“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. John 14:27
Some days, it is impossible not to feel the pervading anxiety of the long to-do list of life, not only the one in front of us, but all those other things we may have forgotten. In 2024, we are surrounded by an ever increasing mass of information and there is always a pervasive anxiety about what we might be missing. Friends recount films, books and podcasts all of which hold infinite interest to me, but when will I find the time to watch, read or listen to these nuggets of recommendation? There is also a sense of guilt that comes with this. I find myself feeling a sense of how little I know about anything. However, so much of our days are spent quite trivially, and it is hard not to be subsumed with day-to-day living, with its strain of rich information that doesn’t allow much time for thinking more holistically about the concerns in the world we all share.
There is some ingrained richness within me from the privilege of childhood time spent with my dad wandering around museums, libraries and bookshops. So now in my middle years, just glancing through a bookshop makes me realise how much of life is spent distracted from thoughtful silence and learning. A friend visited Edinburgh Fringe this year and listened to a set from a comedian who jokes that between the school run, and when he was supposed to be writing he was really responding to messages and social media. A whole day can be spent not getting to the point. The addictive nature of feeling connected via our phones makes them a relentless force in our day-to-day living.
We may simply say the answer here is to switch off our phones and create good routines. I appreciate and don’t discount the advice of every health and lifestyle guru here, but being as I am like a small child at Christmas, I always want to take a peak. Alongside this there is also the happy act of multi-tasking that our phone has given us. It is no longer like the 1950s when dictating a letter was a singular task in itself. We now find ourselves in a time when the cat is out of the bag, and our phone has given us the infinite pleasure of multi-tasking and thinking about or exploring so many things at once. It’s almost now a quest to hit the go slow key, or imagine that life is built on steps. Like stepping stones across a river, the pathway is not straightforward and you have to concentrate in order not to slip.
There are, however, the beginnings of a realised backlash. Schools such as The Ormiston Academy, which runs 42 schools in England, are prohibiting the use of phones at school so that pupils can focus on their learning and teaching. There are cases though where parents have found this difficult, for instance, those children with health needs where the app on a phone works to manage a child’s diabetes. In these moments we can see how technology has worked so effectively as a pairing partner to live our lives more safely and with time sensitive efficiency. The danger though is that these advancements are perhaps making our ability to make intuitive judgements harder, as we are so focused on precision rather than feeling the moment.
Perhaps we can look to animals for a little guidance here. It is said that, for instance, a dog’s sense of smell not only sits with what is current in the world of smell but also smells from the past all wrapped together heightening its enquiry. There is something so interesting about the sensory focus, many a dog owner will tell you that there is no such thing as a quick walk as dogs want to stop and smell everything. Maybe we could all take a leaf from that book, as we light a candle or a fire during the colder nights, just allowing ourselves the time to absorb our immediate environment and see what our surroundings can imbue in us, unaided by any kind of external information or entertainment.
As we give pause to our distractions, that in itself brings us the peace to stay still and be held in the moment by the lightest of touch, anxiety-free and content.
1. It sounds like you were a collector of random objects since childhood, which you carried around in a bag. Was this an intuitive interest or did you grow up in a household where objects were discussed and thought of in terms of origin and making?
I think a lot of it was intuitive and that we all have a natural affinity to certain things. I grew up in a household that was filled with creativity, my father was an engineer and my mother a musician so a real mix of the technical and the heart. I don’t remember ever discussing particular objects or any process of making but just being surrounded by projects, ideas and music has deeply informed how and what I do. I think that within me I have this love of doing things well and I have always felt that I am both artist and designer, sometimes stuck between the two not knowing which I am. This has also left me a bit of an anomaly to others as I don’t necessarily fit in any box, but I am making peace with the fact that I’m both.
When I was younger as soon as I could walk I would carry around an object in each hand, or a bag filled with things I found. These were often not toys but anything from plastic drawing curves (I still can visualise these green acrylic curves) to a hammer! This lead on to me collecting all kinds of things from beer mats to plastic Christmas cracker trinkets. These things were all free or of very low value so I could collect them easily, this then has informed what I cherish and use within my collage work; sweet wrappers, postcards, magazine images. Things that are easily overlooked or thrown away, unloved things that are mass produced or beautifully badly printed these things are treasure to me. I still get that joy of discovering a beautiful scrap of paper on the street or in an antique shop it doesn’t matter to me where I find it. For me it’s all about a certain quality or feel, which is why all my work is made of real things (not digital elements) it has to feel right or I won’t use it.
I have also been drawn to logos and graphics from an early age and would sit and draw the tails of airplanes and collect plane tickets when family members travelled, or stick beer mats to my cupboard doors. Objects can have a real magic whether they are high or low in value or culture. I believe that we imbue these things with meaning, comfort and value. This is where I think my artworks come from imbuing paper with feeling, meaning and spirit even if it’s just for me. This I think is deeply linked to my collecting over all the years.
2. It’s said that Terence Malick in his film The Tree of Life, created a collage effect of moments in his scenes. Do you visualise your collages from observations in real life?
I think it’s a real mixture of real life observations and the imagined, but mainly I think it is the opposite of real life, an escape and running towards what seems impossible, higher, beautiful and escaping real-life laws and confines. This is why I gravitated towards the surrealist artists as a teenager and have kept this love of their work throughout my life, because it uses the everyday to transcend the everyday. Like Rene Magritté’s painting “Time Transfixed (La Durée poignardée)” with a train flying out of a fireplace or Joseph Cornell’s sea drift objects placed side by side in a box they have this magic that lifts us from where we are or what the objects were intended for. These everyday items can be given new purpose and meaning.
We all distil ourselves into the things around us and our lives get soaked into photographs, songs, art etc, these things are simple objects but they become so richly full of memory and meaning that they become priceless and so emotive. We all do this, we all create in this way, whether it’s intentional as art or not. We are all creators, we can all draw, paint and do whatever we like.
Mark Lazenby – “Set a Fire in my Heart” Collage
3. You mention that a lot of your work begins with words, are there any writers or art with words that particularly influence you?
My work all starts with an internal dialogue and this is mainly through my time in prayer and reading the Bible. It is how I process where I am at and directing all of myself and energy to God. A bowing down of self, a laying down of everything. I especially love reading the biblical Psalms and Proverbs and these speak to me every day and have made their way in to many of my collages. The Psalms are so rich in joy and praise but also ranting and despair, I find immense comfort in this fact that the writers feel what we feel, struggle with what we struggle with and that that’s ok to voice to God and each other.
We are all sacred and profane, broken and fixed, dust and eternal.
My work is an outpouring of this, the battle. If I don’t give it to God and explore it in paper I don’t function at all.
The words filter through and become a heart cry, a yearning, a song, a poem and then I try to interpret these into visual versions. This again is where I try to imbue the paper with all that’s going on internally. I also find immense satisfaction in the physical creating of my collages, the processes, the hunting for the right elements to create how I feel, what I’m thinking. I make them for me to understand, but I also want to make them as offerings to God, worship.
Artists using words within their work that I especially love: Kurt Schwitters, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Corita Kent, Cy Twombly, Peter Blake, Tom Phillips, Joe Tilson, Eduardo Paolozzi and too many pop artists to name!
Over the years I have been inspired by many writers and poets in my work: Hermann Hesse, Albert Camus, Franz Kafka, Gabriel García Márquez, Paul Auster, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, W.H. Auden, Stéphane Mallarmé, C.S. Lewis to name just a few.
4. David Lynch in his thoughts on death, states he sees life as continuing. Do you find that the layers of life are helpful to explore through collaging?
This again touches on what I’ve mentioned in the previous question. For me the creation of a work is the way I start to understand God’s love, cope in the world, process what I’m going through, pour it out, externalise the internal. So I think it’s vital for me to make my collages, when I don’t get time to make I feel lost and not myself at all.
I have recently been struck by the fact that we are all immortal beings. I believe that we are all eternal. We all have a choice through Jesus to live continually in God’s presence or eternally separate but then knowing He is the one. Time is short and God loves us all now, this love wants to be with us throughout eternity we only have to say yes. This quote from C.S. Lewis is wonderful: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal… it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit”.
The call now is to love God with our everything and to love each other. This is my greatest desire and to also make what I can on any given day. I wouldn’t function without my faith, my family and my collage.
5. How would you encourage anyone with a novice interest in collaging to begin?
Creating is such a personal thing but I think it’s about tapping into what makes you you, what you love, what you have a natural connection to and then just exploring it, making a mess, making things that don’t work and when you keep going you develop your own language and you then stumble across your thing. For years I thought that I should create other work, not just collage and that it wasn’t enough. I tried to draw, to paint but I kept on being called back by the collage and I’ve learnt that for me that is enough, that collage is me. There are no rules, we complicate everything for no reason, we don’t want to look stupid or like we don’t know what we are doing. No one knows what they are doing! There are no rules. So find the things you enjoy, the things you find affinity with and run with them. Get some glue and some paper and find out what you love.
I mentioned before, Corita Kent who was a brilliant artist, teacher, Jesus follower and social justice advocate. Up on my studio wall is this wonderful list she put together that I often remind myself of and find immensely helpful when I get a bit tangled up:
“One: Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for a while.
Two: General duties of a student: pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
Three: General duties of a teacher: pull everything out of your students.
Four: Consider everything an experiment.
Five: Be self-disciplined: this means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Six: Nothing is a mistake. There’s no win and no fail, there’s only make.
Seven: The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It’s the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
Eight: Don’t try to create and analyse at the same time. They’re different processes.
Nine: Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It’s lighter than you think.
Ten: We’re breaking all the rules. Even our own rules. And how do we do that? By leaving plenty of room for X quantities.
HINTS: Always be around. Come or go to everything. Always go to classes. Read anything you can get your hands on. Look at movies carefully, often. Save everything—it might come in handy later.”
6. You are shortly part of an exhibit called ‘Little Lights’ at Paul Smith which opens on the 14th of February. Can you tell me a little about your pieces in the show?
Paul Smith is someone that I have admired for a long time and have had the pleasure of spending some time with over the years. He is so enthusiastic and genuinely interested in people and all that he creates, you can’t help liking him and being energised by his joy for everything good in life. So when I was invited by Katie Heller (Art & Exhibition Manager at Paul Smith) and Nico Kos Earle (Curator & Writer) to take part in the ‘Little Lights’ group exhibition at the Paul Smith Space I jumped at the chance.
The collage pieces that I’m showing all have elements based around the theme of light. So a number of them are celestial with star references and the others have fiery elements like the sun or campfires. Two of the pieces that I’m showing have directly come about from my friendship with Ced Wells (A.J. Wells Director) and have been used for some recent publications of theirs, one for Vlaze’s ‘Fired Up’ zine (that I also was able to design) and the other ‘Set a Fire in my Heart’ for the covers of Charnwood’s 2025 Calendar and their new stove brochure. Both of these works started around the theme of fire. “Fired Up” was all built around the idea of gathering together, cooking al fresco, celebrating around a fire, eating and having fun, with an atmosphere of classic mid-century design and a nod to Slim Aarons and the Californian West Coast light. “Set a Fire in my Heart” has a narrative of walking through woods and returning to a cosy fire, with references to the Isle of Wight, water and faith. Ced was brilliant to collaborate with on these from start to finish. Their manufacturing business has fire at its core from the wood-burning stoves they make through to the beautiful vitrified surfaces fired in their huge furnaces. I love what they create and the ethos of the company as a whole, so again when I was asked to work on these I was thrilled.
In total, I have around eight pieces in the exhibition and it runs from February 14th to April 20th 2025, Paul Smith Space, 9 Albermarle Street, London, W1S 4BL.
To see more of Mark’s fantastic work visit his website here.
Jason Scarlett is a modern stove expert and woodsman exploring the real-life potential of renewables that promote our humanity and local green environment.
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1/ Jason, can you tell us how your early career, (such as your time spent working in Borneo) has inspired your commitment to the use of sustainable renewable energy sources and which of these sources has the most likely benefit to future generations?
As with most people, my understanding of renewables, efficiency and sustainability has grown throughout my lifetime during an era of great change for humanity. I was born in rural Norfolk in a house with one open fire and can remember the blackouts during the workers’ strikes in the 1970s. We had prepaid meters for electricity and had to make sure we always had a 50p piece at the ready. Moving to the urban sprawl of Southend on Sea aged 8, I can remember my first experience with a gas fire. Until the age of 15, all I had known was one appliance that heated one room in the house—then came the revelation of full central heating…and a shower!
Coming from a poorer background, efficiency and sustainability are important aspects of everyday life. My early years living in the countryside allowed me an understanding of nature that many towns folk miss out on, but my year working for the oil and gas industry in the Borneo rainforest, aged 19, was a real eye-opener to how we are destroying the planet. I saw firsthand how the extraction and processing of fossil fuels and the yearning of corporates to replace the forest with agriculture was devastating the environment and the local indigenous tribes that had lived in harmony with the forests for thousands of years. If people really understood where their fossil fuels come from and the devastation they create, then it wouldn’t be hard for them to link the current crisis to their convenient lifestyles.
Chatting to the ruling/ wealthier classes of Malaysians about deforestation, the usual answer was ‘you’ve chopped yours down, why shouldn’t we’ and that got me thinking about the countryside that I knew in the UK. Whereas my belief before going to Malaysia was that rich biodiversity was only found in rainforests like Borneo and wasn’t relevant to the UK, in fact, the comment ‘you’ve chopped yours down’ gave me the realisation that our countryside and biodiversity was just a shadow of its former self.
Returning from Malaysia, I built a fireplace and chimney business based on my unique skill set. Over the coming years, I worked on traditional fireplaces, chimneys and solid fuel heating systems which led me to researching traditional woodland management and modern renewables relative to heating our existing housing stock. The realisation that the remnants of our ancient forests once held rich biodiversity comparable to Borneo and could be replaced and enhanced through traditional native management techniques funded by my customers’ energy bills, revolutionised my ethics, working practices and the products I installed. Compared to all other renewable energy solutions, no others depend on replanting native trees and managing them like our ancestors who looked after their environment with sustainability and future generations in mind.
To leave our descendants’ native trees and environmental know-how seems to me far better than leaving them expensive upkeep costs of follies like carbon capture machines or the perpetual engine that is replacing old solar panels or turbines that are at the end of their life. Plant a tree to be coppiced and it could be there for 1000 years, lay down a solar panel and replace it in 25!
2/ The coppicing of woodlands looks to be a practice that was used globally pre industrialisation dating back to indigenous populations. Can you tell us why this practice was so important and why approximately only 14% of woodlands in Europe are now coppiced?
The management of local environments evolved in line with the advancement of human civilization and was key to our existence. There are many forms of traditional management, including coppicing, coppice with standards and pollarding, that will be relevant to the locality and what naturally grows there. Similar modern approaches such as continuous cover forestry, permaculture and agroforestry are all currently being implemented and link strongly to traditional techniques.
The use of firewood is the reason humans were able to survive in colder climates and so it was a very important commodity that happened to grow naturally. Understanding how to nurture the environment to give enough fuel and food to survive without having to roam was key for the development of early settlements. As communities grew, so did demand… nothing much has changed in that aspect, but when the only resource is from the local environment, the necessity for better efficiency, local know-how, improved agriculture and forestry techniques became ever more important. There are instances throughout human history that suggest the downfall of some civilisations was caused by their inability to balance sustainability with growth. During the Middle Ages the UK overused its resources and so developments in managing techniques during the 15th century followed by declarations from Henry VIII and writings from John Evelyn set the path for unique practices that could arguably be attributed to creating the modern world as we know it.
Then along comes the industrialisation of fossil fuels and cheap wood imports, and wood fuel from the local environment becomes worthless, even more so because of industrial farming and forestry. In a capitalist society, if something is worth keeping then it will be kept. The reason for sympathetic woodland management decline is because it can take more time, money, labour, effort and specialist local know how than modern industrialised fossil fuel extraction and forestry techniques. It also doesn’t follow with the corporate mindset and mainly promotes a local economy headed up by local specialists.
Whereas most of my knowledge about coppicing centres around Essex and the southeast, what I do understand is that some colder climates do have natural environments that have only a few species of tree that supports less biodiversity than a rich mixture of tree types. The industrialisation of forestry over the past 200 years has promoted the planting of monocultures across the globe that supports very little biodiversity. Planting one or two species solely to harvest by clear felling for a certain product using industrialised techniques has overwhelmed many green environments. We can see this practice across Europe.
Portugal planted vast amounts of eucalyptus for paper, which is not an indigenous species and is blamed for many of the forest fires they now experience. In the UK we planted many poplars for use as matches, while chestnut was used for fencing. In Scotland there is much debate about the foreign Sitka spruce and pine forest monocultures that were planted, the forestry commission has recently updated guidance for planting mixed species in the future.
In Los Angeles, there has been mass planting in urban areas of palm trees because they look nice while the surrounding forests have not been managed properly in the way that the indigenous people did for millennia. Again, this meddling in the local environment is misguided and has been a contributing factor to the recent tragic devastation.
Monoculture for the sake of a single product and big corporate profits can be seen across the world and can be blamed for the loss of many habitats. In Borneo, the virgin rainforests I worked in have now largely been replaced with oil palm. The corporate takeover of our forests removes the connection of local sustainable management practices, such as coppicing that enhances biodiversity.
3/ Would sustained local/global coppicing have helped mitigate the circumstances of climate change and find us in different circumstances today?
Climate change is just one of the problems we now face and there seem to be many reasons apart from carbon why weather patterns are changing. What seems obvious to me is how forests play their part with weather and reduce how much heat is trapped in the ground. In Borneo, I would be woken up at 5 am to a biblical downpour outside but when I left for work at 6 am, the roads and urban areas were bone dry. The rainforest, however, held on to the moisture with noticeable increases in humidity and in the forests, it was slightly cooler. I often walk through local Essex woodlands midsummer and the temperature drops considerably under the tree canopy. Removing these natural environments surely plays a big part in the formation of clouds, wind and rain.
The method of harmonious management of the environment has taken many forms that are relevant to the local climate, landscape and ecosystem. The systems each civilisation followed were carefully developed over thousands of years and were born through the necessity to survive. The added bonus of well-managed woodlands using coppice techniques is that the whole process can be carbon neutral (and possibly carbon negative). By only taking what the forests want to give in order to be healthy, ensures that the root systems, that store carbon, are not affected while promoting rigorous regrowth that in turn speeds up the carbon sequestration time of the carbon neutral cycle.
My concept is that if people survived alongside their local nature, being part of the ecosystem, then they are the best source to understand how their local environment can survive and even be enhanced alongside modern lifestyles. Turning our back on our history and ancestral wisdom is easy if it is blindly fueled by a corporate takeover that sees no easy profit in our old ways. Surely, it’s better and morally right to work with the locals to enhance their local economy that relies on the sustainable natural products around them rather than chop it all down in favour of monocultures that decimate communities and landscapes just to feed corporate greed.
4/ You place a great onus on the health benefits of switching off and staring at a fire. Is there a poignant story you might share with us, of how this has impacted a customer’s life you have worked with?
What if our fixation on TV, computers, and phones is just a modern version of fire-watching? It’s the same endorphin release, which taps into our primal love for the flicker of flames. At what point in human history did we evolve to have sufficient concentration and the ability to contemplate, recalculate our methods and use language to communicate, plotting the activities for the next day? What else other than controlling fire gave us a feeling of warmth and security while allowing a time for the community to come together in social gatherings. The day is done, daily chores completed, night falls and the only reason we didn’t go straight to sleep like other animals is because we lit a fire. What superstitions, religions and beliefs evolved from around a fire while watching the random flame picture of this magical element.
Over the past 50 years, there have been many attempts to recreate the real flame of a wood fire. Gas and electric fires with the best technology still cannot come close to the mesmerising effect of the random flame picture created from the gases released from wood.
Modern society has changed exponentially over the past few generations, some of it in a positive way, while it can be argued that family cohesion has fallen by the wayside. Modern whole house central heating methods give a luxurious touch button warmth in every corner of every room that allows children to disappear to their own seclusion, usually armed with their own screens to fulfill their desire to ‘fire watch’. In the past, when there were no distractions from the TV and only one space was heated, the whole family sat around the fire, staring into the abyss while ‘talking’ amongst themselves. Many of my customers say that when the stove is on, their children are more likely to sit with them, reestablishing traditional family cohesion.
One day last autumn was quite poignant, I was out servicing wood stoves that I had previously fitted and had two elderly customers booked in one after the other. The first lady, who lives in a standard Victorian house, was concerned about the current anti stove campaign. With tears in her eyes, she asked ‘are they going to take my fire away?’ She explained how the fire was her crutch during winter, not just for the warmth, but with her little dog laid out in front, it eased her loneliness and gave a feeling of security that is hard to explain.
The second lady lives in an affluent mansion by herself, surrounded by expensive furnishings and trinkets, she has the best of everything. Again, with tears in her eyes she said ‘this stove is my best friend, I couldn’t live without it’
One of the reasons I love my job is because of the feedback I get from customers. Even those ‘middle-class’ customers who initially turned up at my shop in their new BMW and just wanted a stove ‘because their friends got one’, come back a year later to proclaim ‘what have you done to me, that stove is the best thing I’ve ever bought, I can’t leave it alone, I even love chopping and stacking the wood!’
It makes you wonder what’s missing in the modern world, we call it all progress, but is it really?
You can check out more of Jason Scarlett’s fantastic work via his website.
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19
In my mind, thoughts of New Year are very much entangled with those of Christmas. Whether or not the birth of Jesus of Nazareth is something that we celebrate or consider, there is a shared sense that part of this tradition is about the beginning of a new and remarkable life. The message of kindness, empathy, fragility, humility and a selfless generosity of spirit that came to serve the world is sometimes lost within the intense branded lifestyle messaging of social media. Greeting 2025, we have new trends like Fridgescaping, that speak on the qualities of our exterior lives, and little of our inner ones.
Though many brands are now choosing to focus on community with values such as teamwork, honesty, and integrity the nuance of these values can sometimes be lost in a sea of advertising images that promote a picture of how life should look and not the thoughtfulness of how actually life is in its most simple and natural form. The evolutionary biologist Joseph Henrich coined the term ‘WEIRD’ (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich and Democratic) to describe our post-industrialised state in the Western World. The Industrial Revolution marked ownership of territory and also saw the beginning of a decline in the onus on community and personal relationships. The celebration of the individual has been taken to an even further level through online community channels, namely social media. There is an irony to this: both the way the tech industry has used the term ‘social’ and that Tim Berners Lee’s invention of the internet was as a shared tool, rather than one to inflate comparison.
TikTok, Instagram and the world of Meta have immeasurably changed the way we relate to the world around us. The heavy persuasive and addictive nature of socials play a strong role in pulling us out of the day to day moment. The nature of the constant, rapid information keeps us addicted. It was encouraging, whilst living within this data cycle, to see the word ‘brain rot’ as the Oxford word of the year. Defined as the supposed mental or intellectual deterioration that can result from consuming too much low-quality online content, this term perfectly captures the pervading social scroll that preoccupies the majority of both our communication and information sources. It is not, however, a new term. It was first used in 1854 in Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden. In Walden, Thoreau, gives us a guide on how to pull ourselves out of our social media addictions. The crux of the message is to remain curious, look to nature and hone a reflectiveness and the development of our own ideas, not simply absorbing those of others. The question, then, is how to start this simple, but in some ways, complex practice, especially when, unlike Thoreau we don’t all have the privilege of a two year escape to living remotely in the wilds of nature.
There is, however, the opportunity for us to discern what we consume and think about it more carefully. This can be applied to the information we listen to, the company we keep and the products we purchase. When it comes to the purchase of a product, perhaps we could ask ourselves more questions on how and where it is made, the purpose it holds in our lives and those with whom we might share. Through our design and manufacturing of Wood burning stoves at Charnwood and outdoor kitchen units at Vlaze on the Isle of Wight, we consider not only the products’ function and form, but the wider impacts on the people that work with us, the community that surrounds us and the customer whose home will gain from the warmth of shared times and memories made. There is a pleasure that we hope is shared in this journey from us to you.
Taking the time to understand these points in the journey of a product from manufacture to our homes causes us to pause and carefully curate our stance in the world. It encourages willingness to question what we are willing to accept as standard both ethically and into our lives. Within certain cultures in Asia, there is the term Animism, the idea that objects, people and animals all contain a certain energy. In many ways the internet has given us the privilege of access to an infinite and exhaustive source of knowledge, but it also gives us the chance to think about how we can reflect, think and consider where that technological path takes us.
With the festive season upon us, it’s the perfect time to embrace the warmth, comfort, and community spirit that makes Christmas so special. In a recent Good Grief vlog, Reuben, Laurence and Francis joined forces with Chef Drew to create a truly memorable Christmas dinner.
Set against the picturesque backdrop of Moor Farm, and joined by some of the team from Charnwood, A.J Wells, and Vlaze, the scene was set for a celebration that highlights the Island’s abundance of top-quality ingredients and passionate producers.
Read on for some ‘feastive’ inspiration!
A feast centred around local flavour
Drawing on wonderful produce with Isle of Wight provenance from – Briddlesford Farm, Harvey Browns, Wight Knuckle Brewery, and Wight Whisky – they curated a menu that had something for everyone.
From the show-stopping Beef Wellington to colourful seasonal vegetables and a creamy three-cheese cauliflower bake (Reuban loves cheese), this holiday feast proved that great ingredients and a dash of creativity can transform your table into something truly special.
Cooking with confidence
The Charnwood Haven, a beautiful wood-fired range cooker, provided gentle, reliable heat for preparing the co-main event. There’s something deeply satisfying about cooking with a wood-fired stove that brings a cosy glow and warmth to the kitchen – especially when it’s packed full of succulent, locally sourced meat and veg.
For those who love an extra festive flourish, a turkey cooked in a Big Green Egg on a Vlaze module added a hint of culinary theatre. With dairy delights including creamy butter, milk, and award-winning cheeses from Briddlesford Farm(the halloumi in particular is a favourite), each bite told a story of the Island’s rich farming tradition.
Raising a glass (or can) to the season
Of course, no celebration is complete without something to toast with. Wight Knuckle Brewery and Wight Whisky stepped in with their seasonal sips, offering the perfect drinks to complement hearty dishes. A splash of Wight Whisky even found its way onto the Christmas pudding – why settle for tradition when you can give it a gentle Island twist?
A beautiful table, inside and out
Presentation matters as much as flavour, and the crew made excellent use of Vlaze surfaces for prepping and serving. Vlaze’s stunning enamel finishes brought a sleek, practical edge to the cooking space, while Lottie Rose Studio’s pottery and festive tableware provided a heartfelt, handmade touch. A perfect place to gather and share stories raise glasses and tuck into some delicious festive fare.
Join in the Isle of Wight spirit
This Christmas, consider sourcing a few ingredients from your own local farms, dairies, or breweries. Experiment with different cooking methods – maybe try slow-roasting your veg or infusing your gravy with a local tipple. Dress your table with ceramics crafted by artisans in your region, or invest in a durable surface that brings both function and flair to your kitchen.
These small touches transform a meal from a simple dinner into a celebration of community and creativity. Christmas is about bringing people together, and what better way than through the flavours and stories unique to where you live?
A festive invitation
If you’re feeling inspired, tune into the Good Grief vlog (below) for more insights and good cheer. You’ll find new ideas, genuine laughter, and the proud support of local businesses. Who knows – you might just discover a new festive tradition to carry forward for years to come.
Warm wishes from all of us this Christmas. May your table be full, your home be cosy, and your festive season filled with the joy of good company and great food!
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”John 1:5
The word ‘light’ originates from the Greek word to ‘portray, show.’ As we move into December, the reality of shorter days and reduced natural light becomes more apparent. There is a reluctance to leave our homes as we are beckoned to stay indoors and shielded from the elements. As if by magic, we reach the veil of darkness with short bursts of light in between the dark mornings and early evenings. The trees, holding on to the last of their gloriously Autumnal coloured leaves, but the bareness is growing more apparent. Though it is this light that keeps us buoyant through the darker months. As we consider this darkness, it gives us the opportunity to also think about light in its many forms.
The artist Dan Flavin said that light itself was art, and as we head towards the winter, this artist’s statement resonates with me more deeply. The miracle of light becomes particularly transparent with the weather patterns during the Autumn months such as anticyclonic gloom, that creates a wrapped silence to the day covered by dull and cloudy weather. The search for intermittent light through the changing weather patterns and the joy it brings on Autumn days is treated as a wonder by us all. The light almost seems unexpected and it turns in a moment, the shadows it casts take us through the days that begin to layer with the quest for staying cosy and keeping our mood buoyant. There is a curiously magical quality to light, feeling like a message from the divine and day to day through the darkness a temperate presence against the cold.
As our thoughts begin to turn to the end of the year with winter and Christmas drawing towards us, light plays a crucial part in the season. The putting up of decorations in public spaces, the dotting of fairy lights and discussions on when to put up the Christmas tree are all centred around bringing light into our homes and shared spaces.
Though as we consider light in the literal sense of daylight, or perhaps the light of a fire that also warms our homes, there is maybe another more metaphorical form of light, which could be the one of conversation. In consideration of the role ChatGPT plays these days, it’s said that speaking with AI is immediate and responsive. However, there is a striking difference between AI conversations and in-person experience. When talking by fire or at the dining table it’s notable how these responses are slower, with a combination of conversation that’s not always marked by words.
Historically artists have conjured conversation through the cafe culture of cities. Artists have ritualistically gone to the same spot to be sometimes alone, to watch and to speak with others. Anthony Bourdain, in his travels often remarked on the importance of the spontaneity of sitting at a bar, taking in the moment and talking to a stranger. In our fast-paced, uncertain world where somehow we are pressured to broadcast every event, as some digital communication, the unmeasured time we spend simply being is not spoken of much. Though it would be hard-pressed for even the most cynical of us to dismiss the power of time spent with another, whether that person is a friend or stranger the exchange of energy and presence is a light itself. The miracle of Christmas, and the stress often associated with gift-giving and cooking, can be replaced with the thought that this all gives us a moment, regardless of our faith to be with people, to listen and to share a light we all hold with others.
Suppose we were to instead consider light, in its many forms and remove the ‘Hallmark’ pressure of what things ought to look like, and draw from within, the light that can be shared from our own soul with both friends and strangers alike. Somewhat like the spread of a lit fire, we can provide warmth by the simplest acknowledgements of each other.
Finding light, particularly with the winter drawing in, is perhaps best found through time spent together and building lifelong memories.
The unique bone-warming heat of a fire and the magical dance of flames, have brought people together and offered them comfort throughout generations. Now, as our modern lives grow busier, we are rediscovering just how beneficial the soothing ritual of lighting a fire at home really is. Recent studies and traditional wisdom suggest that fire can offer much more than just warmth by helping us to relax, unwind, and transition from the stresses of the day into a peaceful restorative night.
Fire and its calming influence
Throughout human history, fire has been central to our lives and survival. However, it’s not just the life-giving warmth we’ve depended on. Studies indicate that fire can play a calming role, showing how campfires and hearths influence relaxationand even reduce blood pressure.One study demonstrated that blood pressure dropped significantly in participants who sat by a fire with the sound of crackling wood, creating a multisensory experience of relaxation. This effect was strongest over time, suggesting that watching and listening to a fire may have genuine physiological benefits.
Colours of fire and their potential effects
The colours that dance within the flames are also a key part of a fire’s allure. While science is still exploring the psychological effects of colour, there’s a long-standing belief that specific colours have unique impacts on our moods. The warm orange and yellow tones of a fire are thought to have calming effects helping ease fears and worries. This may be why, in the low light of an evening fire, people often find it easier to let go of their daily concerns, creating a comforting environment where the mind can more deeply relax.
The hypnotic patterns of fire
When a fire burns, it often moves in a subtle, spiralling and mesmerising spiralling way. This rhythmic, almost hypnotic motion of gentle spirals and sways of a flame are inherently relaxing to watch. While more research is needed to fully understand the psychological impact, many people report that the visual flow of a fire has a meditative quality, helping to reduce stress and encourage a sense of calm.
The sounds and calming frequency of a crackling fire
Alongside the visual appeal, the sound of crackling wood is another aspect that draws people in. As mentioned before, the cracking, rhythmic sound is soothing in itself, but it may go a step further. There’s some speculation that these sounds resonate at lower frequencies, potentially in harmony with delta brainwaves, which are the frequencies our brains emit during deep sleep. While more research into this specific effect is required, the idea that the sounds of a fire might help signal relaxation to the brain aligns with why so many of us find fires deeply restful, especially before bedtime.
Lighting a stove can be a simple, rewarding ritual that separates the stresses of the day from the calm of the evening. This intentional act of creating warmth and light helps signal to our minds that it’s time to unwind. Just as our ancestors used fires to ward off the dark and create a sense of security, today, we can use modern wood burning stoves to create a comfortable space for ourselves and our loved ones.
At Charnwood, we design stoves that harness the timeless beauty and comfort of a fire while offering clean-burn technology. Our stoves provide not only an exceptionally efficient heating solution but also a beautiful centrepiece that can offer calm in a busy life. The Skye E700, for example, utilises our revolutionary I-Blu combustion intelligence, which automatically optimises the burn for both warmth and reduced emissions. With high efficiency and a crystal-clear view of the fire, it’s designed to provide all the benefits of wood burning without the drawbacks.
Why Choose Us?
Choose Charnwood for a transformative heating experience that goes beyond mere warmth. Our stoves are meticulously designed to blend cutting-edge technology with the timeless comfort of fire. Our team understand that a stove is more than an appliance—it’s a sanctuary of calm in your home. With revolutionary clean-burn technology like I-Blu combustion intelligence, we deliver exceptional efficiency while minimising environmental impact.
Our stoves, such as the Skye E700, offer a crystal-clear view of mesmerising flames, creating a therapeutic centerpiece that reduces stress and reconnects you with the primal comfort of fire. We don’t just provide heat; we craft an experience that soothes your mind, calms your spirit, and transforms your living space into a haven of relaxation and well-being.
“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot”. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2
The Danish tradition of Hygge, which dates back to 1800, embraces the ritual of going inside and being cosy. This tradition has become so entrenched in Danish culture that the Danes look forward to the winter months. Anecdotes from locals suggest that, from September, plans are underfoot to invite friends into your home to share the darker months. Over the last decade, this idea of Hygge has reached us in the UK as the nights start to draw in. As the season changes, we get to enjoy the miracle of the trees wearing coats of richly coloured leaves. The deep reds, oranges and browns complement the change to the lower softer light of Autumn, working in an almost orchestral way with the leaves falling. It’s like a walk through the woods as the leaves begin to shed. It seems like nature is having a celebration of its own like confetti being thrown on a wedding day.
The beauty of nature’s changes in the season are sometimes lost on us, as we are subsumed by fears about a dark winter. Over a coffee with a friend the other day, a waitress suggested a comforting mint hot chocolate as the day was so grey. She explained that she had only recently arrived in London from New Zealand and was nervous about the winter, as she had heard how gloomy the weather would be. We had a small chat with her and explained that maybe this fear could be dispelled by seeing it, as nature does, as a period of hibernation. Spiritual practice teaches us that Autumn is a time for introspection and reflection, an invitation to sow the seeds within us for the Spring rebirth. In Gaelic tradition, there is Samhain, a festival that marks the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter, which is marked by fire. It is a time of year for lighting fires and candles to remember those who have passed.
The quandary that the changing seasons place on our mood, in spite of these beautiful rituals, is a struggle with the early darkness, but this can perhaps be enlivened by a simple change of perspective. Wylde Market celebrates local and seasonal produce through Selon le Marché. This philosophy celebrates the season, the geography and what it produces. Autumn is, in many ways, the season in which the senses are most highly explored as we reach for cosiness. The simple way of finding this is eating or drinking to create an inner warmth. The smells from an autumn kitchen on a dark evening can provide the comfort of a huge hug, but when paired with the interior scene we set, the lighting of a fire, the burning of a candle or incense, we create a feast for our feelings and let go of the responsibility of each day.
When it comes to embracing this cosiness, some of us can be hindered from fully delving into it. We talk about our phones being a barrier to restfulness, the feeling of always being switched on, a kind of avatar feeding into the broader levels of anxiety we all feel in a world that seems ever uncertain, not least of all in its political outlook. This instability often means that we can feel a slight guilt that arises from not always being available. Some artists have taken this to the point where they have rejected the full use of mobile phones. It is rumoured that the artist Prince actively rid his life of clocks, as he saw them as a block to his creativity. The clock seems a simpler dictator than the phone, but the measure of somehow being constantly on watch makes the need to switch off paramount to our own sense of shared humanity.
In his book ‘Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools,’ Tyler Stanton argues that the clock, the light bulb and the iPhone have moved us away from living within the natural rhythms of nature, such as day and night. As we measure the efficiency of our time through the use of clocks, extend working hours by light and have the constant distraction and entertainment of the phone at our fingertips, the time that we have to get bored, and the space to have an awareness for God and a wider outlook to others is limited. The active intention of setting space and silence is what really allows us to hear.
During Covid, as the world stood still, this sense of a shared humanity became apparent through the weekly applause to the NHS, the sharing of food and looking out for our neighbours. Even birdsong seemed to hold more clarity during that time. As we move to a post-Covid world, this search for cosiness continues. Mintel research suggests this is apparent through cooking from scratch as a way of responding to the continued uncertainty. Though it seems to take a crisis for us to look further afield than our own lives, nature works defiantly towards flourishing through connection. The increased biodiversity when nature is allowed to make these connections can be seen in traditional indigenous farming methods such as agroforestry and agrofarming.
So as we embrace Autumn and the winter months ahead, we could take a literal leaf from mother nature and its interconnectivity to flora, fungi and fauna. This is particularly well captured by The Tree of Life mythology. This tree across cultures, represents the source of life and the connection of all lives. The roots of the branches symbolise interdependence in all its forms. So perhaps in those moments we can take the Tree of Life analogy and embrace the season of Autumn by not only going inwards but also looking outwards and seeing where it might also help our neighbour.
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court ruled that when Surrey County Council granted planning permission for the Horse Hill oil well they should have considered both the environmental impacts of constructing the well and the environmental impacts of using the final oil product. In effect, they said that the full climate impact should have been taken into account (1). Considering the full environmental impact makes sense for these types of decisions; however, doing so does raise deeper questions.
Take the Horse Hill oil well. Whether it’s built or not, the people of Surrey—and indeed the UK—are likely to continue using the same amount of oil products as before. The extra capacity isn’t expected to lower oil prices, so consumption will likely remain unchanged. Instead of oil coming from Surrey, it will come from somewhere else. For Surrey residents, this might seem like a win—after all, who wants an oil well in their neighbourhood? But the same people will still consume oil, just without confronting how it’s produced.Consequences that if placed in full view of those that use the end product might just have a small effect in reducing overall oil consumption.
Would seeing the consequences of our consumption make us more responsible? Does owning the impact of our choices change our behaviour?
Research from Environmental Psychologist, Professor Louis Chawla (2), suggests this may be the case. She has shown that an emotional connection seems to be very important in shaping our beliefs, values, and attitudes towards the environment. A. Kollmuss & J. Agyeman (3) define this emotional involvement as the extent to which we have an affective relationship to the natural world. The ability to have an emotional reaction when confronted with environmental degradation.
Beyond environmental degradation,we should also ask questions about employee welfare and health and safety conditions of ‘faraway’ oil production – is it up to the same standards as the UK? What about decommissioning when the time comes, will that be done in a sustainable way? Our energy choices always have consequences, and real sustainability requires examining them all.
Heating Our Homes: What Does Real Sustainability Look Like?
When considering how to heat our homes, we have to ask: What are the true climate and sustainability impacts of each method? There are a lot of questions that need to be posed and answered to grasp the whole picture.
Equipment— Where is it made? How long does it last? Can it be recycled at the end of its life?
Most homesrequirea heating source, even with proper insulation. This equipment has to be manufactured, and that process has an environmental impact. As manufacturers, this is something we at Charnwood take seriously. We are proud to be a British company committed to making products responsibly and being a good employer. We are serious about keeping each other safe and we work hard to minimise our impact on the environment.We are part of the SME Climate Hub which commits us to work towards net zero and have ISO14001 Certification. Our suppliers are mostly local, allowing us to monitor working conditions, reduce transport emissions and by employing local peoplewe’re investing in the local community.
However, sadly our standards of practice and our ethos aren’t the norm as a lot of manufacturing has now shifted abroad. If true sustainability is being sought, then the employment, health and safety and environmental standards in these non-UK manufacturing companies must at least meet the levels we expect here.
One example is solar panels, many of which come from using Uyghur forced labour (4). The reliance of China to make solar panels makes us very reliant on them when unfortunately, relations are often less than optimal. Solar panels are frequently combined with battery technology which uses metals such as cobalt, mined using child labour in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5).
True sustainability also compels us to consider what happens when a product reaches the end of its usable life. At Charnwood, we want to make good quality products which last a long time andhave the ‘right to repair’. End-of-life recycling is a crucial focus for us and influences our decisions at every level of the business. We strive to avoid contributing to landfill waste by ensuring our products can be repaired and reused. Testament to our commitment, we have been manufacturing for over 50 years, and many of our original products are still in use today.
Sadly, many heating appliances, and appliances in general do not have longevity and cannot be repaired. At a minimum, we need to ensure that they can at least be easily and effectively recycled. Currently 90% of solar panels end up in landfill despite it being possible to recycle them (6) – this is something that urgently needs to be addressed. It is the same for wind turbine blades, where many will soon come to the end of their life. It’s imperative to find ways of recycling these and hopefully this should provide a business opportunity for some.
Fuel or energy source used— How is this produced?
The fuel we use is critical to sustainability. Is it renewable? Does it harm the environment or biodiversity? And what about the human cost of production?
In the case of Horse Hill, for example, while an oil well in Surrey may not be appealing, not having it just shifts the burden elsewhere, where conditions might be worse. We’re still reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels, so we need to make responsible choices about where we source them. These sources may be in the North Sea, they may be in Surrey or they may be further afield, perhaps in Middle Eastern deserts or rainforests… Do we know the impact on human lives we are having whenwe choose to buy remotely?
Solar and wind energy
Harnessing solar and wind power makes a lot of sense, it’s a renewable fuel sourceand the technology doesn’t emit emissions in operation. However, they’re not without issues—such as inconsistent supply, issues with recycling and the impact on local landscapes.
Growing wood for fuel
Wood, on the other hand, is a renewable fuel that can offer many positive benefits. Planting and managing local forests support biodiversity and energy security. One of our dealers, Scarlett Fireplaces (below), has a brilliant wood fuel scheme calledWood Burning in the UK 2024thatencourages customers to invest in local woodland for their stoves.
In the simplest terms, almost every action we take results in emissions. Some of these have localised effects, such as smoke particles, while others, like excessive CO2 emissions, affect the global climate. It’s widely accepted that human-generated CO2 emissions are disrupting the natural carbon cycle, contributing to climate change. The severe consequences of climate change are now apparent across the world, with flooding, wildfires, and other extreme weather events making headlines regularly. Both local and global emissions matter, but arguably, it’s the global ones that have the most far-reaching and devastating impacts.
All of these factors are important, though impact with different levels of severity and we need to investigate the relative harm of each in order to discuss what true sustainability really is.
Dr Katharine Hayhoe, a leading climate scientist, writes about the comparison of deaths due to bad air quality compared to those of climate change. She states that premature deaths due to climate change are double or triple those due to bad air quality (7). However, the problem is that climate-related deaths disproportionately affect poorer countries, whereas wealthier nations like the UK experience much less of an impact.
Recently, I travelled to Burundi where in the capital Bujumbura the rise of Lake Tanganyika has been devastating – families have been flooded and many have died. Tragically, one family was even killed by a hippo who had come further inland because of the floods. The excess deaths because of climate change are apparent there for all to see and these are deaths of the young and old alike. It is also the case that poorer countries are disproportionately affected by bad air quality. Many homes across the developing world burn wood for cooking inside and suffer from high concentrations of smoke emissions.
In the UK, deaths due to climate change are very low, however, we are told that in London there are 10,000 excess deaths a year due to poor air quality, and 40,000 in total across the country. However, these figures are very misleading. In the BBC More or Less podcast Professor Anthony Frew discusses the 10,000 excess deaths in London. It is his view that even if air quality was drastically improved and the historical effects were removed, life expectancy would increase by just 20 days at the end of your life (8) – i.e 85 and 20 days vs 85 years old! Similarly, a University of Cambridge paper echoes this view, and concludes:
“There are huge uncertainties surrounding all the measures of impacts of air pollution, with inadequate knowledge replaced by substantial doses of expert judgement. These uncertainties should be better reflected in the public debates.
In addition, the situation in the UK is not what we would usually think of as a ‘crisis’. It can still be good to seek improvements in air quality, but only provided these are based on a careful analysis of the costs per life-year saved.” (9)
Despite the figures of deaths being grossly misleading, we do not seek to downplay the impact of smoke pollution on anyone caused by poor wood-burning practices. It is essential that where wood burning occurs, efficient modern appliances are properly installed and the right fuel is used. However, the potential issues arising from improper installation of wood-burning appliances are not unique to this technology; problems can occur with other heating solutions. For instance, a poorly installed heat pump in the wrong location can generate noise pollution and disturb neighbours. Whatever technology is being used it is vital to ensure that these installations are carried out correctly.
So, what does this mean for the choices we make to heat our homes? Below is a table highlighting various heating solutions detailing some of their key positives and negatives (+ / – ).
Campaigners on all sides are motivated to push their preferred solution while knocking the rest. As a manufacturer of wood-burning stoves, we have been on the receiving end of those who don’t like the emissions of wood burning. However, these campaigners often stray into the realm of extremism by refusing to acknowledge the bigger picture. Although usually well-meaning, they can become unwitting apologists of the fossil fuel industries, or less politely,serve as their ‘useful idiots.’
Most of us by now are wise to the issues of burning fossil fuels. However, issues with other greener technologies are less commonly understood. As pointed out by environmentalist Max Wilbert in the Earth Island Journal:
“Behind each piece of green technology is extraction. A recent International Energy Agency report estimates that reaching “net zero” by 2050 would require six times the amount of minerals used today. Another research paper says this would mean mining as much metal over the next 15 years as was extracted between the dawn of humanity and 2013.
‘Mining is unavoidably destructive to the environment and human rights,’ says Jamie Kneen, co-founder of Mining Watch Canada and one of the world’s leading watchdogs of the industry.” (10)
Solar panels on our factory roofs on the Isle of Wight
We’re not saying these technologies are inherently bad. In fact, we’ve made a significant investment in solar panels on our factory roofs, generating well over 1GW of energy to date. However, the uncomfortable truth is that all of our actions have environmental consequences, with our choices being limited to affecting the size of this impact. There is no perfect heating solution.
“Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem, which it was intended to solve.” Karl R. Popper (1972)
Despite the downsides of each heating solution, there are also, undoubtedly, many benefits. As stakeholders in our heating and energy security,we all have our part to play. For those in solar panel distribution, we need to find and create new manufacturing routes less reliant on China and forced labour as well as better recycling methods for solar panels. For us in the wood-burning stove market, we need to keep improving to reduce emissions even further. At Charnwood we are doing this by developing new automatic ways of controlling stoves – with the Skye E700 leading the way.
The Charnwood Skye E700 is an intelligent ultra-efficient stove which you can monitor and adjust from your phone
Working in conjunction with our environment surely is — exporting our rubbish to other parts of the world is not.
Burning wood, when using responsibly made appliances and using locally managed woodlandas fuel, can be sustainable. By being responsible for our local emissions and ‘owning’ our own waste and pollution it motivates us to do something about it and minimise it — like what we are doing at Charnwood most recently with the E700. It is also good for local circular economies by providing employment for those that grow, manage, harvest & deliver wood. However, this does not mean burning wood is always positive and importing pellets from North America to feed the Drax powerplant most certainly is not sustainable.
Solar panels can be sustainable, but we must ensure that we source these panels from responsible factories. Using panels that are made with forced labour is not sustainable and is frankly morally wrong.
It is difficult to ever class burning oil or gas as sustainable, however, we perhaps get closest if we use these fossil fuels from local oil or gas wells – that way we at least ‘own’ our mess and are more likely to alter our behaviours.
So, let’s take responsibility and try to look at the whole picture, factoring in the total impact of each technology.Let’s not oversimplify these arguments to the point we become extreme and refuse to contemplate and engage with other viewpoints. If we want to see genuine progress toward real sustainability, we must come together and collaborate in positive dialogue.
A full assessment of climate and sustainability impacts must be factored into the choices we make when heating our homes. The more visual the downsides, the more we will hopefully modify our behaviours, and where we can’t see the downsides of the choices we are making, we need to be proactive and choose to make ourselves aware.
A heat pump with solar panels and battery storage may seem like a good idea and it well may be!However, the sustainability equation must also account for factors such as the environmental impact of manufacturing the panels and extracting the metals for the battery, the recyclability of the equipment, the noise produced by the heat pump, and the reliance on fossil fuels when the sun isn’t shining.
Similarly, the sustainability impact of wood heating with a stove must also be carefully considered. Is it manufactured responsibly and under good working conditions? At Charnwood, we proudly say yes. Is the wood sourced sustainably? If you’re using a system like the one run by Scarlett Fireplaces, then it’s a resounding yes, as planting and harvesting local wood can greatly benefit biodiversity. And what about emissions? At Charnwood, we offer some of the cleanest burning stoves available, and our team is continually pushing forward with new technological developments to enhance efficiency and reduce emissions even further.
It’s by analysing the various impacts, strengths and weaknesses of each technology, we believe one of the best paths forward is a co-energy solution, combining renewable technologies with modern, efficient wood-burning. When solar panels and turbines aren’t generating power due to a lack of sun or wind, an ultra-efficient wood-burning stove can step in as a dependable heat source. This approach allows people to confidently embrace renewables, knowing they have a reliable backup with wood-burning.
Why Choose Us?
Choose Charnwood for a truly sustainable approach to home heating. Our team go beyond surface-level solutions, considering the full environmental impact of our products. As a British company committed to responsible manufacturing, we prioritise local suppliers, minimise transport emissions, and invest in our community. Our ISO14001 certification and SME Climate Hub membership demonstrate our dedication to reducing our carbon footprint. We design our stoves for longevity and repairability, ensuring they last for decades and can be easily recycled.
Our innovative technologies, like the Skye E700, offer ultra-efficient heating with minimal emissions. We’re not just selling stoves; we’re promoting a holistic view of sustainability that considers manufacturing practices, fuel sources, and long-term environmental impact. By choosing Charnwood, you’re supporting a company that’s actively working towards real sustainability in home heating.
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To conclude, of course, we are all more sensitive to what we can see in front of us, but it’s crucial to recognise our broader responsibility to the environment and communities beyond our immediate view. By embracing a more comprehensive understanding of sustainability, we can make better-informed decisions with widespread benefits.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-30)
As a child of immigrants, I was raised with the mantra of hard work, the significance of which was drilled in like instructions from your dentist to floss. You may roll your eyes, but the nagging guilt of that instruction stays with you. This mantra was a way of keeping the bar high and navigating the uncertainty that life presents, especially within the context of being foreigners in an unknown land. Being brought up within this philosophy brings both said and unsaid pressures that have somehow been embedded into my subconscious for which, in many ways, I am grateful. It has certainly resulted in a tenacity to keep going when others might give up. However, it has often been observed by friends, and as I grow older, by myself, that I sometimes do not know when to relax and take a self-care day. In those moments when I fall sick, and it becomes hard work to go further than my front door, the imposed need to rest makes me consider this idea more seriously.
Maybe the benefits of rest could be usefully written into government legislation, but perhaps making something like rest compulsory is a bit counterintuitive, and even a little Orwellian? French culture traditionally holds August as the month of rest, an unofficial cultural guidance that began with the universal closure of factories. There is something not only charming but infinitely practical to this ritual, which seems synchronistic to the psychologist’s definition of rest, which includes giving consideration to physical, mental, sensory, creative, emotional, social and spiritual needs. These categories give us a benchmark to examine our needs, away from tearing through each day with the pressure for results. In a recent study of hospice patients, some of the key findings were, “I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me;” “I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings” and “I wish that I had let myself be happier.”
It was only as recently as 1994 that Sunday trading was legalised, so the official day of rest and by default the observance of the tradition of Sunday Sabbath was overturned. As we regard with disappointment in many parts of the country the social loss of community, reflected in declining attendance to church which was once a common place for us to meet and reflect on the week. Where people from all backgrounds and walks of life shared not only their faith but time with the wider church family, forging relationships over the passing of time and giving people the rest from the preoccupations of the week. The loss for many of this ‘home’ has led to a pandemic of isolation and loneliness, which we can see in studies of the increasing levels of anxiety across different age groups. In the book The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, author John Mark Comer says “Ultimately, nothing in this life, apart from God, can satisfy our desires. Tragically, we continue to chase after our desires ad infinitum. The result? A chronic state of restlessness or, worse, angst, anger, anxiety, disillusionment, depression—all of which lead to a life of hurry, a life of busyness, overload, shopping, materialism, careerism, a life of more…which in turn makes us even more restless. And the cycle spirals out of control.”
It seems that this materialistic demand to be productive is so ingrained in our culture, the quest for perfection in both our working and personal lives seems so relentless that we suffer from a need to ‘do’. A recent anecdote from a psychologist who had suggested his patient, a GP, needed to take a rest from work, scheduled an intense itinerary of art galleries and a busy social diary in place of work. This was not the rest that had been suggested, but this GP is not alone. Though we are now, more than ever, aware of the many practices that we can undertake in order to relax, from practising mindfulness to yoga and other such rituals that keep us focused in the present moment, it can be that the idea of actively telling yourself to be more zen can feel like pressure for another task to check on a list.
Certainly, the ability to relax and detach is a process that can ultimately lead to greater productivity, particularly when faced with the brick wall of over-exhaustion. In times of total tiredness, the notable moments can be found in the wonder of small everyday moments. The philosophy of Lao Tzu, and specifically the ‘art of not trying’ or ‘Wu-Wei,’ examines effortless action. This is best captured by trying to visualise each moment as an uncarved block, so giving your attention to treating each moment without judgment, free from the mental landscape of our mind. It almost advises one to be more childlike in the wonderment that comes with things anew. The belief that with the approach of being, as the Daoists say, in a state of flow where spontaneity isn’t stopped by the conscious mind and more is achieved by this nonconscious dominated way of thinking. The beauty in Wu Wei is a consideration for being part of a whole landscape. This state of flow is found through time spent walking in nature, staring out at the ocean or contemplating a fire rather than activities that involve more intensely obvious achievable, say, like climbing a mountain.
With this in mind, taking a walk through the summer heat I noticed a butterfly in camouflage. In sensitivity to its surroundings, it was hiding its beautiful wings and then reopened them when it felt the environment was safe enough to do so. Taking the time to observe nature in these fleeting moments, although I have seen countless butterflies, does in fact create a restful joy. The all-encompassing delicate butterfly, when taking the time to fully observe, quietened my mind from thinking about how to relax to just feeling it. This patient observation suggested to me that just going slower has such an important place in well-being. Perhaps without applying the classic New Year’s Resolutions to our lives, it’s just about looking. Nature is infinite in its opportunity for observation, from the discovery of tree names, new plants, watching birds chit chat in the park, there is a flow to nature that we are part of but so often we feel so separate from. These small simple moments, bring me to think about lighting a fire and the ability to rest and reset. The very process of lighting a stove, the drawing of the kindling and wood together before the fire is even lit, brings with it a feeling of just being in the moment, as using our hands and moving our body is very much part of the interaction needed to create that glowing fire. At Charnwood, we think about the building of stoves with these moments in mind and with an integral thought to the holistic picture of the environment and creating rest within a ‘hurried world’. We are given permission each time with a fire to rest and gaze, so it seems that the simple answer to rest is really to spend time truly looking.
Why Choose Charnwood?
For over 50 years, Charnwood has been a leader in crafting high-quality wood-burning stoves. Our commitment to innovation, sustainability, and customer satisfaction ensures that we offer products that not only meet but exceed expectations. Whether you’re looking for a traditional stove or the advanced Skye E700, Charnwood has the perfect solution to keep your home warm and truly restful.
For more information or to explore our range of stoves, visit our website or speak to an official Charnwood dealer for guidance on what will best suit your space and other requirements.
