Here’s a really nice little range that came in for restoration a short while ago. It is “The Improved Cam” a model manufactured at the Caledonian Stove and Iron works and here it is nearing completion and preparing to be shipped back to its owner next week.
Category: Victorian Cooking Ranges
Information and restoration about Victorian ‘Closed’ type cooking ranges.
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“The Improved Cam”
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Does your grate look like this?!
I’ve got a new batch of cast iron grates coming into stock soon. These will fit all Belle Portable cooking ranges as well as many early Guidwife ranges as well as many others. Dimensions will be posted in the ‘Shop’ section in the coming weeks. These grates are a quaility article cast in the Uk completely unlike the poor quality Chinese cast iron available from many outlets. These grates will offer years of trouble free service.
Fire stones also available for all ranges upon request. -
Fire up the range
The recent drop in the weather has had me firing up the range some days. Never a chore mind!
Mine is a Guidwife range cast by the Caledonian Stove and Iron works of Bonnybridge. It has a period glazed door over the firebox that must have been made by the maintenance man at the hotel from which it came.
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We’ve had another busy week with 1 Georgian register grate, 1 Belle Portable, 1 Cottage range and 16 forged shutter closers being completed ready for delivery today.
The grate and range are being supplied with a pair of matching bespoke Bath stone surrounds and they’ll look great in their new home!
The Belle Portable has been fully insulated internally to make it’s installation into a Ploughman’s living wagon that much safer.
The shutter closers work on the principle of snail cam, or more accurately a scroll cam. The scroll catches onto a pintle driven into the window frame and as it is turned draws the shutter tighter in.
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Belle portable range in parts
I just dismantled another Belle portable range ready for restoration and thought some people may be interested to see its various parts. This photo shows everthying minus the oven, trays, oven runners, a couple of hotplates and the hotplate tool. Now to remember how it all goes back together again…
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“Bungalow Belle” Portable range nearly back together
It’s all been very busy here recently and it has taken me this long to get the “Bungalow Belle” blasted, repaired and reassembled. Here is a photo of how it stands at the moment less its vitreous enamel finish. The iron under the enamel was like brand new, having not seen the light of day for nearly a century and it came up really nicely as you can see!
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Guidwife portable range
I recently picked up this nice little Guidwife portable range. Guidwife was manufactured at the Caledonia Stove and Iron works of Bonnybridge Scotland that were affiliated with the mighty Smith and Wellstood Ltd and their Columbian foundry of the same location. Of the Guidwife range there were 144 different types with various combinations of ovens, fires, shams and boilers.
This Guidwife is in excellent condition (despite how it appears in the photo) and will be on my to do list in the next month or so. It was found in the staff kitchen of a large Victorian hotel in Oxofrd.
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Norlond Belle at home
Here is the Norlond Belle portable range in its new home in Wales. Thanks to the new owners for sending me the picture!
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On board the Mayflower
On board the Mayflower
Last weekend we found a few spare hours and got down to Bristol harbour. The familiar smell of coal was in the air and we found the Mayflower moored up and under steam. She’s the oldest steam tug in the world and was built in 1861 and saved from from the scrappy in the late 70’s by a 20 year old lad!
If it had been left to British Waterways she would have been melted down for bean cans years ago.
Trips are £5 per person and she is crewed by volunteers from the ‘M-Shed’. It’s well worth the money and the crew are knowledgable and keen to talk. Check the ‘M-Shed’ website to see when Mayflower is next running.
Inside there is a lovely little range from the ‘Colombian’ works of Smith and Wellstood of Bonnybridge, Scotland.
