The Thatch Advice Centre website is regularly updated throughout the year with additions to existing information, new articles, pages and galleries etc. Here is a summary from the last 6 months:-
Blake Cottage – Proud to promote the efforts being made to preserve Blake Cottage in Felpham, Sussex
Tom Allan’s recently published book On the Roof, A Thatcher’s Journey and where you can buy it.
Many Thanks from 2024 Your thanks and appreciation for the help, advice and assistance we have given, throughout the year.
Rebuild Costs With great input from our Specialist Insurance Associates. Please read and be informed on this important issue.
A Gorgeous Gallery of Ridges on Thatch picture competition entries so far (and a few of ours too!)
Thatch Insurance Article on Roof Condition with great contributions from our Insurance Associates. Helping explain why this topic is relevant. Watch our website/social media for more insurance related information in the next few months…
We updated our 7 Signs of Pests in Thatched Roofs article with more useful pictures and information.
RSPB Tay Reedbeds With great help from RSPB in Scotland our article about the balance being created in managing the beds for wildlife and to produce Thatching Reed. Great supporting pictures on this exciting development.
Thatching Straw Issues 2025 Our extensive, inclusive article on all the thatching straw issues and their connections, including mentions of initiatives already taken in order to attempt to improve things.
Smith Heritage Surveyors RICS Chartered and specialising in heritage buildings across South of England and Wales. We are sure their services will be very useful.
Park Insurance. Offering tailored insurance solutions for thatched properties, we are pleased they have joined our specialist insurers on our Thatch Directory.
Sunrise Chimney Sweeps Ltd Covering Hampshire area, they are experienced and offer sweeping, CCTV inspection, Bird nest removal etc.
Tayreed – RSPB Producing Water Reed for thatching.
HPC Insurance Brokers Ltd continuing to offer their excellent service to our Thatch Community.
Paul Clemons The Cotswold Thatcher Busy but staying with us
NFU Mutual Salisbury and Wareham Offering their specialist insurance to thatch property owners.
Our articles are mostly timeless and relevant. This information is therefore well worth sharing on our social media Flashback Fridays. Not everyone read the articles the first time around.
Here are our latest sharings:-
Clean Air Strategy, Woodburners and Thatch
Maram Grass Thatching with some beautiful photography from @Jmacletchiephotography
Helpful Points on Thatching Quotations For both homeowners and thatchers.
Producing Straw for Thatching – A Farmers View. With thatching straw shortages being highlighted recently, this is a useful insight. More farmers growing more thatching straw is on the agenda for continued maintenance of our thatched properties.
Solid Fuel Appliances in Thatched Properties – Preparation and Operation.
Essential and important information from our Associate Quantum Chimney Services.
Here is a selection of some of the topics we have covered on our myriad social media posts. (Facebook, Instagram and X). The only posts we have not mentioned below are our important Test it Tuesday posts, and Thatch of the Month.
Monday Not Milling! A farmer has a few tonnes of Ancient grain milling wheat (an old long stemmed variety) Einkorn if anyone is interested in seed for thatching straw? Email us your contact details and we can put you in touch.
Shared interesting post on a stone / thatched stable Clogham, Mount Talbot 1960.
Wonderful Wednesday. For those who missed our Newsletter the wooden thatching ladder has found a new home with The Crosskeys Inn in Northern Ireland. Pleased to have contributed to this happy ending.
Trohanny cottage video, promoting their plight of thatched roof owners in the Republic of Ireland.
Friday Finial Fun. Thanks to Kirk and Kim for this super shot of a naughty dog!
We are pleased to still be receiving great finials to our gallery. Keep emailing in your pictures and you will be credited too!
Monday Motivation Our next Picture Competition is “Ridges on Thatch”Email us your favourite pictures and let’s get ready to showcase the variety and skills involved…
Monday Motivation. Following our recent reminder about the Clean Air policy, don’t forget the importance of sweeping working chimneys to thatch fire safety.
Find a chimney sweep on our Thatch Directory
Wednesday Work in Progress. Another great picture of Thatch in Progress, with thanks to J Gambier for this entry. More great images on our gallery.
Wednesday Wonder When? Did you check your chimney
- Integrity, bricks, pointing and any liner
- Pot
- Capping
This looks good with its bird guard and lovely ridge!
Monday Moment. Sad to see this lovely conical thatched roof cottage is now 40ft from a sheer drop following a large rockfall in Devon. The row of thatched cottages behind are also in danger.
Wednesday Woes – No improvement on Irish insurance situation. Interesting interview on Newstalk, Moncrieff on 23rd September 2024 on this topic.
Well done Butser Ancient Farm
We shared their build information on their Neolithic roundhouse.We will Remember Them
Monday Majority – Many of our enquiries have been on insurance related issues recently. Please contact our specialist Thatch Directory Insurance Associates, if you are looking for help.
Wednesday Windows – Looking over a wavy hedge at some different looking windows on this thatched cottage. What do you think? (Keep your thatch window pictures coming via email!)
Working together is our motto. We have shared Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service’s fire safety posts regularly, where they promote our Fire Safety Information. Please understand and reduce the fire risks and read our Fire Safety Leaflet – on our website to download and share 
Fascinating Friday. An article on Danish Eelgrass thatching.
So interesting and let’s hope this thatching skill is preserved and not lost.
Monday Mention. Its National Tree Week. Trees overhanging your thatch can affect it. Keep an eye on them and deal with if necessary.
A good Test it Tuesday post to share from our friends Solid Fuel Association regarding where a carbon monoxide alarm should be located. Their contact details are listed if you need help.Wednesday Wonder if any friends and associates can help? We have been approached by a researcher interested in “historic vernacular construction techniques” in rural Britain, e.g. huts built from peat sods in Norfolk. Anyone with info or skills please contact us (email) and we will put you in touch.
Winter Wishes – We shared the Scottish Crannog Centre’s event post.
Monday More entries received for our Ridges on Thatch Picture Competition. Thanks to T Phillips for this great ridge.
Wonderful Wednesday. Applications open for Historic Structures Fund (HSF) 2025 and Historic Thatch Buildings Grant 2025. A bit of good news about a grant to help thatched property owners in Ireland.
Monday Motivation – A free on-line talk on restoring 18th century thatched cob houses. Interesting one from our Associates P. Easton, Western Design Architects.
Pixie, Bonnie and Poppy are ready! Here’s the picture of Poppy, the other two had similar outfits!
Wishing all our Friends, Associates, followers and everyone else, a Very Merry Christmas! Thanks to K Beverley for her picture. We did 12 days of Christmas for you all to enjoy.
Wednesday Wondering…. What caused this? We Know…… do you?
Thatch Thursday with some good news. The Thatched Quaker Meeting house in Cornwall recently added to the At Risk Register has secured a £35K repair grant from the National Churches Trust.
Steven King – The National Thatching Straw Growers Association shared the Albion 5A land driven binder for sale.
Monday Demotivation Cause of recent thatched property fire – Chimney fire.
When did you last sweep your chimney? Very important to reduce the risk of a chimney fire causing the thatch to catch alight. Please read our Thatch Fire Safety Leaflet (free download from the website). Understand and reduce the risks.
Thatch Thursday – An interesting article on the fundraising and work going on in Slovakia to preserve their rural architecture, and thatched roofs.
Weird Wednesday – Interesting article on a mummified cat found in the thatched roof of a Dorset Cottage which was being renovated! “Thought to be part of a superstitious act to bring good luck to the house” “to ward off evil spirits and to bring good luck, not so lucky for the cat!” BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight
Shared – The National Thatching Straw Growers Association from Vivien Friend – “Such a shame so many of these traditional crafts and tools are dying out…. The long eaves knife, a tool distinctive to long-straw thatching, takes centre stage for shaping gable ends. Using a sawing motion, the thatcher trims the gable ends to a neat, square form, as demonstrated in the photo below from Suffolk, circa 1928. Eaves are often trimmed with a smaller version of this knife, a dedicated eaves hook, or even garden shears, depending on the task. Info taken from rural histories”
Wednesday Wonder – If you have ever seen the elusive smoke blackened thatch?
Thanks to R Eldridge – Redford for this picture.
Another Thatched Cottage fire is not good news. Please Understand and Reduce your Fire Risk. Read our Thatch Fire Safety Leaflet
Check your Smoke and CO alarms when we remind you on a Tuesday. These occupants needed help from ambulance service.
Wednesday Windows – Pretty in Pink! Love these impressive windows on this bright cottage – Email us any thatched windows pictures so we can show the many different designs.
Happy Valentines Day Everyone! A heart by a cute thatched porch for you to enjoy. What are your plans?
A bit of good news. The timber framed Upminster Tithe Barn, one of the oldest buildings in London was built in the mid-15th Century is being restored so it can be removed from the at risk register via ianvisits.co.uk
Repairs on the barn structure and thatched roof were required and are now underway on this museum, with funding from the National Highways Heritage Fund and a grant from Historic England
Wednesday Wonderful plan. Interesting to see that the Restoration of the Bella Luce is “planned to replace the former tile roof with thatch, which would have been the historic roofing material” Guernsey Press.
Thatch Thursday on World Book Day. The lovely Thomas Hardy cottage was apt.
Great response to this Finial Fun – A family of ducks for the Spring? Thanks to C Curwood for this great shot. Check out the variety of finial pictures on our gallery
Merry Monday – Austrey village in Warwickshire named by The Telegraph for having one of the best pubs in the UK. The Bird In Hand is thatched!
Wednesday Wondering. We had an enquiry regarding the Dorset Model Thatch Register? Anyone know anything about it as the company was apparently dissolve in 2013? Is it a case of an insurer asking questions which are very out of date? The Dorset Model has changed a fair bit over the years for sure (some help from us!) and is mentioned a lot for non-new builds now which can be tricky.
Our Associates at SMF Crouch and Co Ltd are pleased to announced that their proven Fire Retardant Spray has been rebranded since Brexit, as it is now being made in the UK as TSFireshield.
TSFireshield is the same proven formula and treated roofs will be Certificated in the same way. Many of our specialist insurers offer premium reductions for treated roofs. Existing clients will be contacted when their roofs are due for respray as previously.
