Wood ash contains potash, so its a useful fertilizer for fruits and flowers (but don't put it on raspberries) The potash it contains is soluble in water so if you need to store it don't leave it open to the weather.
This does not apply to coal ash only to wood.

When we burn garden waste , which isn't often, but wood wormy timber is ideal for this. We will spread the ash on the flower beds. Stera is correct though don't use ash from a coal fire.

Wood ash is alkaline, and may cause chlorosis if your soil is already fairly chalkey. Iffy for acid lovers, such as blueberries, for the same reason.

Agree, wood ash should not be used around acid loving plants if you have any, and if you don't because your soil is alkaline, best not used at all.

When you were a 'kid', Davey most of us burned coal on our fires. The ash from coal fires is sulpherous and we did not put this on our gardens; maybe spread it along our paths to walk on and stop weeds growing.
As said above, if you have clean wood ash tis can be beneficial 'in small quantities' and when cold.

I use it in certain parts of my yard to suppress weeds because an excess of ash will kill them. I just keep dumping it on things like nettles, which will soon give up and die.

Bulbaholic, yep your right, most of us in the north east had the coal fire range where you used to boil the kettle on the swinging plate and if I remember correctly there was an oven on the top. Also a real art getting the fire to light and not setting fire to the house, with the newspaper that you used to cover the front of the fire with to get the flames going :). Toast was always better of the coal fire as well. As you say it was probably used for weedkilling or putting on the path as I was only a bairn at the time :), but once again all, thanks for coming back.

Probably depends on where the coal came from. Some mines contain heavy metals mixed with the coal. I'd be surprised if there is any kind of labelling.

I remember ashes from coal fires being sprinkled on snowy/ icy pavements and paths by neighbours, back when we used to have proper winters most of the time, much to the annoyance of us kids with our sleighs (if you were lucky) or trays for sliding down the hill on. Otherwise, I seem to recall people had special metal bins, like smaller dustbins, specifically for the ashes - it was never put on the soil.

I remember those times Davey. I was quite good at laying the fire with rolled up newspapers, then a layer of kindling, small lumps of coal next, & finally using a shovel & a newspaper to get it to draw. The newspapers were bigger in those days. I didn't ever set light to the chimney, but the newspaper caught light & went up a time or two. I think you have to get the C. Sweep round regularly to prevent chimney fires. After the coal we all had to have those knobs of anthracite. Does anyone remember them, or the smog that killed so many people in London ( and Manchester)?

I remember the last ever smog in London, around 1963 or 64 - thick, yellow, sulphurous stuff you couldn't see through, and when you got indoors, you had two black lines below your nostrils from breathing it in... presumably with the same stuff up the nose and in the lungs. We;re not much better off now - we still have smog and air pollution, we just can't see it....

The one I was remembering was in 1954. Yes, it was like that. I didn't think they still had them as late as 1964. In Manchester we all had to switch to smokeless fuel, tho' I expect that took some time, they did the industrial areas first. You're right we can't see the pollution now, can taste it sometimes though.☹️