The photo above shows the badge on the front of my beloved Aga. It’s a shiny brand new badge because the old one melted. Having owned an Aga for eleven years, a few months ago I had the brainwave of purchasing some hooks for the Aga rail from which I could hang oven gloves and towels. What I did not realise is that if you hang things in the middle of the rail in front of the badge, it will get hot and melt onto the glove or towel, as you can see here:

I contacted Aga who told me that owners are warned about this upon purchasing their new oven. I have no reason to doubt this but as a conscientious reader of instruction books I was surprised that I seemed to have forgotten about this particular tip. Anyway, it’s too late now. I had to accept that a gauntlet I’d hung from one of my lovely new hooks had melted into the badge, ruining both.

I’m telling you this as a warning so that you don’t make the same mistake. I have now moved the hooks to each end of the rail like so:

I can’t think why I didn’t think to do it this way from the outset because it looks better.

By the way, I bought the hooks at our local Kitchens Cookshop. It’s the only place I’ve managed to find some with a wide enough gauge to fit the Aga rail.