The stove works!

Apologies for the long absence - I just didn't feel there was anything much worth writing about. But now we're back on Warrior for the weekend - using Atherstone as a base for visiting Braunston - and as it was a trifle chilly, I had the idea of finally testing the French stove in the saloon. We had to borrow the chimney from the cabin (I can't for the life of me remember what happened to the other one); laid a little fire, lit it - and it worked! Very slight leakage of smoke around the door before it warmed up, but soon there was smoke coming out of the chimney, and it was drawing really well. Soon the pipe and the back were too hot to touch, but the outer enamel cover on the front and top never got more than warm - which I suppose is the purpose of it; it has lots of holes in it to allow the heat through by convection. I cannot say how pleased I am that it seems to work so well. It must be the first time in decades that it's had a fire lit in it, and it looked lovely through the new mica in the door. We left it at a very small fire, as we wanted to go out this evening; we met David and Joanne from Tyrley in the Market Tavern. Very nice pub, and once again I was struck by what a lovely town Atherstone is. Off to Braunston tomorrow - I can't wait.