If I’m being perfectly honest, removing bees’ nests from chimneys is my least favourite chimney sweeping activity. It is not so much the job, although that can be rather dirty and sticky, it is having to clean all the equipment of sticky mess afterwards that I find quite unpleasant! This particular job was unusual in that rather than waiting for the bees to die off, pest control had been called in to kill them. The reason being that the family whose home it was had two very young children, indeed one of them had been born during the bee crisis. To get into the chimney the bees had mined an entrance through the masonry at the base of the chimney stack. So, the bees were getting into the house and everyone had been stung, so pest control had to be called to kill the bees.

This however was not the end of their tribulations; within a short time wasps got into the chimney through the same entrance at the base of the chimney stack that the bees had made. Pest control were again called and all the wasps were dispatched. Things now moved at a pace, scaffolding was quickly erected and on our recommendation John and Mark Taylor the builders came to make the chimney good. We swept what was a very extensive bees’ nest from the chimney using rotary power sweeping equipment. Fortunately for ourselves, the wasps had eaten a lot of the honey, so we only got a bit stick. There was a happy ending as the family who for a time had to move out of their home, were able to move back in.

We can highly recommend the builders we used: J. Taylor & Sons, (John & Mark) 01799 586582 (M) 07885 493034 or 07854 027082 – Email admin@jtaylorandsons.co.uk

In September for a couple of days we had the company of local lad Andy Bannister, who had recently retired from working for Uttlesford Council in Saffron Walden. We have been sweeping Andy’s chimney in Radwinter for a good few years and he had always spoke of the possibility of taking up chimney sweeping when he retired. So, on a couple of days Andy came out with us to get an idea of whether he would actually like or be any good at the job. In two days, he saw most types of sweeping jobs and experienced the best and worst of days sweeping.

On the first day it was warm and pleasantly sunny, and we spent the day sweeping in and around Kedington, Hundon, Clare, Stoke-By-Clare and Cavendish all of which is quite picturesque. On the second day it rained heavily all day, and we had a flat tire which we had to change in the rain which put us behind our time for the whole day. We got around in the end though!

All said and done, Andy said that he enjoyed chimney sweeping and would seriously consider taking it up. He appeared to me to have all the right qualities for the job, he is practically minded and he was very good with the customers, chatting with them and putting them at their ease. In the meantime, Andy has found a driving job for Burtons Butchers in Saffron Walden and seems happy doing that for the time being. But you never know, some time in the future he may decide to become a chimney sweep!

Here is a fine example of a thatched kangaroo this time on a roof in Suffolk and the work of Clive Dodson, Master Thatcher of Cambridgeshire. It is very close to a thatched address we sweep at in West Wickham. There is another Thatched Kangaroo on a roof in this country, this one being on the roof of a tearoom in Godshill on the Isle of Wight. It actually caused quite a stir when it first went up. Under the BBC headline ‘Kangaroo told to hop off’, it was reported that the owner of the Royal Essex Cottage restaurant and tea room was having to apply for planning permission for the large thatched kangaroo when locals complained of its presence! The locals stated that the three-foot-high Kangaroo did not fit in with the heritage of the area.

The kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning “large foot”). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroo, and western grey kangaroo. Kangaroos are indigenous to Australia and New Guinea. The Australian government estimates that 34.3 million kangaroos lived within the commercial harvest areas of Australia in 2011, up from 25.1 million one year earlier.

As with the terms “wallaroo” and “wallaby“, “kangaroo” refers to a paraphyletic grouping of species. All three refer to members of the same taxonomic family, Macropodidae, and are distinguished according to size. The largest species in the family are called “kangaroos” and the smallest are generally called “wallabies”. The term “wallaroos” refers to species of an intermediate size. There are also the tree-kangaroos, another type of macropod, which inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea, far northeastern Queensland and some of the islands in the region.

I just had to share this beautiful and kind Christmas gift we received from friend and brilliant artist Richard. Pictured in the snow are our three working Cocker Spaniels, Millie (Black), Roger (Brown) and Maggie (Black & white). Richard has really captured their characters and the way they sit in the garden at times! What a fantastic surprise Christmas gift!

You can view and buy Richard’s fantastic artwork on intergram @dickie_illustration

You can contact Richard Smith on rich.b.smith@me.co (mobile) 07999 989616

Firstly, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our friends and customers a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. And a big thank you to you all for your loyalty and support throughout the year!

Secondly, it has become a tradition for us to finish the busy sweeping season on the Wednesday before Christmas and to mark the event and the start of our Christmas by entering the Plough at Debden Christmas Quiz. The Walden Sweeps Team go by the ‘nom de plume’ the Quizzley Bears! We had a really fantastic fun evening with a lovely meal to boot. We enjoyed the quiz and came a creditable third against some tough opposition. The team are pictured enjoying themselves, Pauline, Richard, Emma, Katie, Claire and me.

I have used this very useful bit of kit a lot this autumn, usually on Sundays when we tend to remove birds nests from chimneys and clean particularly dirty flues. We have been using it for a number of years now, and I initially saw it in use on one of the chimney sweeping Face Book Forums, it is the Hepa 500 Air Scrubber. Although it is a little on the bulky side, looking like a big blue box, it fits on the van and is invaluable when working on very dirty jobs, such as chimneys that have seen heavy usage and have not been swept for some time, or chimneys with birds or bee’s nests in them. The Hepa 500 Air Scrubber works by filtering the air within a room whilst the work is taking place. It has a powerful filtration system that drags the air through the machine and its Hepa filters, completely changing the air in the room every seven minutes. This helps to prevent fine particles of soot and dirt getting suspended in the air, which would eventually coat the room in a layer of dust and dirt later. So, a very valuable bit of kit when dealing with jobs that are particularly mucky and that have the potential to spread dirt and dust into the atmosphere of the room.

I would recommend that all reputable sweeps should have a Hepa 500 Air Scrubber, it helps you to work cleanly and professionally in the most difficult of sweeping situations. It also gives reassurance and confidence to the customer that you are not going to make any mess, particularly when combined with numerous rubberized dust sheets. It’s a real must for all good sweeps!

Here we are sweeping again for the Bishop of Chelmsford in the lovely Essex village of Great Maplestead. Fortunately, we had some time to enjoy the historic medieval church of St Giles following the sweep, it is a real Gem. Remarkably, both Great and Little Maplestead churches have surviving Norman apses. Great Maplestead also has a hefty Norman west tower. Oddly, the bits in between are later. The choir which is between the nave and the apse was rebuilt in the Thirteenth century as evidenced by a couple of lancet windows on the north side. It is odd that the apse was kept but we can be very grateful for that.

In the fourteenth century a south aisle was added with, so it is averred, a south “transept”, although the transept is the same depth as the aisle so it might be more accurately have been described as a chapel. In any event, in the seventeenth century it was extended southwards to make space for the Deane family tombs that are the highlight of the interior and thus became a transept as we might expect to see one. The north side is completely Victorian apart from the choir wall, as is the south porch. The arch between apse and choir is the original Norman. Its underside is adorned with five painted roundels of 1566. Four represent the Evangelists and the fifth is a cross. The chancel arch is fourteenth century and contemporary with the rebuilding of the choir.

The Early English chancel arch is enormous compared to the tiny one that separates it from the apse. To the right, and hardly separated from the south aisle,  is the south transept with the Denny monuments. Sir John Deane’s monument is in the east wall of the north transept. Jon was a minor worthy, serving Essex as Sheriff, Lieutenant and MP for the county before his death. For his place in society as a minor gentleman he was a very wealthy man, having benefited from some hefty inheritances. He clutches what seems to be some sort of staff of office, not a sword which is presumably behind his body. There is no suggestion that he wore his fine armour in any kind of warfare! His wife, Anne Drury, outlived him by eight years and she does not appear on this monument but had one erected for her sole benefit (below). The space above the monument shows his two sons and six daughters. It is suggested that he enjoyed the support of Sir Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of Warwick who held the manor at Braintree. If so, this might explain the appearance of a bear at Sir John’s feet, this being the symbol of Warwick.

Being dog owners, this is always something that always makes me and Claire smile, a dog who loves our dust sheets! I believe that they think in their heads that we have come just see them, put out some nice bedding for them and make big fuss of them. This is Bell who lives in Meldreth, as can be seen she is a black Labrador and her favourite past time is to show you her toy, which I think was a monkey! There is nothing like a dog to put a smile on your face, loyal, great company and an integral part of any family home.

Here is something new that I saw whilst sweeping in Monk Street Thaxted recently, the new model Woodwarm Fireview 5 Eco Multi-Fuel Stove. I think they look slightly more sleeker and contemporary than the old model Fireview’s. They dismantle slightly differently than the old fireviews, but not dramatically, so it is still relatively easy to access the flue, provided you know what you are doing. The customer is more than happy with its performance, which is the main thing.

Woodwarm are based in Devon close to Exeter, its funny how there are many stove manufacturers based in the West Country:

The Workshop,
Wheatcroft Farm,
Cullompton,
Exeter,
Devon EX15 1RA

0188435806

https://woodwarmstoves.co.uk/

The manufactures are actually called; Metal Developments Ltd and it is their range of stoves that are termed Woodwarm. The company make a range of stoves, notably the: Phenix, Fireview, Wildwood, Foxfire, and the Kalido Gas.

The companies blurb on their website stresses a concern for environmental issues: Here at Woodwarm we have dedicated over 30 years of production to our customers and very experienced dealers and fitters to tell us what you want from your home fire. We pride ourselves on the ability to respond to both customer needs and government legislations while using cutting edge technology to ensure reliability and workmanship throughout. We strongly believe that it is thanks to our immensely hard-working sales outlets that we have become a market leader in Clean Burning Wood and Multi Fuel heating.

We are very lucky to be located in the beautiful Devon countryside. Environmental issues are always foremost in our minds; we cannot afford to ignore the evidence of global warming. Wood is a sustainable fuel boasting the fact that it also carbon neutral, for this reason we have developed the Wildwood range, a dedicated wood burner range that does not drain the planet of its rich resources. “Please see our environmental policy for our commitments to the future”

Why Woodwarm? We are not the cheapest fire on the market this we are the first to admit, we cannot compete with the mass-produced meaningless market, and so because of this we won’t. Some of our fires are still in use some 30 years on, what else do you have that’s still working at 30 years old? We know how to keep the glass clean, even overnight, we know how to get the maximum use from your fuel, we are unrivalled in our boiler, canopy, fuel, colour, leg, handles, plinth, pedestal, options because we are hand-made here in the UK. You will buy a house for comfort and as an investment, your choice in a stove should be the same.

Here is another in my series of blogs entitled ‘life at the coalface’ – In this blog I will be looking at soot collection traps and how to empty them. Soot collection traps in the main are found in two different types of chimneys. Firstly, they can be found at the business end of the old Baxi open fires, with usually a brick or lined chimney above it. The soot collection trap is accessed either by opening an external inspection door and drawing out the soot tray, or by removing the split grate from the hearth and lifting out the soot collection tray. Secondly, soot collection traps can be positioned at the base of some factory-made chimneys, positioned in a drop or T-Piece below where the flue from the appliance enters the chimney.  Factory made chimneys have the appearance of metal tubes running up the outside of the property. The soot collection traps for factory-made chimneys are usually secured by some form of spring clip, which is removed to release the trap. The trap can then be cleaned and emptied – I usually hold a trug under the soot collection trap whilst I am removing it, to catch the soot that may be sitting at the bottom of the chimney. This procedure is obviously done once the chimney has been swept, to remove all the swept material from the trap. In the photograph, I can be seen releasing the spring clip holding the soot collection trap in place, prior to removing it. I will then put my face mask on and position a trug directly below the soot trap to collect the material in the trap. I then gently remove the plug and empty the contents into the try – Job done! Well after refitting the plug and spring clip.