‘Firstly, I must ensure that she has only just the correct amount of water in her tank, too much will cause the dreaded overspill when boiling, then, carefully placing the scrunched paper inside the ‘chimney’, I light the paper and place her on her round fire dish base to contain the warming flames and direct them upward, igniting the dry sticks’
It was only yesterday that I was spending some time on a local pool watching the bobbins on my rods dangling motionless beneath the honey coloured cane. I had tried everything but could not tempt any of the estate lake’s inhabitants to show any interest in my baits. At times like this I find that a snack or, maybe better the regulation chocolate biscuit coupled with a hot cup of tea, does wonders to uplift the spirits.
With this in mind I set ‘Bessie’, my Kelly kettle, to the task. Call me silly but to me the very act of preparing Bessie for her purpose is in itself almost a religious experience. Firstly, I must ensure that she has only just the correct amount of water in her tank, too much will cause the dreaded overspill when boiling, then, carefully placing the scrunched paper inside the ‘chimney’, I light the paper and place her on her round fire dish base to contain the warming flames and direct them upward, igniting the dry sticks which I had collected only minutes before. Satisfied that all is as it should be, I step back. In watching Bessie do her work there is the anticipation and the wait until she boils. Tea prepared, I sat back once more, cup in hand and return to watching the motionless bobbins. I am satisfied.
I do like a hot drink when whiling away the hours spent on the bank. For a short session, a small modern steel flask is perfect but if I will be there for more than four hours I need something that is a bit more substantial and can provide more than just a drink if required.
From the age of about thirteen years old I had to rely upon a trusty glass Thermos flask and sandwiches, prepared by my mother to keep me fed and watered throughout the day. The flask was more or less guaranteed to provide a lukewarm drink at best, providing that it did not get dropped and shatter into a thousand pieces first.
Then, as things progressed and I came of age and acquired some self reliance, along came the steel flasks. My first was a green Stanley product purchased in 1984 which was a different vacuum flask from all the others of that time. Instead of just being a vacuum, the double wall was filled with charcoal dust which was supposed to enhance the thermal properties and make the flask more durable. In my own experience this was a step backward as mine never seemed to work at all, the contents went cold very quickly, the flask being returned to Stanley who refunded me the purchase price.
Searching around for an alternative to make a hot drink, I flirted with a good old Camping Gas stove, which was fine but you always needed a spare gas bottle, kettle or pan to boil the water in, a cup and of course water; not a problem really but a bit bulky to carry around. Then I discovered the ‘Bessemer Converter’ (my own name for the redoubtable Kelly Kettle). I cannot remember when I first discovered this remarkable beast but, looking at my diaries, I first mention it in 1984 after disposing of the useless Stanley flask. It was used when fishing a Yorkshire moor-top reservoir in winter for pike, a cold bleak place on a warm summer’s day, so you can imagine that something good was needed in the depths of winter. It seems I was well impressed with the Kelly.
My own Kelly is a small, one-pint version which works well for me. It is an Aluminium one, which I think boils much faster than the similar stainless steel ones and is lighter. There is much information available about these interesting and useful outdoor culinary gadgets and here I will share with you my own musings.
Looking at her you will see she is slightly the worse for wear; some years ago the riveted aluminium strap fastened to the rear of the kettle which holds the pouring chain decided to come adrift. It was difficult to repair and obviously the kettle would not function as the water leaked out but, after several attempts at making repairs, all of which failed, I had a eureka moment.
I cut a thin, flat, alloy plate which completely covered the damaged area and mixed up some ‘metal weld’ paste which is a heat resistant adhesive and sealant. I plastered this all over the alloy plate, set it in position and taped the lot in place. When it had dried I smoothed more paste over the edges of the plate and let that dry. Finally I was in a position to test this Heath Robinson repair and yes, it worked fine and, as a bonus, I was not poisoned.
There were no leaks but I had to find a way to pour the boiling water out of the kettle. The chain used to work fine but now I had no chain. After a bit of thought I fastened the chain to the handle and made myself a bit of bent steel rod, pushed it through a hole drilled in a wooden stopper which I had made to replace the cork that had vanished years before. The steel rod was bent to such an angle that I could hook it under the base of the kettle and yes, it also worked well.
Sometime later I noticed that the Kelly was leaking around the base where the inner and outer skin had been sealed together and also around the rivets which held the handle mountings in place. Out came the metal weld again and that sealed the joint with no leaks; not pretty but very functional.
Now we move onto the other bits and bobs that I use… I was thinking that it would be nice to be able to heat up a pie, pasty or even a bowl of tasty soup with the kettle. Now I know that the Kelly manufacturers today make all sorts of add-ons to make the kettle more useful but, as I like to make my own additions, I had a think and came up with the following. On a visit to a Chinese supermarket in Manchester about twenty years ago I saw a small double stainless food steamer for a very reasonable five pounds, a gift at the price, I thought. The grey cells started working and I bought one. It turned out to be very useful.
I constructed a brass frame which sits on top of the kettle’s chimney. The steamer sits on top of the frame and whatever you fancy can be put into the steamer. The heat from the kettle warms up the contents very quickly. I have had hot pies or pasties (wrapped in aluminium foil) warmed inside the steamer and soup heated in a small steel bowl.The bowl sits inside the steamer and was a lucky find. As the steamer is a ‘double-decker’ it is possible to warm up two lots of separate food items at once. Despite looking a bit top heavy the set up is actually very stable.
If it took your fancy I am sure that you could do a fry up as well but, for me, the above is all I need. The steamer has an added bonus in that you have a hot drink at the same time as the hot food. I will admit that these days I tend to take some bits of dry,pre-chopped wood with me to use as fuel, as it is not always possible to find dry fuel on the river bank but that is about all I need take.
I have had my kettle at least forty-one years and it has served me well on river banks, the banks of lakes, lochs, pools and beaches, and it has been used several times at home when power outages cause disruption. It is a bit battered, well used, has the odd dent, the fire dish has been stood on, crushed and bent back into shape, and the kettle has several repairs and slight alterations. It is no wonder it looks well used…it is! Still, despite all its trials and tribulations, it functions as well as when I first purchased it all those years ago.
Lastly, and this is from bitter experience, if you do decide you would like a Kelly, make sure you are upwind when it is fired up. All is fine until a cloud of smoke occasionally bursts from the kettle’s chimney and envelopes you, you will smell of wood smoke for the rest of the session and, just possibly, may have as many tiny burn holes in your favourite fishing top as I have.
Writing & Images David Craine – Summer 2026
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