To Mend one's Fire

I have my wood burning stoves serviced each year. Normally this is a formality but today we hit a problem.

I needed to have a new stove pipe fitted, This is the pipe that connects the stove to the chimney.

However last winter I had been burning some Leylandii tree trunks. I thought they had been well dried out and were good for use. However I was wrong because whilst they were burning they produced a lot of tar. This has glued up the joints in the stove pipe making it difficult to remove.

And the moral of the tale is.....