tesco are selling those 'fire pits' round bowl fireplaces that you could
have a small log fire on your patio.

then they sell for £19 a paper compressor (apparently you make newspapers
wet and then stuff them in and compress them, then when they dry out, kind
of solid; they burn like logs of wood).

has anyone tried all this? the idea sounds great (who doesn't like a
bonfire, even a tiny one) but how does it work out in reality? i'm
thinking if it was really good, people would have been doing it for years.
i know these compressors came on to the market years ago.