Last nights BBC Tonight report on the Great Freeze of 1963

[Max Demian]

As an alternative you could drain the radiator and fill with hot water.

[Max Demian]

ISTR there was a tube filled with asbestos (or something) between the meths dish and the top burners to light them. Otherwise I suppose you could light them with a spill.

[Bob Eager]

Indeed. I had a small one for hiking, but they all worked the same, with differences in detail. The only problem I ever had was that something (my sewing kit possibly) put a small hole in the side of my paraffin bottle while going up Snowdon. It was in an outside pocket, and it took me a while to notoce my soaked anorak sleeve. Had a bit of paraffin rash.

You filled the flat bottom tank with paraffin, and screwed the burner (vaguely phallic in shape) into the middle. That had a single jet, which needed cleaning occadionally with a fine needle called a 'pricker' (ooh, Matron). Three legs into sockets on the edge of the tank. And a ring that made a little trough that fitted over the burner and slid down to the bottom. Lastly, a flame spreader assembly over the top of the burner.

You then filled the little trough with meths and lit it. Then close a small valve on the tank (usually in the filler cap). Then you waited for the meths to burn away, and hopefully the burner would be hot enough.

At that point you operated a little pump to pressurise the tank, and if the burner was hot enough, the paraffin would vapourise as it came through, and you got a nice, hot, pretty clean flame.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Mm. I remember the smell of it - had a field behind our suburban Surrey house where they grew and harvested wheat.

Diesel is close, but no cigar.

weren't those paraffin tractors spark ignition?

As I remember it yes,

[JNugent]

I grew up hearing about the one in the late 1940s, and I'm sure there hasn't been a worse winter than 1962/63 since then.

[JNugent]

Only portable heaters and storm lamps as far as I recall. Storm lamps were invaluable in outside toilets, as much to prevent cisterns from freezing as to provide light.

Some people used to tie oil lamps to the bumpers of their cars rather than leave the sidelights on all night. The lenses were tinted red on one side.

[JNugent]

In Liverpool, it tended to be chandlers' stores which sold paraffin. There was sufficient custom for their goods for there to be one in most radial local shopping areas.

[JNugent]

Remember Flatley driers?

Essentially a washing-machine-sized metal box with rails at the top from which damp clothing could be suspended, with several electric-fire bars at the bottom, separated from the clothing area by a grille.

A death trap, I always thought.

[Andy Burns]

Yes.

Ours never managed to kill us, eventually it got turned into an incinerator for the garden.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yes, 1947 and 1963 were the two worst post WWII..

Although 1982/83 was supposed to be worse, but I was abroad for that one.

2009/10 was bad, as was 2010/2011.

[Tim Lamb]

Yes. Much time spent cleaning carbon off spark plugs:-( I once fitted a set of rings to a TE20 Ferguson. The engine was Standard Vanguard.

[NY]

I remember the fire-safety demonstrations in a field outside the building where I worked.

Two flat metal trays, about 4 feet square and 1" deep. One filled with petrol, the other with diesel. It was a warm day so the petrol was vaporising nicely. Approach the petrol carrying a long metal pole that had an Oily Rag (TM) wrapped round it which had been lit.

The petrol ignited when the flame was a couple of feet away and went up with a photogenic orange flame and a loud "whumph". The petrol was soon burned away.

Repeat with the diesel. Nothing. Touch the flame to the surface of the liquid. A bit of half-hearted smoking, but no flame. Fire a bit of compressed air from an "air duster" used for cleaning PCs, to blow off a few droplets. That's more like it: a few brief tongues of flame, but the bulk of the fuel did not catch fire. Stick a bit of oily rag in the diesel, as a wick. That lit well and continued to burn nicely: the coolness of the liquid fuel prevented the cotton rag burning away, and kept feeding fuel to the flame. But eventually the rag did burn away, and the flame went out.

As a final "deeMONsterAtion" (using the authentic Fred Dibnah pronunciation!) the safety guy got a bit of magnesium ribbon and lit that - on the end of the pole. When he dropped that into the tray of diesel, the whole lot went up and burned with a dull orange flame and a *lot* of sooty smoke.

[Andrew]

In the 1911 census, most of my relatives in Somerset were either blacksmiths, carpenters or 'sellers of lamp oil'

[Andrew]

While travelling through South America 30 years ago, I came across a Canadian couple who had a camping stove that ran on almost anything including, from what I recollect, petrol.

In fact, didn't the VW 412 fastback and combi cars in the 1970's have petrol-powered auxiliary heaters ?.

[Andrew]

The people who were a dab hand at making a sweated soldered joint to an incoming water main were pretty good at that though.

[Bob Eager]

My mother would threaten us with blows from the flat wooden rods (she called them 'airing sticks'). She rarely put that into practice.

[R Souls]

I bought an iron at an antiques auction made by Tilley that works exactly on that priinciple. I used it a couple of times and it worked a treat. You had to be careful with it though. If you opened the paraffin tap too soon you got lots of scary flames from it.

I might dig it out again to see if it still works.

[R Souls]

I wonder how long it will be before Doomy or Turnip claims left wing bias.

[newshound]

Pretty sure my father's mate's Armstrong Siddely Saphire had one!

Me too

[Andy Burns]

I've got a Tilley lamp, the little brass torch that you clip around the tube to pre-heat it with meths rotted away, so that would make it pretty difficult to light now I think, still have a few spare mantles for it.

There's a "brown overalls" ironmongers not too far from here that stocks bits, quite likely it'd want some seals replacing by now