Did you watch it over Christmas?

It was one of the most popular things on television.

No, I am not talking about Gavin & Stacey, although that was the biggest TV hit of the festive period.

Amongst the Christmas editions of the soaps and crime dramas, a very unusual programme emerged as one of the most viewed.

It didn’t contain the brutal death of a much-loved character or a convoluted Christmas themed plot or celebrities dancing.

This particular programme, which was apparently viewed by millions of people around the world on the streaming service Netflix, was in fact a film of a crackling log fire!

There were no action sequences, no dialogue and no loud music. It was just logs burning in a fireplace

I don’t have Netflix so didn’t see it, but I can understand why millions of people did. There is nothing quite like a real fire, especially at Christmas.

As I took down the Christmas cards a few days ago, I was struck by how many of them feature images of a roaring fire.

It seems the fireplace is still regarded as the heart of the home in the minds of many people, even in the days of air source heat pumps and under-floor heating.

But these modern forms of heating are a mystery to most of us. They work their magic with little or no input from us. Silently and invisibly they provide warmth, which is of course what you want.

I have been in homes with these clever systems and have marvelled at how warm they are and yet they have still left me feeling cold.

Why? Well, for me it’s the fact there’s no visual source of the heat. A fire may be old fashioned, but the glow of real flames helps to reinforce the sense of warmth.

It’s amazing how many Christmas films and television programmes centre around a cosy sitting room warmed by a roaring fire.

Adverts for the perfect holiday cottages for the festive season always feature images of a blazing fire.

Estate agents will always talk up the fact a house has a log burner for “those cosy winter evenings”.

At this point I should declare an interest. I have a log burner and I love it.

But despite the fact they are much coveted and often used to portray the heart and soul of a home, fires are also increasingly controversial and that has left me in a quandary.

News reports suggest that in some inner city areas the burning of wood is causing more of an air pollution issue than cars.

There are now much tighter regulations on what we can burn and where. Gone are the days of miserable looking bags of wet wood on petrol station forecourts.

Retailers are now only supposed to sell dry wood and smokeless coal, and homeowners in smoke control areas have to make sure they’re not choking their neighbours.

There’s no getting away from the fact that you can’t light a real fire without producing some smoke. But there are lots of ways to minimise it.

Modern logs burners are designed to be eco-friendly and if used properly they produce very little smoke. But I still read reports from some scientists about the tiny particles we can’t see and how they affect people with breathing conditions.

So what should those of us with log burners and fireplaces do?

It’s a tricky issue, especially here in Devon and Cornwall. For many of us here in the South West our wood stove isn’t just a trendy accessory; it’s a necessity.

Our older houses often have limited forms of modern central heating, and in some cases no central heating at all. They are homes built around the fireplace. It is sometimes the only source of heating.

Now, when it comes to central heating I am of course famous for being a little bit careful with it. Well, let’s be honest I am known for being very reluctant to have it on at all.

I have a costly oil-fired system and I hate it! I hate the expense, I hate the faff of having to arrange to refill it and I hate the fact I am burning a fossil fuel.

So far this winter I have stuck to a very strict regime with just a short blast in the morning and a short blast in the early evening. It is on for no more than two hours a day.

Now, this is where the wood burner comes in. If I am at home during the day and it’s particularly chilly, I will light the fire in the morning.

I never used to. I always associated the fire with evening time and would rarely light it before 5pm.

But I have come to realise that if the fire is going in the morning it is not only providing warmth immediately, but also warming the walls around it and that warmth is radiated back later in the day.

It also provides that visual effect of making us feel warm. A real fire is mesmerising. The dancing flames put on a unique show; no fire is ever the same.

That is why I am not surprised so many people tuned in to watch a video of a fire over Christmas. If you can’t have the real thing, just the image is enough to provide a warm glow.

But there is still the issue of smoke pollution. I certainly don’t want to cause a nuisance or worse still a health issue for anyone. I am lucky that I am in a rural area with few neighbours.

But in inner city areas the heated debate over wood burners will only get hotter. I am just wondering how our hard-pressed councils will enforce the already stricter rules in smoke control areas.

Fire is our most primitive form of heat; it could be argued that there is very little need for it in the modern world, but I for one would miss it.

Have a warm and Happy New Year!