Saturday 6 October 2012

Night and day....stoves

Thank you to Oooh Betty for noticing my enamel stove - bought nearly 30 years ago (wasn't everything Jenny!) from a junk shop in Dulwich (those were the days) - we had this 'plumbed' in our old house but still waiting to do this in this house.....we will get there!  I love the grill in particular and how it lights up like a standard firework!  In the past I have cooked pies in the oven (a bit tricky to regulate!) and made lots of coffee on the top.

This little room is a bit of mess really - the table is an old Edwardian one (bought from Mr Langfords) that was riddled with woodworm, Dom cut it down to a smaller size and we found a piece of sea worn wood on the beach for the top!  Make do and mend at its best

The photo above is from some years ago and was taken the day the children decided to do a 'Victorian wash day'. We washed clothes with a bar of soap and 'pegged out'.

Usual changing shelf arrangements....this photo above is also from a few years ago

I recently popped into Mr Langford's establishment - I wished to discuss his appearance on the 'Antiques Road Trip' that was on telly recently.  I could not believe that he had bought something from one of the roving autioneers - he gave me the inside story.  Basically his arm was forced...'It is for charity Mr Langford...'.  I also discovered that this was the fourth airing of this particular series. We got chatting about this lurverly enamel sign that I bought from his shop a few years ago - he remembered very well indeed and  regrets selling it.  He tells me that I can bring it back at any time and get a good return for my money.  Perhaps one day....

Mr Langford is an old fashioned trader - he lets me take things home (no deposit) to see if it looks right and then I can bring it back if it doesn't. I did buy something very nice indeed from Mr Langford - I have left it in his care (I have to make some space for it)...it was one of those things that you just cannot leave behind....oh dear...I will share it with you when I finally bring it home...


As well as a solid fuel stove we also have a few paraffin stoves - this one also dates from the 1920s I think (looks lopsided but that was me that was leaning!) and uses finest greenhouse paraffin!  Gives off a nice heat on chilly evenings and also has a coloured piece of mica so it always glows red. It is called the 'South Pole' according to the metal panel.


I posted these videos on Flickr a couple of years ago - worth seeing again I hope.  I like chatting with Mr Langford very much - we discuss a range of  issues such as his pigeon problem and the demise of good shops to rummage in! I was a little alarmed the other day as Mr Langford had clearly been tidying up (as you enter his shop you are given a statutory warning concerning taking your life in your hands) - I could see the back wall in one section. I have never seen the wall before - I told Mr Langford that it was a little disappointing as I had always thought that the back of his shop was as the wardrobe in Narnia and that if I tried a little I would enter yet another world....



I believe that the saying goes that if it is not in The British Museum or Mr Langfords then it probably doesn't exist....


Time to turn the lights off!
Tatty bye

20 comments:

  1. Growing up in a house without central heating our once a week bath was softened somewhat with a paraffin heater which made the bathroom lovely and warm but with that very particular smell they give off.
    I am admiring your bee plaque....is it a tile insert?

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    1. Ah yes indeed Gigibird - I too did not know that such a wonderment as central heating existed until long after I left home. We had a coal fire in the kitchen and one in the front room. My brother had a very old (and dangerous) three bar heater that we would throw bits of paper onto to catch fire. Us four sisters had each other to keep warm....I will have to do a post about coldness as a child and how I would wear my clothes in bed and change them only under the covers......
      Thank you re: bee plaque - it was from SB Evans many years ago (not sure if they still exist) and most of the glazed tiles and pots in our garden came from there. This one is made for hanging on a wall and we have dragonflies and frogs too!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  2. I wish I had a Mr Langfords near me! Sounds like a magical place to spend time! My rooms are messy too jenny, unfortunately they look nothing like yours! I couldn't see any videos, but that might be my iPad. Ada :)

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    1. Step away from Mr Langford's Ada - it is a dangerous place" Ho ho
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  3. I'll have to watch the videos later - hubby is watching that American Pickers show and my life is worth nothing if I interrupt it for anything! :) But watch them I will.

    Love love LOVE that ice cream sign - don't ever give in to Mr Langford - that's a total keeper.

    Fab stoves too - you do have some cracking bits 'n pieces..maybe one day your house will be like a Mr Langfords?

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    1. Thank you wendz - anything with a bit of local history is always special I think.
      Sadly our house already looks like Mr Langford's

      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  4. Ice cream is my favourite! The sign is wonderful and Mr Langfords looks like a wonderful place, somewhere to lose a couple of hours in! Thank you again for sharing your bits and pieces with us. Faye

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    1. Many thanks for your kind words Faye
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  5. I feel sorry for any trader on those antique road trip programmes! Love your little garden roller, sweet x

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    1. Indeed - I think that a great deal of arm twisting goes on!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  6. If Mr Langford wishes to open a branch in Northants, I would gladly run it for him! I love that little lawnmower on your shelf, if you ever want to get rid of that let me know!

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    1. Negotiations started Gill...
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  7. Your stove is so lovely, I love the colour of it and the decoration on it. It must have been such a treat using it to cook things on. Is Mr Langford's close to you? I have promised my daughter to visit her without the husband and have a look at some of the shops along Albert Road.
    Sarah x

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    1. Albert Road it is - up from the Sally Army and down from The Ark! See you there Sarah
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  8. I so wish Mr Langford had a wee shopling near me, and that stove, ahhh bestill my beating heart!

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    1. To have a Mr Langford's close by is a dangerous think Hoola Tallulah...see you there!
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  9. Love your stove and the ice cream sign......v,v jealous.
    Lucky you Jenny, I wish I had a shop to visit near me like Mr Langford's....what a treasure trove :)
    x

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    1. The stove is a real nice one I think and (as with so many things) we must have bought it nearly 30 years ago.
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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  10. I saw a beautiful stove in Canterbury once. I remember it was £42 and I just didn't have the money so I had to walk away. I have always regretted not going overdrawn just so I could have it. The trouble was that my father was also my bank manager and my sister and I were always brought up that it was almost criminal to go overdrawn. Not a bad way to live I suppose although not always easy to stick to. Philippa xx

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    1. You did the right thing Philippa - I too come from an upbringing of 'cutting your coat according to your cloth' and though I am sometimes a little bit green of those who have expensive cars and fancy clothes we will win out in the end...I think..perhaps...
      Best wishes
      Jenny

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