Bonfires

[Apple]

Hello everyone.

I have lived in Barroway Drove for some years now and I love the place. However, I am curious about one aspect of life here, and that is the number of smelly bonfires we see, especially in the summer months.

I have lived in rural locations for most, (not all), my adult life but I have never known anywhere like this for bonfires!

For instance, it is a beautiful summer's day today (11:00) and I would love to be able to leave the windows and doors open but if I do everywhere will pong from the bonfire smouldering about 300 yards away.

I know there are plenty of others who are bothered by this and I just wonder if there is any way we can do anything to reduce the effect.

Any comments welcome, - no flaming though, please!!! 

Many thanks.

Enjoy the nice weather.

Apple

[Tim]

What we could do with is another 5th November, say the 5th May for instance.  That way people could have a couple of big bonfires a year and nobody would mind on those dates.

Seriously though, the only way to stop a bonfire being a pain is to light it late in the evening when there is no wind.  Then get it as hot as possible so it burns out quickly and is just a pile of ash in a short period of time, no smell the following morning.

As a Scouter for many years we became experts at not annoying our neighbours too much with our all too frequent bonfires at our HQ.

Tim

[Apple]

That sounds like a remarkably good idea to me, even once a month perhaps?

What I do not understand is what it is that people find to burn with such monotonous regularity       Whatever it is though, it certainly seems to be rather damp judging by the amount of smelly smoke that is given off. Perhaps allowing it a little longer to dry out would make for a faster and cleaner burn and not make other peoples' lives so uncomfortable.

Better still, put it in the bin perhaps.

[nennyrainbow]

What do people burn?

Weeds which have run to seed or which can develop from a small piece of root
Plants infected with viruses eg hollyhock leaves, potatoes with blight
Hedge prunings which would take too long to decompose on the compost heap
Pruned or dead branches of trees which are too small to be much use for firewood
Basically any organic matter that is not suitable for composting or firewood. We even burned a dead rat once!

I agree that people could sometimes be more considerate about when they light a  bonfire and check the windspeed and direction first. However if you have a large plot and do a lot of gardening, I find you do need to do a bonfire about 4 times a year.

[Apple]

Thanks for the info.

Could that sort of stuff not be put in the brown bin?, - green waste.... why did they not have the foresight to make the green bins for green waste? 

As always, we were the last to be able to have brown bins but they are available now.

[Tim]

What's the process for getting a brown bin?

Tim

[Apple]

Information on obtaining a brown bin can be found here:

http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=21401

True to form, unlike other, more responsible councils, BCKLWN have chosen to treat the brown bins as a cash cow and demand a further £38 on top of the council tax that we already pay. I do not know of any other council that does this... perhaps there are some, but none of those where my family and friends live make this additional charge, (and they often have a lower council tax level too).

Perhaps this is why there are so many more bonfires in this area than others, in which case, well done BCKLWN! (idiots!).

They also have this page which addresses the subject of bonfires, (and in which they seem to accept that garden waste is a big cause of this pollution).

http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=23854

I have the feeling that brown bins supplied at no extra charge, (as with most other councils), would go a long way to removing this source of friction and would also be a big help to the many people around here whose efforts with their gardens make the place look so good.

[Apple]

13 Aug 2009. A big thank you to whomever it was in the Barroway Drove/Lady Drove area who lit another smokey bonfire tonight at about 19:45 and changed a pleasant summer's evening into one where your neighbours had to retreat indoors and close the doors and windows. Very thoughtful.

[Apple]

11 09 09, about 20h00. Ditto the last post.

[Sheepdog Lady]

They could be possibly burning horse manure. That would have a damp enough core to just smoulder after the initial rapid burning of the outer, drier matter.  There are enough horse owners down the Drove who would no doubt be doing this and of course there is always a constant supply to be disposed of.

[nennyrainbow]

What a waste if so. They should put it on the garden, or else give it away to gardeners - well rotted manure is probably the best organic fertiliser available - and it's free. Or they could flog it to people with more money than sense - one of the MP's (I forget which) claimed £100 of taxpayer's money for horse manure!

[Tim]

Must resist joke about MPs and huge steaming piles........   

[Sheepdog Lady]

The trouble is, horses produce far more manure every day than is physically possible to use up.  If I put all my horses manure on my garden, I would just have a huge pile of manure instead of a garden!  Putting out bags for sale is great, except that the odd bag sold or given away in a month wouldn't be worth the effort!  Also, I don't have any large vehicular access to my property, so can't even pay someone to take it away! Hey, actually that's a good idea - if anyone knows anyone who wants to come and help themselves to a huge pile of ****** please help yourself! So for now, we just let the grass grow over it and pride ourselves on having the only hill in the Fens!  Might even start West Norfolk Mountain Rescue Team....

[Apple]

I think I may have a solution for you. Buy a 'Hippobag' from B&Q or the like, (flat packed and very lightweight), place it at the periphery of your property and fill it with the offending stuff, and when full call then to arrange its collection. They will take it away without any need to take the lorry off the highway, so no access problems. Hope this helps.

http://www.hippobag.co.uk/product/default.asp

[TheRiley]

Fire kills deseased plant,the ashes are good for soil too,I don't live in barroway drove,but I have lived long enough in the country side all my life to see the need for fire.10 minuites in my garden will fill 2 green wheelie bins.I have to travel 20 mile round trip to the nearest dump which I can only do a few times a year,I have a max of 6 fires a year after 7pm & try to be conciderate wind direction washing hot evenings etc,as for the hippo bag 7.99 to buy & how much to have it collected  also no animal waste does that include horse poo ?
oh forgot the link
http://www.hippowaste.co.uk/files/HippoBag/PDFs/Prohibited_Waste_Items.pdf