Cleaning chimneys is definitely a forgotten art. The first year that we had to do them we found ourselves up to our eyeballs in dust, dirt, birds’ nests and electricity wires the previous owners had run electric cables through the chimneys! Can you remember how it was done? Well, we had never done it! We learnt through trial and error. First we covered the chimney area with an old sheet with a hole in the middle for the brushes to go through. Then my husband found his old motorbike goggles to protect his eyes! Finally, he started pushing the brushes through. There was thick, black soot everywhere. The kids began to sing, “Chim chimery, chim chimmery chim chim cheree,” my husband panted with the effort and I collapsed with laughter. After what seemed an age, he asked me to go outside to see if the brushes had finally come through. Walking out into the front yard I found a large crowd of neighbours pointing up to our roof with giggles and muted voices, discussing, once again, the folly of being born British! Looking up, the reason became clear. At least 20 meters of pipe, with a very sad looking brush waving on the end, rose above the chimney. It looked as though he was cleaning the sky!