Once it was in full blaze the roar coming out of the pipe was like a jet engine, then at the same time the pipe would start to rattle like mad.
The drain pipes in these days were made from cast iron. To tell you how tough they were we would often climb up them on to the house roof to get our football or kite back. Anyway, I do not remember who thought of it, but we would collect a couple of sheets of old newspaper then crunching them up we stuffed them into the bottom of the pipe not too tight so the fresh air could get in. Last thing was to light it with a match.
Soon the smoke would start coming out of the top, then you would hear the air start to rush in to the bottom of the pipe. Once it was in full blaze the roar coming out of the pipe was like a jet engine, then at the same time the pipe would start to rattle like mad. Now the thing was to keep on the ball for if the neighbour came out to investigate the noise. You needed to be ready to run or else you got that tried and tested clout along the ear.
Time and time again we got the pep talk but we always did it again and again, thick ear or not. Sometimes I wonder how most of us never had cauliflower ears with the clouts we got over the years, but it was all part of the game I suppose.