A Liverpool trade that's "not seen day to day" is making a comeback in the city.
It’s one of the oldest trades in the city - and decades ago, chimney sweeps were familiar sights on the streets of Liverpool and beyond. For many, it wasn't unusual growing up spot a 'sweep' shaking the hand of a neighbour for good luck or their brush popping out of a nearby chimney.
Through the generations, we've seen a decline in the trade, with many households converting to heat up their homes with gas. But for David Sudworth, owner of Mr Soot Chimney Sweep, Liverpudlians are "flocking back" to open coal fires and wood burners.
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David, from Billinge, started Mr Soot Chimney Sweep back in 2016 as a one-man band and has seen the business become a rapidly expanding operation. As part of our Liverpool ECHO How It Used To Be series, we spoke to David about the history of the trade and how services are booming in the city.
David, 43, told the ECHO: "My mum, Enid, lived on Holmes Street, Toxteth, in the 1950s and it was her job to help look after the coal fire and get it ready for my grandad, Jim, when he came home from work. My other grandad, Richard, was a coal miner and worked the South Lancashire Coalfields.
"Back then, coal really was king. It was the main source of heating and that meant there were hundreds of chimney sweeps in Liverpool. That’s all changed now, of course, the pits have disappeared and there are just a handful of sweeps.
"My childhood was the early 80s and there were more sweeps around back then. My parents would always get the chimney sweep in during the summer - it’s the best time to get a chimney swept as any repairs can get done whilst you’re not using it.
"I remember the sweep would come and partly to get rid of us they’d say go outside and wait for the brush to come out the top and you’d shout 'it’s out. 'It’s very exciting for kids. When you think about all the things these days kids have got, computer games and iPad, even now kids still love the chimney sweep coming. It’s a little bit different."
David said chimneys and sweeping are something he's always been fascinated in and after immersing himself in the subject, he turned his interest into a passion. He said: "When I tell people I'm a chimney sweep, they think I'm joking. They don't believe me.
"They say I didn't know chimneys sweeps still existed and even the street people will come up to you and say don't see many of you around anymore. People will stand in the street and say I didn't think there were any chimney's left anymore and behind them there’s about 30 chimneys.
"If you’re in an area built before the 60s, you’ll likely see chimneys galore. People will want to shake my hand because it’s considered good luck to shake the hand of a chimney sweep. It’s an old custom and some get invited to weddings as they're believed to be a lucky charm.
"It's one of those things, because it’s not seen day to day, because it's something that evokes memories of childhood and simpler times, people really like to stop and chat, they get very interested in it. Then they get into stories about how their mum would fan the fire with a sheet of newspaper to get it going and then the newspaper would then catch fire."
While on a job, David said customers are just as fascinated with the whole process. He said: "Peeling back a board off a chimney breast to find a fireplace that hasn't been touched since the 1960s - that’s quite common in Liverpool.
"There’s obviously very big houses, some with six or seven fireplaces and to take them all out would have been a messy job so they literally put boards across them and they've been left there for 30, 40 years. It’s very much a social trade - people will literally stand by you as you’re sweeping the chimney or they'll go out and come in and say have you found any dead bodies, or any gold or anything like that.
"The things you tend to find in chimneys is dead birds, maybe birds nests, bricks, mortar, soot." Mr Soot’s sweeps still use traditional rods and brushes to clean flues, but also have state-of-the-art inspection equipment such a CCTV cameras, drones and flue leakage testers.
In the last year, David said the business has swept and tested over 1,500 chimneys across the region - many of which hadn’t been touched for years. Seeing a massive trend for this in the likes of the Georgian Quarter, Woolton, Allerton and Mossley Hill, David said many other households are also turning back to the trend due to the cost of living crisis.
The team has also welcomed a ban on the sale of house coal, which came into force on May 1. Under current legislation, the whole of Liverpool City Council area is a designated Smoke Control Area (SCA), meaning it’s an offence to burn house coal in the city. However, because of its wide availability more generally, many people were unwittingly committing an offence.
Mr Soot is also a founding member of Burnright, a grass roots campaign aimed at educating woodburner, multi fuel stove and open fire users on how to use their fireplaces in a responsible way. To David, being a sweep is far more than "just a cleaning job."
David said: "We’re the only HETAS-approved chimney sweeps in the city, and demand for our services is growing at a rate of knots. This is because you can’t just simply open up a chimney start using it. There’s a process of sweeping, inspecting and testing for leaks which should be followed.
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"Old chimneys can be in very poor condition. You’ll sometimes open up a fireplace to find fallen bricks. This is a massive Carbon Monoxide risk, so our job in assessing each chimney is very important. Sweeps these days also provide advice and guidance on how to get the best out of your appliance.
"It’s fantastic to see a new generation drawn to the flicking flames of a real fireplace. They’re generally also more clued-up on the need for regular sweeping, servicing and maintenance. It’s far more than just a cleaning job.
"Unlike Mary Poppins, we certainly don't dance on roofs. Chimney sweeping might be an old trade - but in the 21st century, it remains as important and needed as ever."
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