An Improvement

 Almost forgot the before picture.  The cement blocks were getting ugly but the screen we are required to use over the fire fits that circle. So we put a circle of allan block style bricks around the old structure.

For the record, it is 20 bricks around. Three rows of regular ones and one row of capping brick. Eighty bricks. Not cheap but it looks good. It remains to be seen how well the fire draws now.