The Foundation
Kindling
Dry split hardwood, small enough to catch fast. You need this whatever you light it with – a firelighter alone won't take a log.
£8 a net bag
Chemical free and odourless
Lit first time, every time
Dry split hardwood kindling and natural firelighters. No paraffin, no smell, nothing that taints the room.
From£6firelighters · kindling £8 a net bag
The Method
Build It Upside Down
Most people were taught to put paper at the bottom and pile wood on top. It works, badly. Build it the other way up and it lights first time, smokes less and burns far cleaner.
Why upside down? Lighting from the top means the smoke and gases rise through flame rather than around it, so they burn instead of coating your flue. You get more heat from the same wood, cleaner glass and far less smoke out of the chimney.
Build Your Bundle
Tick What You Need
Everything here rides along on the same delivery as your firewood. Tick what you want and see the total.
1Kindling and firelighters
Your bundle
Nothing picked yet. Kindling is £8 a net bag, eco kindling £7, wood wool firelighters £6 for 15, £15 for 50 or £20 for 100, King Alfred’s Cakes £8, pine cones £20 a net bag, and the BBQ and bonfire starter sets £20 each.
Extras are added at the second step of the order form, once you have chosen your firewood. Ordering kindling on its own? Ring 01202 022560.
Which One
Four Ways To Get Going
They all work. They are just good at different things.
The Everyday One
Wood Wool
Waxed wood shavings. Lights instantly from a match, burns hot for several minutes, no chemical smell at all. The one to buy if you buy one.
£6 to £20 · packs of 15 to 100
The Purist’s Choice
King Alfred’s Cakes
A wild tinder fungus that takes a spark and smoulders. Nothing added, nothing processed – and a decent talking point when guests ask.
£8 · 5g bag
Outdoors & Bonfires
Pine Cones
Resinous and quick to catch, but they spit. Brilliant on a fire pit or bonfire, less ideal in an open fireplace in the sitting room.
£20 a net bag
See why dry matters
Light it yourself
Same stove, same kindling, same match. Pick a basket of logs, lay the fire and see what the moisture in the wood does to it.
Heat into the room
Smoke up the chimney
- Stove glass
- Clean
- Heat in every kilo
- 4.8 kWh
Keep reading
More that helps
TroubleshootingWhy will my fire not burn?Black glass, smoke or a fire that goes out: the usual causes, in order, and the fixes.ComparisonSoftwood or hardwood?How they differ, and why softwood makes the best kindling.StovesLogs for a wood burnerSize a whole winter and check our logs fit your firebox.OutdoorsFire pit logsHardwood that does not spit, and how much an evening takes.How toStoring it so it stays dryOff the ground, covered on top, open at the sides. Where to put it and what to avoid.PricesEvery price on one pageFive firewoods in five sizes, with the price per cubic metre.
How much kindling will I actually get through?
A net bag lights roughly fifteen to twenty fires if you're not heavy-handed with it. Someone lighting most evenings through a winter will want a bag every few weeks; a weekend burner will get most of a season out of one or two.
Do I really need firelighters as well as kindling?
Not strictly – dry kindling will take from paper. But paper burns to ash in seconds and leaves a mess in the firebox, whereas one wood wool firelighter burns hot for several minutes and gets the kindling properly going. It's the difference between lighting a fire once and lighting it three times.
Why is your kindling not in a plastic wrap?
Net bags let it keep breathing. Shrink-wrapped kindling sat in a warehouse can pick up moisture with nowhere for it to go – and damp kindling defeats the entire point. It also means less plastic, which we'd rather.
What are King Alfred's Cakes?
A wild fungus (Daldinia concentrica) that grows on dead ash, which we have rather a lot of round here. Dried out it takes a spark and smoulders steadily, so it's been used as tinder for centuries. Entirely natural, nothing added.
Can I order kindling on its own?
Yes, though it's easiest as an add-on to a firewood order – the online form adds extras at the second step. For kindling on its own give us a ring on 01202 022560 and we'll fit it onto a run going your way.
Is the top-down method really better?
For a closed stove, genuinely yes. Lighting from the top means the smoke rises through the flame and burns rather than condensing in your flue as tar. You get more heat from the same wood, cleaner glass and much less smoke from the chimney. On an open fire it matters less, but it still works.
Firewood And Kindling, One Delivery.
Pick your logs, add your kindling and firelighters at step two, then choose a slot. Pay the driver when it lands.
Order firewood and kindling
Delivery slots up to a month ahead.
Pay the driver on delivery. No deposit. 01202 022560