Chim-Chiminey
Andy Pattullo is a qualified and insured Chimney Sweep from the Forest of Dean and offers a great service.
"I spent 17 years in the Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade working in Edinburgh and although it is a very rewarding job, saving lives and protecting the community, it can also be a very stressful job so I changed career and worked with film and TV stunt horses for several years until foot and mouth halted the movement of livestock. I was offered a few months work from a friend who was living in the Forest and setting up an engineering company but 9 years later and still here, I was like many other people in 2009, made redundant.
So after having a wood burner stove fitted last year and realising that this is a growing market and thinking of my years of fire fighting experience, I decided to train to be a chimney sweep. But not just any chimney sweep, I wanted to be able to do a proper job and make my customers safe from chimney fires and be able to give advice and to solve chimney problems that could lead to carbon monoxide poisoning and therefore potentially saving lives and protecting the community again.
To this end I trained with the Guild of Master Sweeps and after an intensive training period, both in the classroom learning the building regulations and construction and out in the field working with different master sweeps learning all the techniques, from traditional brush to power sweeping and the tricks of the trade, was passed as a certified chimney sweep and now have access to any Guild sweep in the country to help solve any problem that may be encountered."
