How thatched roofed pub landlords pulled back from the brink of ruin after devastating fire

A recent story in the Bridport News reports how two popular East Devon publicans are retiring after coming close to ruin following a devastating that fire several years ago:

Brian Jenkins, 62, and wife Denise Jenkins, 59, have been pulling pints at the New Inn at Kilmington, East Devon, for more than 21 years.

They have led the pub into being one of CAMRA’s Magnificent Seven, as they are in the select group of pubs mentioned in each of the 41 editions of the Good Beer Guide.

The couple’s success was made all the more satisfying after the pub was destroyed by a fire sparked in the thatched roof and was shut for nearly a year for rebuilding.

Mr Jenkins said: “We only had what we stood up in and that was it, everything else was gone. It was devastating, and it plays on my mind now when I start thinking about it.”

After the fire, the pub was rebuilt and reopened.

Read more here

174-year-old Barrington school has roof re-thatched

One of the last remaining schools with a traditional thatched roof has had the rustic reeds replaced during the summer holidays.

The 174-year-old school in the village of Barrington was re-thatched with a reed roof for the first time in village’s living memory.

Teaching 150 children, the school is one of only three in the country to have a traditional thatched roof.

The school’s Headteacher, Mrs Francesca Catterson, said: “This year marks Barrington primary school’s 175th anniversary and just in time for the celebrations, the old school house received a much needed makeover. “We are absolutely delighted with the new thatch which required the specialist skills and know-how of Pepper Thatchers.

“Despite our age the school retains the same strong Christian family values upon which it was founded.”

Chris Pepper, of Pepper’s Cambridge Thatching, said: “It is extremely unusual for a school in this country to have a thatched roof and we have never done one before,

“The school roof has taken about six weeks to complete. We need to have it ready in charge for the new school term.”

Val Tookey, clerk of Barrington Parish Council, said: “‘I have been connected to the village for more than 40 years and I don’t remember it ever being thatched before. It has been re-patched in the past, but it’s the first time it has been re-thatched completely for a long, long time, and definitely not within my lifetime.”

She added: “It has been exciting to see it being done.”

Opened in 1838, the school the school cost £500 to build, which included £25 for the sedge roof

Read more here

Thatched roof of listed cottage destroyed by fire

A FIRE which destroyed the roof of a listed cottage was started accidentally, an investigator has found.

Hunters Lodge in Broadhempston was severely damaged by the fire which started in the roofspace above the bathroom.

A fire investigation has determined it was started accidentally as a result of an 'electrical event'. Damage was so severe it was not possible for the investigator to say if it was a fault which caused the fire.

Eight pumps from Totnes, Newton Abbot, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton and Torquay were sent to the Grade II listed building at 2pm on Thursday, September 19.

An incident command unit from Totnes, the aerial ladder platform and water foam carrier from Torquay joined them at the scene due to the danger posed by a thatched roof blaze.

The immediate area around the building, on the edge of the village, was closed and firefighters wore breathing masks to fight the blaze.

Smoke rising from the burning building could be seen from the other side of the village. Speaking from the scene group commander Nick Jones said: "Because it was a thatched roof fire we mobilized a lot of assets. On arrival the first crews found a serious developing fire within the roof of the property and immediately started to attack the blaze. It was quickly established the property was unoccupied and no people were involved."

Within an hour the roof of the building had started to collapse.

Firefighters used two compressed air foam jets, two hose reels and six sets of breathing apparatus.

The distraught owner arrived at about 3.30pm to see his home in flames. By 4pm crews worked to removed thatch from the roof and salvage what they could from the four-bedroom building. They stayed at the scene through the evening removing thatch to a safe area.
Firefighters were still dampening down the cottage on Friday morning.

The roof was completely destroyed as was one third of the first floor. The ground floor was still intact, but the cob walls had absorbed a lot of water during the firefighting operation.

The fire service could not confirm whether or not the building would have to be demolished.





Read the original story here

Looking to buy a thatched property?

If you are looking for a thatched property to buy, the Guardian reports, you could do worse than taking a look at a website called Period Property UK. Also good for finding castles and medieval manor houses, apparently!

You can find the Period Property website here.

When we looked this morning we found this somewhat compromised thatched cottage in Norfolk.

Survey of thatched fire causation and outcomes

A new report from scientific consulting and engineering firm Burgoynes has thrown some interesting new light on what causes thatch fires.

Burgoynes investigate 20-30 thatch fires a year.  While thatch fires represent a small proportion of building fires as a whole, they note, the losses are disproportionately high because thatched properties are generally of higher than average value and are frequently listed structures, leading to high repair costs. Thatch fires are also difficult to extinguish and tend to be in remote locations, with inadequate water supplies, leading to increased damage.

Whilst a few thatch fires are a result of the spread of fire from elsewhere inside or outside the building, the association with chimneys serving solid fuel fireplaces, stoves or ranges has been recognised for some time. Traditionally, it was assumed that the thatch was ignited by embers emitted from the chimney but this assumption was challenged in a 1988 report from RHM Technology,

This highlighted the possibility that heat transfer through the chimney structure into the thatch could cause fires to break out. Although no actual cases of high temperatures in thatch in buildings with chimneys in use were demonstrated in the report, this heat transfer theory has gained widespread acceptance over time amongst those with interests in thatch fires including Fire Brigades and Local Authorities. 

This lass led to statements such as that appearing on some fire brigade website warning that “more than 90% of fires in thatched properties are caused by faults in the flue or chimney”...

Read more here.

Firefighters battle to save East Garston thatched roof

FIREFIGHTERS from five local stations battled to save the thatched roof of an East Garston cottage yesterday (Sun) evening.

Watch manager Lee Glover, of Blue Watch at Newbury Fire Station said pumps were called at 7.18pm from Newbury, Hungerford, Swindon, Ramsbury and Wantage – around 25 firefighters – to the fire in the thatched roof of a cottage in Station Road.

“The thatch was well alight,” said Mr Glover, adding the cause was believed to be a log burner, lit for the first time yesterday.

Firefighters pulled out thatch either side of the fire, creating a break, to prevent it spreading further.

The thatch was 40 per cent damaged in the blaze.

“Normally we lose 90 per cent in a thatch fire,” added Mr Glover.

The blaze was extinguished by 11pm, when the fire fighting operation was scaled down to two pumps.

No-one was hurt.

One pump was left on watch to ensure the fire did not re-ignite and a Newbury crew inspected the fire at 7.30am today (Mon) when the incident was closed.

The roof was covered in tarpaulin sheets after the fire.

Read the full story in Newbury Today here

Close shave for Suffolk thatched roof

Firefighters were called to a chimney fire at a thatched property in The Street, Icklingham, Suffolk just after 7pm on 14 September.

Fortunately the fire did not affect the building's thatched roof and the  incident was under control by 8pm.

Read the full story on EADT24