"Dinah" wrote
Hi there

I am thinking about starting my own compost bin.

At present, all I find is a wet smelly heap - is this to be expected,
or are there any tips

Wet and smelly sounds as if you haven't got a good mix of 'ingredients'.
It's best not to put too much of something like grass clippings in
without mixing it with coarser material like shredded prunings or torn
up cardboard etc or it all goes slimy and nasty. Otherwise just bung in
layers of any garden or kitchen waste such as weeds, shredded prunings,
vegetable tops, peelings, tea-bags, torn paper etc. Periodically give it
a good forking over to aerate, if you feel energetic, which I find helps
it re-heat and compost down all the faster. If you have room for more
than one bin, you can be filling the second while the first sits and
cooks.

You can check the Google archive for this group to find lots of useful
discussion on composting. There's also Nick's FAQ somewhere.

Ah here it is:
http://www.tmac.clara.net/urgring/faqcmpst1.htm

--
Sue