Probably black to give off more heat but think that turned out to be a myth.
Is it paint or vitrified enamel?
Yes strictly in science terms its true, certainly absorbs more radiation if left in the sun for instance but in radiating the heat back the difference is very minor so not worth upsetting the lady of the house with an ugly black pipe when any other colour gives off almost (1% is a small difference) as much. Highly polished or chrome are the worst for giving off heat.
This was during the running of the new cables to the meter and new trip boxes went in ripping all the old stuff out, the cottage used hemp and tar covered wires so everything was renewed/rewired.
I would never have guessed… 
It was a mess, only one earth wasn’t corroded through and the new one he had installed in the barn was sunk into concrete not the ground.
Our sink has neoprene seals between the sink and the worktops/wall.
The sink was like new so I wasn’t binning it and I like it, they left us a new one they were going to put in but it is going into the stables once I finish cutting the new doorways through the 20" 17th century concrete walls. 
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I do hope you wear a bone dome. My friend Jorgen was pulling a nail out of a beam overhead. The nail gave way and the wrecking bar speared straight down into his head. He looks remarkably cheerful about the result.
A cable seems to have sprung out of the hole! 
The much-vaunted Danish health system seems to have slipped a bit. He waited 2+ hrs to be seen. Better than UK a.t.mo. I think
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“Right!” said Fred, "I gotta sorta feelin’
If we remove the ceilin’
With a rope or two
We can get the blighter thru’ "
He 'ops up on the ladder
And gives a mighty blow …
Was 'e in trouble
'arf a ton a rubble
Came down on the top of 'is 'ead!
So Charlie and me 'ad anuvva cuppa tea
And then
We went 'ome.
Addendum. {Sociology Dept] Friends of my parents would not allow their daughters to listen to this song - a dash to turn the radio off on the first "Right!," said Fred’ because of the word ‘blighter’.
The same thing applied in our house with 'My Old Man’s A Dustman’. Reference to “Wears Cor Blimey trousers and lives in a council flat” was just too much for my mother.
We never got to see all of the very first episode of ‘Z Cars’ because the opening scene, the kitchen of the house of Desk Sgt Lynch, he being seated having breakfast, featured the table with milk in the bottle, not in a jug! My mother leapt up and turned the TV off.
“We are not going to sit and watch that rubbish!”
But we learned to live with scenes featuring milk bottle and ketchup on kitchen tables. … and a great deal more besides.
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On the other side of the wooden beam you see, is a metal girder that runs along the top of the wall, I am taking the wall away up to that as the building was heightened by 3ft in the 19th century.
It used to be a 3 story house, two story stone, one story wood, a fire burnt the top part off and the ground story was buried under ground with the waste earth, when they enlarged the moat from the castle, it is just a one story stable now, the cottages cave used to be it’s ground floor, the old front door is 10ft underground, it’s complicated 
The metal beams on the on the other side of the wall that form the ceiling, are tracks from a tram way that used to go along the back of our land between the two villages, the farmers wasted nothing 
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Anyone??
Any black mat high temp paint, Targol, Oxi etc, Bricoman, Leroy they all do it, degrease and key the surface with wet and dry sandpaper and paint, they come in spray and hand paint.
It’s something I have only done twice in a household, so not really my field of expertise, but we used similar on equipment on glass furnace we built and most will do 600C constant temp, someone will probably have a better idea of what to do though.
Agree with @Griffin36 spray on matt black high temp ( sometimessold as barbecue paint). If you’re not going to dismantle the flue, make sure the wall behind is protected. Only use on a cold flue, a couple of thin coats is much better than trying to do it in one go. Just be aware that when you light the fire afterwards (when paint is dry obviously)to have some windows open as the fumes aren’t nice.
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Glad I’m not the only one on here at this time in the morning 
My clock is all buggered up due to 24 hours non stop travelling yesterday. Just had a proper cup of tea made with nice soft water, not the liquid chalk that seems to come out of the taps in South East England
We get far worse lquid chalk in France (37) than we do in SE london. Having worked on swimming pools across France I know the water varies tremendously from the incredibly soft water near Jumilac to ours at the opposite end of the scale (pun intended)
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Doesnt have to be matt black, choose a colour that you like to match you decor. Gives off almost the same heat.
I have seen other colours, but due to it being right above the fire and at an angle, you end up continually cleaning the dust off the pipe and it looks crap, black looks better most of the time.
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Better think about getting some sort of filter when you move, @Mark - our water is quite hard in that the kettle acquires quite a lot of deposit…
Were you referring to a new colour for the wall, @toryroo ? I think our resident expert @Susannah was suggesting something light. (I could be wrong though, short term memory akin to goldfish at the mo)
Thanks all, yes hadn’t thought about painting the pipe so will definitely do that!
As Angela said it is the bricks that are really awful and I think I said on the other thread I’m now sure what to paint them with as they are fire bricks and seem to have a slightly shiny surface so worried about adherance. Also colour, do I do the same white as the walls or something else?
Here!
I would recommend definitely a warm white in water based acrylic latex.
How bright white, away from pale ivory you go, depends on contrast with the grey. Milky white is best in an area without much light. Steer well away from brilliant/bright white.
A good warm white you could look at for a sample
This would be the look you are going for (minus the TV) but plus the log burner, whose pipe should become black with matt radiator paint
Lights along the rear of the beam running along that wall would also be a nice touch.
If you have found a very pale and warm grey, that you really like, why not paint the walls the same? It will create a more homogenised look as a neutral ground for a basket collection or artwork 
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