00:00All right, I'm here today with Peter Parsons, publican here at the Warren Inn. It's the third
00:05highest pub in England, is that right? That's correct, yeah, yeah. But that's not the only
00:08claim to fame here at this pub. I came here 26, 27 years ago, came inside because there's a fire
00:14in here that's been burning since 1845. And there's been a bit of a heat wave here in England
00:19the last few days. I want to see if it's still burning. Is it? Come this way, I'll show you
00:24too.
00:24Let's have a look. It's a bit busy in here today. Can I just squeeze past?
00:30Squeeze past everyone. All right, let's whip it around here. Look. I don't want to burn my hat.
00:39Okay, so this fire, I came and saw it in, I think it was 1999. Yep. And it was burning
00:45just like this.
00:46It hasn't been out since. No, it hasn't been out since. It's never been out. It's been burning.
00:49I've kept it burning because I met you last time you were here. Yeah. And we've kept it burning since
00:53all through the heat wave and all through COVID. Never a problem. So since 1845. 1845,
00:58never been out. So when it was a heat wave and it's pretty hot outside, the people,
01:04were they upset that it was on then? No, they come to check it's still burning.
01:07Oh, they come to check it. So what happens overnight? Well, you push your logs together.
01:11Yeah. You take ash and put it on top. Yeah.
01:14It keeps all the heat in and stops it sparking. And in the morning, you just push it all back
01:19together
01:19and off it comes. Have people traveled as far as me to check that the fire is burning?
01:24Not many people travel on a regular basis. But if you come back in another 20 seconds,
01:28I might not be here. Now, I remember the last time I was here, you were telling me that
01:33the fire was actually because the original pub burnt down and they kept a stump or something from
01:39that fire? Yeah. The original pub stood on the other side of the road. Right.
01:42And it was built to service the tin lines. Right. And when that pub burnt down, there was a building
01:46in it,
01:46and they brought the fire across. Yeah. The embers lit this one with it. Yeah.
01:50And kept it going ever since. Right. So what would you say to people that think
01:55you're a bit of a publican? Publicans never lie. No. So on a cold winter's night when the
02:02the fog's out there, the ghosts are roaming the moor, this has never gone out once? No, no.
02:07If it's a cold winter's night and the ghosts are out there, I want to sit by a nice warm
02:10fire.
02:12So it really hasn't gone out since 1845? No, it never goes out. Okay.
02:15I've got a witness around there, Dave. He's comes in here many times. He'll say it's always
02:19light when he comes in. Yeah? Yeah. Let's go see him. Let's go see him.
02:22We're going to go see Dave, the expert eyewitness.
02:29All right. Talk to you later. Dave's on the phone.
02:32I'm just going to whip around the other side to Dave.
02:36Dave, Peter's been telling us that the fireplace
02:41hasn't gone out since 1845. Yeah, that's right. So they say.
02:45And I've said you're a local up here most days of the week and that you can vouch that fire.
02:49It's always burning when you come in. Every time. And it's going to cost me a pint.
02:53Every time. And when I came here in 1999, I didn't realize this, but you were here.
02:59And you were sitting here? Yeah. And you were the publican? Yeah.
03:03Yeah, that's it. And I made a call back to Australia. Yeah, exactly.
03:06And the pub was quiet that night. So you had to be, you were a bit rowdy.
03:10I had to be noisy. We had to be raucous.
03:14So is this pub known widely as the, throughout, would most people in England know
03:20about the fire or only those that passed through? It is pretty well up, yeah. It is pretty well up.
03:24Right. Are there other fires, not necessarily in pubs, but elsewhere in the country that have
03:30been burning this long? Is this a world record?
03:32Well, but this is a, this is a genuine case. We know this fire.
03:36Can't speak for others, can we? You can't speak for anyone else.
03:38I think the fire of London has gone out. Has it? Wasn't it too? Yeah.
03:43Well, thanks so much, Dave. Lovely to see you again after 27 odd years or however long it was.
03:49You look a bit older. You look a bit older, yeah, yeah.
03:51I'd say I wouldn't be in another 27 either. I think I might struggle.
03:55Yeah, well, depends what sort of, you need a pint, you need beer named the burning pub beer or something
04:01like that.
04:01Yeah, yeah, we do, we do. You do?
04:02Yeah, we will have. You will have, you will have.
04:05For the promo come back.
04:07Thanks, Peter. Thanks, Dave.
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