"Hey, aren't you that Tim that came here about 30 years ago!" exclaims Peter Parsons as I walk through the front bar of the Warren House Inn this week.
I'm gobsmacked.
Sure, I'm wearing my Akubra and have my name plastered across my shirt pocket, but three decades is a long time between drinks - especially at a pub about as far from Canberra as you can get.
"I remember you were here mid-winter to check out our fire. I've never forgotten it," Peter adds.
And he's right.
Back in 1999, while wandering the moors of Dartmoor, I called into this remote pub - the highest in southern England - to investigate its famous fireplace.
Mist had all but swallowed the moor, darkness had descended and snowflakes danced in the headlights.
But I didn't call into the lonely off-grid watering hole just to thaw out. No, I wanted to check the claim that the fire in the front bar had never gone out since 1845.
I checked.
It was still burning.
Folklore has it that when the inn replaced an earlier pub on the other side of the road in 1845, the landlord simply shovelled the glowing embers from the old hearth into the new one, and the fire has been kept alight ever since.
Naturally, I couldn't resist a little mischief. I grabbed an empty watering can and jokingly pretended to put the fire out.
Twenty-seven years later, I'm back to see whether the flame is still flickering.
This time, however, I'm not looking for warmth. In fact, I'm looking for somewhere to escape it.
Dartmoor is sweltering. The UK is experiencing its third heatwave of the summer. The air is heavy and still the moss-encrusted ancient drystone walls radiate heat and in the beer garden, patrons are stretched out in T-shirts and shorts, several shirtless. Every time the pub door opens, a blast of hot air rolls inside.
"Surely the fire isn't going in this heat?" I ask.
Peter grins and leads me to the fire, which for more than a century was a welcoming beacon to tin miners.
There it is.
Among the blackened logs are unmistakable orange embers.
Sure, it's not raging, but it is burning.
I stare at it in disbelief.
"We aren't going to let a few warm days mess with tradition," Peter deadpans.
Fair enough.
Peter explains how he prevents the fire from going out, even in summer.
"Overnight, the logs are pushed together and covered with ash to keep the heat in and prevent sparks. Each morning, the ash is brushed away, the embers coaxed back to life and fresh logs added," he explains
He also reveals that I'm not the only patron obsessed with the famous fire.
"We have a few locals who regularly stop in just to check it's burning, but no one has come as far as you," Peter exclaims.
Heck, even royalty has dropped by. Just 18 months ago Prince William popped into the pub and posed beside the legendary blaze.
"Unlike you, he didn't even need his name emblazoned on his shirt to be recognised," Peter laughs.
Remarkably, Dave Fisher, an amiable barfly who was here that night 27 years ago, is still here too - although he admits to "having gone home occasionally in the interim". He also fondly remembers the evening. "You were doing a radio cross to Australia, and it was a quiet night, so you asked me to be a bit rowdier to create some background atmosphere," he muses.
Over a warm pint (it is England, after all), we joke that perhaps I should return in another three decades to check on the fire yet again.
"Oh, I might struggle to be here in another 27 years," Dave says.
He has a point. We all might.
But increasingly, I suspect it won't be human mortality that threatens this high moor tradition.
Although the fire has survived almost two centuries of Dartmoor winters, its greatest threat may come not from cold, but heat.
Drought and increasingly regular heatwaves in these parts are becoming harder to dismiss as freak events. Indeed, I was diverted on the way here by a wildfire.
It's something I'd expect during an Australian summer, but not on the so-called misty moors of southern England.
Perhaps one day the fire will have to go out.
And heaven forbid, they might even need to replace it with an air-conditioner.
Closer to home, my search for long-burning fires to rival that of the Warren House Inn has failed to flush out any fire that has burnt continuously for more than four or five months. Most of these are in farmhouses or mountain lodges where fires are often kept going for "at least all of winter".
However, one of the closest examples is the fire at Troopers Rest in Braidwood.
"Our fireplace has been warming guests for around 186 years," owner Gavin Gillin says. "It was built with bricks handmade by convicts in Braidwood."
According to Gavin, "Back then, the building was known as the Dog Stile Inn, with the police station next door and local troopers are believed to have gathered here after finishing their duties.
"We keep the fire alive throughout winter ... there's usually a bed of embers waiting to be stirred back to life each morning. But more importantly, it keeps a tradition alive. People are naturally drawn to an open fire, whether for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a quiet whisky.
"Nearly two centuries on, the fireplace is still doing exactly what it was built to do - bringing people together."
It turns out Canberra's curious Pegasus Crossing at Streeton Drive, Weston, isn't the only one in the ACT, with Andrew Pearce of Crace quick to point me towards another.
"Your article certainly caught my eye," Andrew writes. "Not just because my wife is a keen horse rider, but because I was fairly sure Canberra was hiding another Pegasus crossing in plain sight."
After reading the column and explaining to his children what a Pegasus crossing actually is, Andrew says they were "disappointed to learn it had nothing to do with flying horses".
The family then headed out last Sunday morning for some "investigative fieldwork".
Sure enough, they discovered another signalised Pegasus crossing at the corner of Flemington Road and Randwick Road, between Thoroughbred Park and EPIC.
Like its better-known Streeton Drive cousin, "it has all the essential equestrian conveniences, including a mounting block, rider-height push button and a crossing phase generous enough to ensure a leisurely ride doesn't become a steeplechase."
But Andrew reckons the northern crossing may have an additional claim to fame.
"Not only does it cross a road, but it also negotiates the Canberra Light Rail corridor," he notes. "That's a level of multimodal transport integration not often demanded by horse riders."
The crossing is signposted and gets some use, with a shared path leading towards Sullivans Creek and on to the racecourse. There's even another mounting block on the western side of the creek, handy for riders wanting to dismount before tackling the road and creek crossing.
"So, while the Streeton Drive crossing may be Canberra's best-known Pegasus crossing, it appears it is not our only one," Andrew concludes.
And that raises the obvious question: are there more lurking around Canberra?
Rating: Easy
Clue: Pauline's favourite Canberra hangout?
How to enter: Email your guess along with your name and address to tym@iinet.net.au. The first correct email received after 10am, Saturday August 8 wins a double pass to Dendy, the Home of Quality Cinema.
Last week: Congratulations to Mark Handley of Queanbeyan who was first to identify the historic wintry photograph as Monaro Street in Queanbeyan. The clue of "dig it up" related to recent ongoing closures as part of construction work associated with the $20 million Monaro Street Refresh.
Several eagle-eyed readers reported that the photo was taken from the bridge side of Monaro Street looking towards the Crawford Street intersection, with former Webbers Garage (also known as Bridge Motors) on the left (if you look closely, through the snowflakes you can just make out the bowsers on the edge of the footpath) and the former Star Picture Theatre on the right. "They were the days when Jaffas were rolled down the aisle and the news was also shown on the screen," recalls George Burke. "My family attended shows in it both when it was still the Star and when it became the Nova."
As for the year, the photo is undated, however the consensus among readers is that it was taken mid-1960s, most likely after a widely reported big snowfall on August 7, 1965. "We lived in Alice Street, it was a great hill to slide down on a plastic sheet in the snow," recalls Jim Sealey, who also recognised Webbers Garage. "I started as a mechanic there under Alan Webber and yes, held his son in my arms - the same Mark Webber of F1 fame."
The photo also brought back fond memories for Dale Hummer who reveals "it was those light posts that gave it away... when I was little, I called them the milkshake lights".
At first glance Dale thought it may have been her dad's car "driving in front of that Holden ute". However, closer inspection revealed a different numberplate and slightly different model.
Mervyn Anderson also looked closely at the cars. "I'm pretty sure we had to knock off work early at Mugga Quarry to beat the snow," he recalls, adding, "that Consul could possibly have been mine as I was staying just north of the bridge in the old inn or coach house, l know I spent the best part of the afternoon in Walsh's pub."
Jen Amey of Bungendore also remembers the big snow day. "It was a long trip home that day as we waited for the grader to tow us to the top of Bungendore Hill because of the snow."
CONTACT TIM: Email: tym@iinet.net.au or Twitter: @TimYowie or write c/- The Canberra Times, GPO Box 606, Civic, ACT, 2601
