Fan The Flames

Mesmerising and magical, a real fire is a tonic over the winter season, warming up your hands and your heart

- Caroline Wheater

Despite living in a fast-moving, digital world swamped with information and options, life somehow becomes simpler in the winter. Why? Because, as the days become colder and the nights draw in, we refocus on two of our most basic human needs, to be warm and sheltered from the weather outside. For many of us, the dream is to go out for a blustery coastal walk, return to a warming meal, then sit in front of a stove, toasting our toes as the flames dance across the viewing window and the logs crack and sizzle as they burn. A real fire is an elemental experience that brings warmth and comfort into the sanctuary of the home.

Vincent Thurkettle, woodsman and author of the evocative Wood Fire Handbook – The Complete Guide to the Perfect Fire, (£15.99, Mitchell Beazley), puts it so well in his introduction to the book, now in its second edition. ‘Sitting in soft firelight, I have often wondered why I am so fascinated by fire. And I am not alone in this feeling either – people and cultures worldwide consider fire a strangely singular comfort. It can certainly be a useful and constant companion, but it is so much more. Fire warms, consoles, and touches the very hearts of us, like a loving, worldly wise relative. A fireside chair is a cosy nest in which to while away the time deep in conversation or lost in sleepy-eyed contemplation.’