Come on, baby, light my fire

Readers who share Lady Bracknell's fondness for furnishing and design from the 1930s will no doubt be as thrilled as she was herself to read that a company called C20 Fires both manufactures reproduction fireplaces and sells original ones which have been rescued from houses in Manchester and surrounding areas.

(The Dude may be particularly interested in this fireplace, strongly reminiscent as it is of one for which a friend of his was endeavouring to find a home some years ago.)

The following rubric is taken from the C20 Fires website:


"Our Fireplaces and hearths are of traditional construction, keeping alive skills and methods that might otherwise be lost.

Most of our tiles come from England's last remaining Fireplace tile manufacturer (H.E. Smith of Stoke on Trent).

Some types of tile, such as our opening tiles and arch tiles, are no longer available from any other manufacturer. We make these tiles ourselves by hand in our Manchester factory and glaze them on the premises to match the Fireplace tiles."

Lady Bracknell's heart is always gladdened when she sees evidence that there are still sufficient persons of good taste and discernment to support businesses such as this one, and that not everybody is a slave to the likes of Ikea. Naturally, if one chooses to purchase for one's home items which are not mass-produced, and which are constructed individually by skilled craftspersons, one must expect to be involved in considerable expense. Lady Bracknell could not afford such a luxury herself in her current financial circumstances. Nevertheless, she derives great pleasure from simply looking at the photographs.

Readers of similar preferences may also be interested in the comprehensive list of links which the good people of C20 Fires have kindly provided for their browsing pleasure.