On 12/10/2010 21:57, john hamilton wrote:
A neighbour has recently had a lot of shrubs and laurel cut down. The
intention is to burn it.

Define "a lot". It is usually sufficient to leave it for a few weeks in
the sunshine and then wait for a nice sunny day and torch it towards the
end of the afternoon. First checking no-one has washing still out!

Assembling it just before lighting so you don't roast any hedgehogs.

Big stuff cut into logs and after a couple of years can be burnt as fuel.

Not wishing to buy a dustbin incinerator for what would be a kind of one off
job, does anyone have any ideas on how to make a simple kind
incinerator/grill (the basic idea i suppose is to get the air in underneath)
thing to make the bonfire burn better.

So long as you don't crush stuff down too much and have some initially
tinder dry material to start with there really isn't much problem with
bonfires. You only get smoke if the stuff isn't dry enough. The trick is
to start small and make sure plenty of air can get into the base of the
fire.

Have a bucket of water and a spade to hand in case things get too
vigorous and work out a plan of escape. Don't have the bulk material too
close to the bonfire or you may have a nasty surprise.

He has some spare concrete paving bricks as a starter. Any suggestions?

Anywhere that is at least 12 feet from other wooden structures and
without overhanging trees you are fond of will do.

Regards,
Martin Brown