Full video

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ah merry

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Poppins do Chimney Sweep still exist I

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don't know where would I find one go

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look it up how about chimney sweeps near

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me oh who's

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this I'm Kevin Giddings and uh I've been

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sweeping chimneys under milra chimney

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sweeps for 42 years but the job has been

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around a lot longer than Kevin and used

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to be very dangerous today chimney

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sweeping is not only safe but

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modernizing and people like Kevin and

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his team are proud carriers of the broom

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with family at the core of what they do

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I want to carry that on and I'm sure my

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son will do the same a day's work for

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Kevin can vary from a normal home to

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Buckingham Palace it is a very special

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family that we all work around to make

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certain that the king is okay and we are

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very proud to do so but every job Begins

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the same step one load the

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van Chim Chim Chim Chim Chim

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Chim step two arrive at location and

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inspect the chimney to find out what

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brush size is

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needed we have about 20 or different

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brushes going from 4 in up to 36 in

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whatever you need Kevin is the man for

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the job step free

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sweep step four head home after a good

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day's work put your feet up and wait for

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all the s to blow

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[Music]

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over Sur it's not quite that simple they

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made it sound so

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easy why don't you just go try it then

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okay my job is to get that brush all the

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way at the top of that 8 m chimney boys

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show me the

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ropes it just gets twisted on gently

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pushes all the way through and then it

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won't be a problem simple enough in

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principle but soup builds up and it's

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tough on your

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back here we go I got weak knees do you

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want to try to do some more I would love

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to give it a go you either go down from

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the top or up from the bottom with a

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very long broom I had to push it up at

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25t shaft it was only a couple of feet

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wide Kevin knew how I felt about it I

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think I'm convincing you not to be a

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chimney s I'm really

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tired Can you feel it coming out I think

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so yeah hey there you go

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yeah now do you want me to sweep down or

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do you want to do it downwards I'll give

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it a go go you're brave boy I need the

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workout you know why not oh you're

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getting an expert now sure he's done

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this before there you know I think that

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is the last Rod I think you are there

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tap that a little bit so you're not

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getting the S out he worked very hard

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well done Stuart well done he still uses

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traditional methods but like many sweeps

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Kevin is embracing the modern era with

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the help of his son bent that just

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clicks in there we attach that to our

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trusted drill so up and down the flu add

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another one on and do the same

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again right awesome over to you now an

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electric driven broom can save

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ours really moves just like that exactly

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that a quick clean up and we're good to

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[Music]

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go oh you were right that was brutal

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it's not as simple as it seems stop

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moaning it's still better than it used

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to be how bad was it well we need to

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rewind all the way back to the

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Industrial Revolution the shift to Coal

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powerered cities meant demand for

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chimney sweeps not only skyrocketed but

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chimneys themselves

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narrowed children as young as three or

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four were the only ones who could fit

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they were often orphans sold into the

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hands of adult Master sweeps these small

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children were forced to climb up the

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shoes sometimes naked to reduce the risk

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of being stuck if they did get stuck

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their masters would light a fire

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underneath them supposedly to encourage

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movement it's estimated that one in

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three chimney sweeps didn't make into

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adulthood those who did survive suffered

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from ailments such as deformed spines

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broken bones lung disease and even a

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rare cancer called s wart one of the

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first known occupational cancers

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eventually people for bought back lord

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shawbury a 19th century social reformer

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who campaigned for the rights of poor

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Britains LED activists in pushing for

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Change and in 1864 Britain finally

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banned child chimney sweeps by 1875 the

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practice was nearly wiped out in the UK

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it wasn't long after this tragic chapter

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that perhaps ironically chimney sweeps

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became good luck

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charms oh I think Kevin mentioned

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something about that a chimney sweep

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saved George the second's life his horse

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and carriage had lost control a chimney

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sweep jumped out of nowhere and stopped

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the king's horse and he decreed chimney

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sweeps are lucky since then it's become

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a tradition for chimney sweeps to appear

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at weddings as a good luck charm for the

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brides Kevin has some experience in this

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I have been attending weddings since

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1985 I dress up in top hats I wear my

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boiler suit I wear a creat with a black

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dress jacket in tails and black boots

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that are normally dirty so that then

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they know I'm meant to of set to jimney

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I've had so much fun doing them and

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Kevin has a special feline helper who

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attracts even more curiosity they don't

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ask anything about

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me Newly Weds aren't Kevin's only

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special clientele we do all the Royal

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palaces Buckingham Palace Clarence House

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St james' Palace Kensington Palace

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Windsor Castle and high grve so uh quite

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a special lot of good jobs I look after

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they also do the kitchen at Hampton

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Court Palace it's the largest fireplace

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in England and burns every day of the

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year except for three days Christmas and

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twice a year when Kevin comes to clean

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it we have to go after hours cuz we

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close the whole room off so the only way

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that I can sweep Hampton Court Palace is

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to climb up the chimney and I literally

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disappear in there for about 2 hours my

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clothes are filthy and you can see a

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little black mark all the way around

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here where obviously it was the S was

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trying to get through sweeping chimneys

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at the Royal palaces it's like being

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part of a family I've been there for 20

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years now so it is a very special family

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that we all work around to make certain

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that the king is okay and we are very

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proud to do so Kevin's an expert in his

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field but he's also turning an eye to

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the future I can't sweep forever but I

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will sweep for as long as I can the job

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itself means everything to me I've been

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so proud that you know everybody is so

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milber chimney sweets know what they're

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talking about milber chimney sweets can

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sorted out