Fields Recordings From The Sea

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morfe M
morfe Apr 22, 2004 11:53:42
Replying to FourWinds

"As Tombo says a big camp fire will burn a lot of wood in one evening."


Without wanting to get embroiled too deeply in a guesstimating competition, I'm nonetheless interested in the idea of necessary/usable energy expenditure, and how our ideas today reflect our own lifestyles, in that we can impose those upon our ancestors.

We now have Big Camp Fires, recreational fires, the 'white man's fire' which gives us enough blistering heat and blinding light to drive back the demons in our mind and make the forest 'retreat' a good 30 feet or more.

A 'good' fire is a small smouldering heat used principally for cooking or to heat an opening so that the chill is taken off the air. We have adapted to central heating (I say 'we' I'm sure there's plenty of you like me who can't stand the excoriating moisture-sucking abomination) and likewise have a hard time imagining people in Northern Britain not needing a big fire all night long.

Gathering:

Children love gathering firewood, and myself as a Woodcraft leader witnessed a gaggle of 10 year olds bringing back more wood in three hours than we would have sensibly burned in three days. I can happily gather wood for hours, and never feel cheated, one always learns something new about the woodland, or own abilities, when gathering wood. To me it's the perfect kind of meditative state, gathering wood.

F fitzcoraldo
fitzcoraldo Apr 22, 2004 13:42:17
Replying to morfe

The hearths excavated at Mount Sandal dating to 7000BC were less than a metre in diameter. This would imply that great roaring fires were not the norm in the mesolithic. The hearths of later Neolithic houses seem to be of similar proportions.

T TomBo
TomBo Apr 22, 2004 14:34:35
Replying to morfe

Hi Morfe

I don't wanna get involved in a guesstimating competition either!

I didn't mean a campfire, though, I meant the fire that heats my home. To gather enough wood even to keep a small fire burning all night is a good couple of hours work. It is enjoyable work, though, as you say!

A lot of it comes down to whether the wood is green or not. Dry wood burns in no time at all.

You see that guy on the cover of the Led Zeppelin LP? I reckon he's got enough wood on his back to keep his fire burning for about a night. Personally I'd want some larger logs as well, though, if I was him (I do feel like him sometimes!).