Come Home to a Real Fire...

...was a slogan used by the Coal Board in the 70's in an attempt to lure people back to the merits of using coal to heat their homes instead of gas. Coal was an industry, in abundance and, certainly in Wales, the heating fuel of choice because it was the main source of work for people especially in the valleys.

Around the same time, many cottages in parts of Wales were being bought up by "outsiders" as second homes and, arguably, pushing up housing prices beyond the reach of most of the locals. A group calling themselves The Sons of Owain Glyndwr (leader of the revolt against the English rule of Wales, 1400-1415) began to burn some of these properties down in protest

This led to a sketch on a comedy show that was a spoof of the Coal Board's advertising slogan. They extended it slightly and over footage of a burning cottage read the line, 'Come home to a real fire...buy a cottage in Wales'

That's what was going through my mind as I was lugging wood up and down the back garden after yesterday's delivery. As I started to do it the rain came down and it got cold so I thought I'd get inside and sample some of the merchandise in the woodburner...it works fine. So would coal but we're not allowed to dig it up anymore.

I got there in the end but you know how a train of thought works.


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