smoky they were… because I have trouble breathing anything close to smoke. I do love a good fire in a fireplace or at a campsite. I loved my dad smoking a pipe. It smelled wonderful!
All that said, I’d love a wood, or peat, burning stove, but I’m fairly sure my lungs wouldn’t like it. I’d love to be able to live off the grid, but “anything” burning wouldn’t be a good thing for me…. unless lots of air-filtering was involved.
I’d still like to smell a peat fire… just because.
Oh, I like the idea of a peat fire and I’ve often wondered what they smelled like and how smoky they were… because I have trouble breathing anything close to smoke. I do love a good fire in a fireplace or at a campsite. I loved my dad smoking a pipe. It smelled wonderful!
All that said, I’d love a wood, or peat, burning stove, but I’m fairly sure my lungs wouldn’t like it. I’d love to be able to live off the grid, but “anything” burning wouldn’t be a good thing for me…. unless lots of air-filtering was involved.
I’d still like to smell a peat fire… just because.
Oh, I like the idea of a peat fire and I’ve often wondered what they smelled like and how smoky they were… because I have trouble breathing anything close to smoke. I do love a good fire in a fireplace or at a campsite. I loved my dad smoking a pipe. It smelled wonderful!
All that said, I’d love a wood, or peat, burning stove, but I’m fairly sure my lungs wouldn’t like it. I’d love to be able to live off the grid, but “anything” burning wouldn’t be a good thing for me…. unless lots of air-filtering was involved.
I’d still like to smell a peat fire… just because.
Thank you for the great post, I always feel like I learn something when I come to this site ;-). Wonderful to ruminate about cozy fireplaces (or drafty ones, haha!)after a Monday at work.
As for myself, I love sitting by a wood burning fireplace in midwinter. We go so nuts over the newest technology but I feel like there’s nothing quite like a quiet night by the fire, edging closer when you get too cold, moving further away when you feel too warm. And slowly, patiently, watching a log consumed by flames. It reminds me of Christmas time at my grandparent’s home years and years ago. With that and a book, who needs tv?
Thank you for the great post, I always feel like I learn something when I come to this site ;-). Wonderful to ruminate about cozy fireplaces (or drafty ones, haha!)after a Monday at work.
As for myself, I love sitting by a wood burning fireplace in midwinter. We go so nuts over the newest technology but I feel like there’s nothing quite like a quiet night by the fire, edging closer when you get too cold, moving further away when you feel too warm. And slowly, patiently, watching a log consumed by flames. It reminds me of Christmas time at my grandparent’s home years and years ago. With that and a book, who needs tv?
Thank you for the great post, I always feel like I learn something when I come to this site ;-). Wonderful to ruminate about cozy fireplaces (or drafty ones, haha!)after a Monday at work.
As for myself, I love sitting by a wood burning fireplace in midwinter. We go so nuts over the newest technology but I feel like there’s nothing quite like a quiet night by the fire, edging closer when you get too cold, moving further away when you feel too warm. And slowly, patiently, watching a log consumed by flames. It reminds me of Christmas time at my grandparent’s home years and years ago. With that and a book, who needs tv?
Thank you for the great post, I always feel like I learn something when I come to this site ;-). Wonderful to ruminate about cozy fireplaces (or drafty ones, haha!)after a Monday at work.
As for myself, I love sitting by a wood burning fireplace in midwinter. We go so nuts over the newest technology but I feel like there’s nothing quite like a quiet night by the fire, edging closer when you get too cold, moving further away when you feel too warm. And slowly, patiently, watching a log consumed by flames. It reminds me of Christmas time at my grandparent’s home years and years ago. With that and a book, who needs tv?
Thank you for the great post, I always feel like I learn something when I come to this site ;-). Wonderful to ruminate about cozy fireplaces (or drafty ones, haha!)after a Monday at work.
As for myself, I love sitting by a wood burning fireplace in midwinter. We go so nuts over the newest technology but I feel like there’s nothing quite like a quiet night by the fire, edging closer when you get too cold, moving further away when you feel too warm. And slowly, patiently, watching a log consumed by flames. It reminds me of Christmas time at my grandparent’s home years and years ago. With that and a book, who needs tv?
I think I’d like the optoon of having either wood or peat depending on my mood…. I’m indecisive that way. Trees are more of a renewable resource, but peat fires sound so homey and comforting.
I think I’d like the optoon of having either wood or peat depending on my mood…. I’m indecisive that way. Trees are more of a renewable resource, but peat fires sound so homey and comforting.
I think I’d like the optoon of having either wood or peat depending on my mood…. I’m indecisive that way. Trees are more of a renewable resource, but peat fires sound so homey and comforting.
I think I’d like the optoon of having either wood or peat depending on my mood…. I’m indecisive that way. Trees are more of a renewable resource, but peat fires sound so homey and comforting.
I think I’d like the optoon of having either wood or peat depending on my mood…. I’m indecisive that way. Trees are more of a renewable resource, but peat fires sound so homey and comforting.
I’d be happy with peat or wood if it kept me warm !
I’d be happy with peat or wood if it kept me warm !
I’d be happy with peat or wood if it kept me warm !
I’d be happy with peat or wood if it kept me warm !
I’d be happy with peat or wood if it kept me warm !
Hi Artemesia —
Peat can burn underground for weeks or even years.
I cannot resist adding a link to the 1906 peat bog fires in LA.
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/peat-bog-madness-in-la/
The gem line of the article is —
“I really just wanted an excuse to reprint the quote and picture of a young woman, at right, who testified that the ground was so hot she had to lay down her ukulele to walk on it.”
Truth, she is stranger than fiction.
Hi Artemesia —
Peat can burn underground for weeks or even years.
I cannot resist adding a link to the 1906 peat bog fires in LA.
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/peat-bog-madness-in-la/
The gem line of the article is —
“I really just wanted an excuse to reprint the quote and picture of a young woman, at right, who testified that the ground was so hot she had to lay down her ukulele to walk on it.”
Truth, she is stranger than fiction.
Hi Artemesia —
Peat can burn underground for weeks or even years.
I cannot resist adding a link to the 1906 peat bog fires in LA.
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/peat-bog-madness-in-la/
The gem line of the article is —
“I really just wanted an excuse to reprint the quote and picture of a young woman, at right, who testified that the ground was so hot she had to lay down her ukulele to walk on it.”
Truth, she is stranger than fiction.
Hi Artemesia —
Peat can burn underground for weeks or even years.
I cannot resist adding a link to the 1906 peat bog fires in LA.
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/peat-bog-madness-in-la/
The gem line of the article is —
“I really just wanted an excuse to reprint the quote and picture of a young woman, at right, who testified that the ground was so hot she had to lay down her ukulele to walk on it.”
Truth, she is stranger than fiction.
Hi Artemesia —
Peat can burn underground for weeks or even years.
I cannot resist adding a link to the 1906 peat bog fires in LA.
http://lacreekfreak.wordpress.com/2008/10/15/peat-bog-madness-in-la/
The gem line of the article is —
“I really just wanted an excuse to reprint the quote and picture of a young woman, at right, who testified that the ground was so hot she had to lay down her ukulele to walk on it.”
Truth, she is stranger than fiction.
Hi Suzy —
The peat fires I known have been in an open hearth. Yes. The sense of smoke is pervasive. If that gives you a problem you wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
But the smell might be somewhat like a pipe. Sweetish.
Hi Suzy —
The peat fires I known have been in an open hearth. Yes. The sense of smoke is pervasive. If that gives you a problem you wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
But the smell might be somewhat like a pipe. Sweetish.
Hi Suzy —
The peat fires I known have been in an open hearth. Yes. The sense of smoke is pervasive. If that gives you a problem you wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
But the smell might be somewhat like a pipe. Sweetish.
Hi Suzy —
The peat fires I known have been in an open hearth. Yes. The sense of smoke is pervasive. If that gives you a problem you wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
But the smell might be somewhat like a pipe. Sweetish.
Hi Suzy —
The peat fires I known have been in an open hearth. Yes. The sense of smoke is pervasive. If that gives you a problem you wouldn’t enjoy the experience.
But the smell might be somewhat like a pipe. Sweetish.
Hi Elle —
There’s something comforting to the soul about a good wood fire. I’m willing to put up with all the extra work for the pleasure of the experience.
Latest woodfire experience is trying to teach the dog not to help herself to tinder from the bucket. The twigs and bits of paper are not toys.
I’m working on that.
Hi Elle —
There’s something comforting to the soul about a good wood fire. I’m willing to put up with all the extra work for the pleasure of the experience.
Latest woodfire experience is trying to teach the dog not to help herself to tinder from the bucket. The twigs and bits of paper are not toys.
I’m working on that.
Hi Elle —
There’s something comforting to the soul about a good wood fire. I’m willing to put up with all the extra work for the pleasure of the experience.
Latest woodfire experience is trying to teach the dog not to help herself to tinder from the bucket. The twigs and bits of paper are not toys.
I’m working on that.
Hi Elle —
There’s something comforting to the soul about a good wood fire. I’m willing to put up with all the extra work for the pleasure of the experience.
Latest woodfire experience is trying to teach the dog not to help herself to tinder from the bucket. The twigs and bits of paper are not toys.
I’m working on that.
Hi Elle —
There’s something comforting to the soul about a good wood fire. I’m willing to put up with all the extra work for the pleasure of the experience.
Latest woodfire experience is trying to teach the dog not to help herself to tinder from the bucket. The twigs and bits of paper are not toys.
I’m working on that.
Hi Glenda —
I don’t see why a fireplace or woodstove couldn’t accommodate both peat and wood.
The reason one doesn’t see this done so much, I think, is that historically peat is mostly used where firewood is unavailable or too expensive. Where both are available, folks tend to go for firewood. Perhaps gathering firewood is less laborious …
Hi Glenda —
I don’t see why a fireplace or woodstove couldn’t accommodate both peat and wood.
The reason one doesn’t see this done so much, I think, is that historically peat is mostly used where firewood is unavailable or too expensive. Where both are available, folks tend to go for firewood. Perhaps gathering firewood is less laborious …
Hi Glenda —
I don’t see why a fireplace or woodstove couldn’t accommodate both peat and wood.
The reason one doesn’t see this done so much, I think, is that historically peat is mostly used where firewood is unavailable or too expensive. Where both are available, folks tend to go for firewood. Perhaps gathering firewood is less laborious …
Hi Glenda —
I don’t see why a fireplace or woodstove couldn’t accommodate both peat and wood.
The reason one doesn’t see this done so much, I think, is that historically peat is mostly used where firewood is unavailable or too expensive. Where both are available, folks tend to go for firewood. Perhaps gathering firewood is less laborious …
Hi Glenda —
I don’t see why a fireplace or woodstove couldn’t accommodate both peat and wood.
The reason one doesn’t see this done so much, I think, is that historically peat is mostly used where firewood is unavailable or too expensive. Where both are available, folks tend to go for firewood. Perhaps gathering firewood is less laborious …
Hi Jackie —
I keep pretty much toasty warm with my woodstove. You need good wood and your stove has to be sized correctly for the space, but it is a very pleasant warmth.
Hi Jackie —
I keep pretty much toasty warm with my woodstove. You need good wood and your stove has to be sized correctly for the space, but it is a very pleasant warmth.
Hi Jackie —
I keep pretty much toasty warm with my woodstove. You need good wood and your stove has to be sized correctly for the space, but it is a very pleasant warmth.
Hi Jackie —
I keep pretty much toasty warm with my woodstove. You need good wood and your stove has to be sized correctly for the space, but it is a very pleasant warmth.
Hi Jackie —
I keep pretty much toasty warm with my woodstove. You need good wood and your stove has to be sized correctly for the space, but it is a very pleasant warmth.
Having never experience a peat fire, I find it hard to say that I would be against it. However, I recall reading that they smoked a bit so that would certainly be a negative. I’ve done many a wood fire in my day and been kept quite warm by it so I would certainly say that I would choose wood!
Having never experience a peat fire, I find it hard to say that I would be against it. However, I recall reading that they smoked a bit so that would certainly be a negative. I’ve done many a wood fire in my day and been kept quite warm by it so I would certainly say that I would choose wood!
Having never experience a peat fire, I find it hard to say that I would be against it. However, I recall reading that they smoked a bit so that would certainly be a negative. I’ve done many a wood fire in my day and been kept quite warm by it so I would certainly say that I would choose wood!
Having never experience a peat fire, I find it hard to say that I would be against it. However, I recall reading that they smoked a bit so that would certainly be a negative. I’ve done many a wood fire in my day and been kept quite warm by it so I would certainly say that I would choose wood!
Having never experience a peat fire, I find it hard to say that I would be against it. However, I recall reading that they smoked a bit so that would certainly be a negative. I’ve done many a wood fire in my day and been kept quite warm by it so I would certainly say that I would choose wood!
Hi Connie —
I don’t know where you’d go to sit over a peat fire these days — especially a peat fire in an open basket on the hearth.
I will have to ask around and see if any of my friends who’ve travelled in the rural parts of Scotland or Ireland recently had that lovely experience.
Hi Connie —
I don’t know where you’d go to sit over a peat fire these days — especially a peat fire in an open basket on the hearth.
I will have to ask around and see if any of my friends who’ve travelled in the rural parts of Scotland or Ireland recently had that lovely experience.
Hi Connie —
I don’t know where you’d go to sit over a peat fire these days — especially a peat fire in an open basket on the hearth.
I will have to ask around and see if any of my friends who’ve travelled in the rural parts of Scotland or Ireland recently had that lovely experience.
Hi Connie —
I don’t know where you’d go to sit over a peat fire these days — especially a peat fire in an open basket on the hearth.
I will have to ask around and see if any of my friends who’ve travelled in the rural parts of Scotland or Ireland recently had that lovely experience.
Hi Connie —
I don’t know where you’d go to sit over a peat fire these days — especially a peat fire in an open basket on the hearth.
I will have to ask around and see if any of my friends who’ve travelled in the rural parts of Scotland or Ireland recently had that lovely experience.
Hi Joanna the last peat fire I encountered in an open basket on the hearth was actually in a living museum on the Isle of Mann !I have stayed in crofts in Scotland where peat was burnt in the rayburn (a range type cooker)so you actually didn’t get to smell the peat that much but to me it has a slightly oily smell.I believe that during the nineteenth century someone on the island of Lewis set up a factory to extract some sort of oil out of the peat (could have been pitch I can’t remember)The whole thing collapsed due to skuldugery on the part of one of the managers !
I think I would choose peat over wood just because you can bank it up and it will burn slowly for hours and I do like my sleep !
Hi Joanna the last peat fire I encountered in an open basket on the hearth was actually in a living museum on the Isle of Mann !I have stayed in crofts in Scotland where peat was burnt in the rayburn (a range type cooker)so you actually didn’t get to smell the peat that much but to me it has a slightly oily smell.I believe that during the nineteenth century someone on the island of Lewis set up a factory to extract some sort of oil out of the peat (could have been pitch I can’t remember)The whole thing collapsed due to skuldugery on the part of one of the managers !
I think I would choose peat over wood just because you can bank it up and it will burn slowly for hours and I do like my sleep !
Hi Joanna the last peat fire I encountered in an open basket on the hearth was actually in a living museum on the Isle of Mann !I have stayed in crofts in Scotland where peat was burnt in the rayburn (a range type cooker)so you actually didn’t get to smell the peat that much but to me it has a slightly oily smell.I believe that during the nineteenth century someone on the island of Lewis set up a factory to extract some sort of oil out of the peat (could have been pitch I can’t remember)The whole thing collapsed due to skuldugery on the part of one of the managers !
I think I would choose peat over wood just because you can bank it up and it will burn slowly for hours and I do like my sleep !
Hi Joanna the last peat fire I encountered in an open basket on the hearth was actually in a living museum on the Isle of Mann !I have stayed in crofts in Scotland where peat was burnt in the rayburn (a range type cooker)so you actually didn’t get to smell the peat that much but to me it has a slightly oily smell.I believe that during the nineteenth century someone on the island of Lewis set up a factory to extract some sort of oil out of the peat (could have been pitch I can’t remember)The whole thing collapsed due to skuldugery on the part of one of the managers !
I think I would choose peat over wood just because you can bank it up and it will burn slowly for hours and I do like my sleep !
Hi Joanna the last peat fire I encountered in an open basket on the hearth was actually in a living museum on the Isle of Mann !I have stayed in crofts in Scotland where peat was burnt in the rayburn (a range type cooker)so you actually didn’t get to smell the peat that much but to me it has a slightly oily smell.I believe that during the nineteenth century someone on the island of Lewis set up a factory to extract some sort of oil out of the peat (could have been pitch I can’t remember)The whole thing collapsed due to skuldugery on the part of one of the managers !
I think I would choose peat over wood just because you can bank it up and it will burn slowly for hours and I do like my sleep !
My hearthstone reliably holds a fire for eight hours — I don’t get much chance to test it further than that because the cat and dog get up at the crack of dawn. Thus, perforce, do I.
I think every writer needs an Irish cottage overlooking the sea with a peat fire on the open hearth … and internet.
My hearthstone reliably holds a fire for eight hours — I don’t get much chance to test it further than that because the cat and dog get up at the crack of dawn. Thus, perforce, do I.
I think every writer needs an Irish cottage overlooking the sea with a peat fire on the open hearth … and internet.
My hearthstone reliably holds a fire for eight hours — I don’t get much chance to test it further than that because the cat and dog get up at the crack of dawn. Thus, perforce, do I.
I think every writer needs an Irish cottage overlooking the sea with a peat fire on the open hearth … and internet.
My hearthstone reliably holds a fire for eight hours — I don’t get much chance to test it further than that because the cat and dog get up at the crack of dawn. Thus, perforce, do I.
I think every writer needs an Irish cottage overlooking the sea with a peat fire on the open hearth … and internet.
My hearthstone reliably holds a fire for eight hours — I don’t get much chance to test it further than that because the cat and dog get up at the crack of dawn. Thus, perforce, do I.
I think every writer needs an Irish cottage overlooking the sea with a peat fire on the open hearth … and internet.
Never used peat so I would have to go with wood.
Never used peat so I would have to go with wood.
Never used peat so I would have to go with wood.
Never used peat so I would have to go with wood.
Never used peat so I would have to go with wood.
But wood is good …*g*
But wood is good …*g*
But wood is good …*g*
But wood is good …*g*
But wood is good …*g*