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Roll on Nov 5th.

Hang up your Chisels and Plane blades and take a load off with a recently turned goblet of your favourite poison, in the lounge of our Gentlemen's (and ladies) Club.

Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Lons » 18 Oct 2020, 22:42

I built up a huge bonfire during the initial lockdown weeks and it shrunk to half it's size, I couldn't put a match to it as the birds, hedgehogs and heaven knows what else took up squatters rights. Hedges now cut it's grown again and I have another mountain under cover ready to throw on top. Can't wait, it will burn for days. :D

I've evicted the hedgehogs which hopefully will take up reidence in a couple of new des res I provided rent free.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Mike G » 19 Oct 2020, 08:08

You need a chipper/ shredder and a 4 bay compost heap, not a match. ;)
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Lons » 19 Oct 2020, 08:56

There's a lot more than branches in the middle of that lot Mike, old fencing, posts and loads of other combustible stuff, nothing nasty for the environment though.
I used to own a chipper years ago but never replaced it and I remember using a surprising amount of petrol and a lot of time breaking down the hedge cuttings. I've been keeping my eyes open recently for a decent s/h one but they all look like toys without spending serious money.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Andyp » 19 Oct 2020, 10:30

I am surprised that there are not regulations that prevent the burning of garden rubbish. i certainly wouldn't want to live down wind when that goes up.
Although we are not supposed too we have a bonfire here on the 5th every year complete with guy. The neighbours and friends that have been are quite bemused by the tradition.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby AJB Temple » 19 Oct 2020, 12:40

Chipper / shredders are a right pain. I have a large one (that too obvs) which can be towed behind a garden tractor and allegedly will deal with branches 2" thick (which it does) and Leylandii trimmings (which it kind of does after a fashion). Its got a 15hp B&S motor and I suppose is a step below a proper small machine that tree surgeons use. But it is slow and you have to stuff Leylandii branches through with a stick, or it just jams up. It is also incredibly noisy.

In practice, for large gardens, all chippers are pretty hopeless unless you get the large man sized ones that tree surgeons tow around.

It's traditional to have a bonfire on 5/11 so I doubt the neighbours will have a problem, especially if invited round to put their jacket potatoes in the embers.

I don't blame people for having bonfires. The local councils around here make it as difficult as possible to dispose of rubbish. We now have to pre-book, can only go once a month, has a limit on vehicle size, and you have to pay to dispose of various things. So, surprise surprise, there has ben an epidemic of fly tipping. Hence I use a bonfire too now, as a lot of stuff does not compost very well.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Andyp » 19 Oct 2020, 12:57

Is that typical of tips up and down the country now Adrian, or just local to you?

I have two tips within 5 mins drive. Dump as much as I like whenever I like, Mon-sat 9-5 and a choice of about 12 different containers for sorting stuff not garden waste and a massive open area for dumping the green stuff.

I know my brother burns his garden stuff in a chiminea, allowed, whereas a bonfire is not.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby RogerS » 19 Oct 2020, 14:07

Andyp wrote:Is that typical of tips up and down the country now Adrian, or just local to you?

....


Each area has its own set of rules, Andy. I can get rid of anything...although I'd have to pay a nominal amount to get rid of rubble and any old bricks, EWC pans etc(not that I do). or plasterboard (occasionally...£1.50 last time !). I even empty the contents of my chippings and sawdust into the wood skip. Haven't bought any new bags in all the time we've been here. The guy who looks after the skip is very laid back.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Andyp » 19 Oct 2020, 14:46

Forgot to say it's foc here for everything. :)
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Woodster » 19 Oct 2020, 14:49

There will almost certainly be at least a few creatures burnt alive when that lot goes up. Personally as others have said I’d take it to the dump.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Rod » 19 Oct 2020, 16:53

Our village normally has a big bonfire but will not accept things to burn - they acquire a lot of pallets which will burn out and leave less waste.
In Winchester they have an even bigger event preceded by a torch light procession.

Our village has a smokeless policy and bonfires are banned - don’t know who policies it though.

Our part of the village had a new supply of North Sea gas so houses were built in the 70’s without chimneys.
The smoke free zone now spoiled by folks fitting wood burners.

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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby SamQ aka Ah! Q! » 19 Oct 2020, 18:52

[img]
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[/img
This was my local one until 2 years ago...
Last edited by SamQ aka Ah! Q! on 20 Oct 2020, 15:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby AJB Temple » 19 Oct 2020, 18:54

Well in my part of Kent the tips include Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells. There are restrictions that make little sense: so for example you must dispose of rubble in plastic bin bag sized sacks, you pay ( I think it is £2 a sack) and you are limited to about 6 or 8 sacks. Needless to say rubble is popular for fly tipping.

Due to C19, tip visits must be pre-booked on line and you can only book once in a 4 week period (used to be twice) and you must confirm that your trip outing is necessary because you can't store the stuff at home.

The tips are now far less busy than they used to be.

Green waste is disposed of in black wheelie bins, that you pay an annual licence e fee for of I think £60. These are collected every two weeks. We are a tad over hedged and I can fill a wheelie bin in about two sweeps of a hedge cutter. We have two such bins for stuff my wife refuses to compost (weeds and stuff with thorns) but realistically a bonfire is a necessity for some things. In our case I made a fire put with tall mesh surround and so I can ensure it is hedgehog free before piling the stuff in to burn. Perfectly happy to crisp up some rabbits and pigeons though as we are inundated.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Blackswanwood » 19 Oct 2020, 20:09

That looks great Lons. We normally have a bonfire each November and invite the neighbours round which unfortunately isn’t allowed this year so it is on hold for when we get back to nearer to normal.

I’ve recently had to do a relocation of a hedgehog that lives under our wood pile in readiness for my new workshop. Having made it a new hedgehog house I fenced it in and fed it for two weeks thinking it would get used to it and stay there. First day without the fence and it upped sticks and now resides in the bonfire pile. Seemingly you can take a horse to water ...
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby MattS » 19 Oct 2020, 20:35

AJB Temple I’m in Kent too, the relatively recent decision to charge for rubble and soil seems madness to me. I drive a van too which means I need vouchers to go the the tip. Their COVID restrictions are odd - its outside but when my parents went only one person allowed out the car!? Also for some reason at the Maidstone tip everyone has to parallel park in a line instead of reversing up like normal. Can’t understand it, it’s like they want rubbish burnt and fly tipped!!!
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby DaveL » 19 Oct 2020, 20:49

The Suffolk tips are a booking only since lock down, which only works some of the time in Sudbury.
They charge for soil and ruble, but no longer take cash, only I think two sites in the county have card machines Sudbury is not one of them.
You only allowed one visit a weekly and only one person is allowed out of the car and staff are not allowed to help. Most of stuff has to go up a flight of stairs to be dropped into the big skip container.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby RogerS » 19 Oct 2020, 21:35

Have to confess, chaps, that having lived in the South East for a large part of my life, I will never, ever go back down there. Way, way too many people. Living up here in Northumberland is a breath of fresh air...literally, figuratively and metaphorically.

I wander down the tip ...anytime..as many times as I like. Shoot the breeze with Ray, the 'yardman'...for want of a better word...share a few jokes.

Makes all the rain worth it !!

And no restrictions re how many people get out of the car etc. That's because I've never seen more than four cars in at any one time...and no-one queuing to get in either.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Lons » 19 Oct 2020, 21:56

There are restrictions at our local tip, and charges despite being in the same local authority as Roger and we've seen a distinct rise in fly tipping.
There were a lot of bonfires during the summer lockdown and it would have been easier for me to light it then when it was very dry but I felt with most people being at home and in their gardens it wouldn't be fair so waited as loads of people around here have bonfires around Nov 5th.
My neighbours are excellent, I only light when the breeze is blowing across open fields so bother no-one and the bonfire is fenced to keep the hedgehogs out, I partially fenced it leaving escape routes and closed it off late at night when the little blighters were out munching slugs and leaving black messages on my grass. :lol:

I light from one side only which gives any rodents and other creatures time to get out though I'm not too bothered about rabbits and pigeons either.
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Woodbloke » 20 Oct 2020, 08:15

The last bonfire I had was years ago when I burnt a huge pile of foliage. As soon as it was well lit, the old hag in the house behind leaned out of her window and let fly with some choice phrases; she was a good contender for the top of a fire on Nov 5th :D
More importantly, my son who at that time suffered quite badly from asthma got too close and inhaled a few lungfuls of the smoke which badly affected him, so much so that a 999 call was necessary to sort him out - Rob
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby SamQ aka Ah! Q! » 20 Oct 2020, 15:52

Rob, if you look closely at my photo, you will see a bloke on a cherry picker covering up the windows...'cos the fire was so 'ot, it melted them in previous years...fire brigade used to dread 11th July night, as it meant them running about madly, hosing down house walls too close to "Bone fires" the local Orange yokels had stripped recycling yards bare to build...your hag should think herself lucky...

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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Rod » 20 Oct 2020, 17:07

Is that a tarmac road, that won’t survive?

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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby SamQ aka Ah! Q! » 20 Oct 2020, 17:30

Yup.'Tis. Carpark actually. Annual resurfacing on 13th July...and this is only one of maybe a dozen in Belfast alone!
Just a part of the surreal, dogmatic, entrenched version of "reality" as experienced in 'Norn Iron'.

No I do NOT miss this aspect of Ulster "culture".

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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Lons » 08 Nov 2020, 10:48

Now just a pile of ash after adding a few old internal hardboard doors on Nov 5th. It was still glowing red hot on Friday afternoon.
It's been surrounded by chicken wire for a couple of weeks to keep the hedgehogs out and I lit it from one side only so other animals and birds had a chance to escape.

It's a shame we couldn't have the family around as my granddaughter would have loved it. :cry:

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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby RogerS » 08 Nov 2020, 12:20

You missed a trick in not burning that scruffy old paling fence in the background, Lons :lol:
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Lons » 08 Nov 2020, 12:31

I was surprised it didn't burn Roger. I have a pile of freshly bought fencing lying in wait though it's likely to still be lying there for quite some time. :)
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Re: Roll on Nov 5th.

Postby Alder » 08 Nov 2020, 13:21

Many years ago I went over to a field to light a bonfire of hedge cuttings I had previously built. They were cuttings from a 150 yard hedge so it was quite big. During the burning which was quite intense I lost the key of the quad bike. I walked home to fetch the spare key and went back to collect the quad and kept an eye on it until it was safe to leave.
Some days afterwards ( after rain) I revisited the site and in the ashes was the shinny quad key complete with an intact plastic band which carried the suppliers name on it.
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