A London chimney sweep has revealed some of the strangest things he has found in people’s homes – from a World War Two revolver and a teenage girl’s diary to dead pigeons and porn magazines.
Josh Firkins, 37, from Enfield, has been sweeping chimneys across the capital for the last 20 years.
He works for his family business, H Firkins and Sons, which was founded by his great, great, great grandfather in 1860 – and has been passed down through the generations ever since.
The dad-of-three says no day is ever the same at his job, mainly because he spends a lot of his time finding surprises up people’s chimneys.
Some items are from decades ago, such as a collection of lost love letters, but some have been found right at the right moment – such as a badly-placed gas pipe which could have caused an explosion.
Mr Firkins said: “We find a lot of things up people’s chimneys.
“We get called out all the time because there’s a bird – usually a pigeon – that’s gotten stuck. So we rescue them and help set them free.
“Sadly, we often find dead birds in chimneys too, so not such a happy ending there.
“Another regular is children’s letters to Father Christmas, which is sweet.
“I always pass them onto the parents just in case they haven’t seen. But recently, I gave one to a mother – and it was from her child who had just passed away.
“So that was pretty emotional.
“As for more unusual cases, my dad once found a World War Two revolver wrapped up in a letter with German writing.
“The letter fell apart instantly, as you’d expect from paper from decades ago, so we don’t know what it said.
“I also once found a diary of a teenage girl, written in the early 90s. It was very insightful, actually.
“I wish I had read it when I was a teenage boy as it would have been quite useful.
“Other finds include an engagement ring, a gold Rolex, and stashes of old money.
“One I remember well is finding old love letters written by a doctor.
“He had to hide them as he was gay and it was the 1950s.
“And there are practical ones too. I was once cleaning someone’s chimney and discovered a gas pipe had been built through it.
“That was crazy because I said to the family, ‘If something had leaked, you would be living in a bungalow and not a mansion block’.
“Because that would have caused a huge explosion.”
Mr Firkins said there is one item which he used to find inside people’s chimneys all the time – but not so much in the last 15 years.
He said: “We used to find porn magazines constantly, which had obviously been hidden there.
“It was a bit awkward because it is like, ‘What do you do with them?’
“I’m not going to take them as I don’t want a stack in my van, but if someone’s partner find them shortly after I leave, then it’s kind of, ‘Well, the chimney sweep was last here’.
“I would just put them to the side while I was cleaning the chimney and return them to their place afterwards.
“But that was a thing 15 years ago. Not so much anymore.”
Mr Firkins has also been called out to a house just after builders working on a family’s extension found a dead body up the chimney.
He said: “They were human remains from a long time ago, and it was clear the person had been a chimney sweep.
“But I got called out afterwards to help. Fortunately, the body was gone when I got there, as otherwise that would have been pretty dark.”
When he’s not finding strange items, Mr Firkins spends most of his time cleaning chimneys or offering ‘chimney consultation services’ – such as when someone is considering an extension or when a chimney is making an odd sound.
He services a range of homes across the capital, from council blocks to multi-million pound mansions, and says he particularly enjoys the social aspect of his job.
Mr Firkins said: “It’s interesting because you go into people’s houses once a year at most and so it’s a real catchup when you next visit.
“Some people I’ve been going to every few years for 15 years – and so I’ve seen their children go from five-year-olds to 20-year-olds who have moved out.
“It’s also fun just seeing lots of homes across London. One day I’ll be in a council block in Holloway and the next I’m in a film star’s house in Chelsea.
“It’s funny because they always have their Oscars or Baftas on their mantelpiece.
“One house I really remember belonged to who I’m sure was a Russian oligarch.
“I turned up and there was security, who I’m pretty sure had guns, and they just said to me, ‘Be careful of the rug, it’s worth £150,000.’
“And the rug was right in front of the chimney. So that was memorable.”
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