Richard Vine's family have been chimney-sweeps for five generations.
His greatgreat-grandfather set up business 150 years ago in Barnes,
where he plied his trade with a horse and cart. Richard himself started
to help in the family firm when he was 12, and at first his work consisted
mostly of removing and tightening redhot nuts and bolts prior to cleaning
industrial boilers, rather than sweeping chimneys. The eighties fashion
for restoring open fireplaces, however, brought new business for Richard,
and he now uses an industrial vacuum cleaner in combination with the
traditional malacca canes and bristled brushes.
Sweeps have been thought of as lucky charms ever since the days of
George II, whose life, it is said, was saved when a chimney sweep
halted his bolting horses. The King pronounced that from then on sweeps
would bring good luck. Richard can earn a handsome fee for attending
weddings in this capacity, but feels a little silly doing so and prefers
to stick to cleaning chimneys instead.
There are just 600 chimney sweeps in the country today, compared to
the 25,000 to be found in Victorian England. Richard's four daughters
are still small and his brother is a tree surgeon, so the mantle of
keeping up the family tradition falls on him. He is happy to carry
on the work and says cheerfully: "You never know, one of my children
might want to take it on." A rare breed indeed. Richard Vine,
28 Clifford Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 7EA, (0181) 332 6373. He charges
approximately £25 per chimney.
