A QUESTION for you: what is the connection between "Bonanza", the hit cowboy series of the 1960s, and your old coal fire at home? For the answer, read on…

What brought this subject to mind was the failure of our boiler on one of the coldest days of this winter's freezing spell.

Bereft of central heating, we resorted to our electric fire which normally fulfils a decorative function. Briar, our dog, trotted forlornly over to the fireside and spread herself in front of the limited heat. This scene instantly took me back to my childhood living rooms.

Most of our houses were essentially Arctic wastelands in winter, except for the semi-circle in front of the (usually) coal fire.

There was a strict pecking order for pride of place. The cat was usually first on the scene. Directly behind the cat would be the dog.

Behind these would be the clothes horse with the washing or, alternatively, the bed linen "being aired" (my Nanna Whiteland insisted that all bed linen should be aired for at least three days before it went on the bed).

Finally, grouped around the fire like a squad of crack fielders at a Test match, would be our family, dimly aware that somewhere behind the washing, the dog and the cat was a source of heat.

The fireplace was a place of great activity, with its gleaming companion set comprising poker, dustpan and brush (often slightly singed). There would also be a coal scuttle and possibly a toasting fork. One of the fireside rituals at Nanna Whiteland's was toasting bread. Grandad was always delegated this task because, as a retired railwayman, fire held no fears for him. He had asbestos hands from years of working on steam locomotives.

He would sit, with the toasting fork getting ever-hotter in his hand, whilst lesser mortals (like me) would shriek with pain at the heat and drop fork and bread into the fire.

There's something about toast made on an open fire that is infinitely better than a toaster or grill, likewise pikelets (as we called them, or crumpets).

So, where does the reference to "Bonanza" come in? If you remember the opening credits, these used to show a map of Nevada and "The Ponderosa" being devoured by a flame that would start at the centre. Igniting a coal fire at home could lead to something similar.

The process would start with a few sticks wrapped in paper or, if funds ran to it, a commercial firelighter (a cardboard tube full of wood shavings coated in some flammable substance). Setting light to these was usually quite easy but the whole process could fall apart if, like me, you were over-enthusiastic and buried the flames in half a ton of slack and coal dust.

All might not be lost if you could "draw the fire" by blocking off the fireplace and causing air to rush through the grate and up chimney.

The blocking mechanism of choice was a sheet from a broadsheet paper.

I quite enjoyed this job, watching the paper being partially sucked into the hearth and seeing the flames begin to work their way up through the dust and slack. However, if I lost concentration (usually because I was reading the paper that I was using) I might miss the telltale charring in the middle of the sheet and would suddenly find myself clutching the headlines as the rest of the paper vanished in flames.

Perhaps this was where the expression "a headline grabbing moment" came from? No? Oh well, please yourselves!

You can find more from Philip at www.philwhite land.co.uk

Send us your memories of childhood, details above.