"Struck oil"

It had probably been seized for decades, so me in my infinite wisdom went down to the trunk of our XJ6 and pulled out an old oil wrench, went back up the stairs and with the help of some steel piping for leverage, managed to free said radiator valve. I flew backwards as I freed it, copious amounts of WD40 and red wine assisting me in my work.

 There followed a period of extreme doubt, fear even; as there was this dreadful gurgling sound, followed by a tapping reverberation across all pipes in the building, I imagined giant beetles on the roof. A deadly distant backfire shook the windows, likely from the boiler room main feed down in the courtyard, it must have gone into shock. Many more weird sounds followed, then, we felt like we had discovered gold, as the hot water crept slowly back into the pipes upstairs, invisible 'snake-oil' circling the stairwell and catacombs down in the basement, hissing at every opportunity. As for the pipes, well they went from cold to magma-hot within minutes. The smell of years of congealed, gathered dust being 'grilled' was unmistakeable, it was magical.

 The valve head was pure brass, topped with a bakelite tap ring and washer, with a single brass round top 1/4” screw that was not opened at the slot, either before or after my heave-to wrenching.

I then went back to the boiler room to check on the burner, I looked in through the viewer, it seemed to wink back at me as if to say, 'Thanks mate, that heating arm has been bugging for years, could never get it to work!'.

John McMinn March 9^th 2021