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toscas_kissIt is illegal to have a smoking domestic fire in London (that is, a lit fire in a fireplace that emits smoke).
This is why London no longer gets the dense 'pea soup' smogs (which I think are mentioned a couple of times in the original Sherlock Holmes stories). They were caused by the smoke from wood and coal fires, and the pollution led to so many deaths that in the late 50s that type of domestic heating was outlawed. I remember my father saying he got lost in a peasouper when he first arrived in London in the very early 60s, but by the mid-60s they were no longer happening.
When you rent a flat, old chimneys are blocked up and often the fireplace is plastered over, and new housing is built without fireplaces. Heaters or liquid-filled radiators (or in some lucky cases like mine, underfloor heating) which are run by gas or electric is used instead. You can burn other non-smoking fuels such as coke or oil, but they tend to be expensive both fuel and appliance-wise, so aren't common.
So I am afraid that having a lit (smoke-emitting) fire in the flat at Baker Street might sound homey or romantic, but would be glaringly incorrect.
This is why London no longer gets the dense 'pea soup' smogs (which I think are mentioned a couple of times in the original Sherlock Holmes stories). They were caused by the smoke from wood and coal fires, and the pollution led to so many deaths that in the late 50s that type of domestic heating was outlawed. I remember my father saying he got lost in a peasouper when he first arrived in London in the very early 60s, but by the mid-60s they were no longer happening.
When you rent a flat, old chimneys are blocked up and often the fireplace is plastered over, and new housing is built without fireplaces. Heaters or liquid-filled radiators (or in some lucky cases like mine, underfloor heating) which are run by gas or electric is used instead. You can burn other non-smoking fuels such as coke or oil, but they tend to be expensive both fuel and appliance-wise, so aren't common.
So I am afraid that having a lit (smoke-emitting) fire in the flat at Baker Street might sound homey or romantic, but would be glaringly incorrect.