But modern-day dust-buster Bob Waite's good fortune has brushed off on more than married couples as he has raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities over the year.

Bob was bristling with enthusiasm as he chatted to Mail2's TRACY WALKER.



BOB Waite loves to muck in in more ways than one.

For not only does the 57-year-old hold the unusual job title of chimney sweep, he has also helped to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for charity over the past 20 years as a member of the Peterlee and District Lions and Monk Hesleden Parish Council's fundraising committee.

Bob, from Arnold Avenue, Blackhall, has been a master chimney sweep for 22 years after leaving his previous job as a HGV driver.

The parish councillor, who is married to Denise, 56, said: "I got sick of working for somebody else and started doing this. All the pits were open and I said I would have a bash at it.

"There were a lot more chimneys then, I would be cleaning between 40 or 50 chimneys a week. Now there are obviously not as many coal fires around."

Far from the image of the young Victorian chimney sweep climbing up the chimney stack, Bob uses more modern methods in his work.

He cleans the chimneys from the ground, using a brush, rods and an industrial hoover.

But in the early 1800s, Bob, who is father to Tracey Coverdale, 32, and Gayle Waite, 30, says the business was a lot more sinister.

"Sweeps would employ young kids up the chimney. They started at age five and they were dead by the time they were 11. If there was a little lad who was frightened of the dark or scared to go up they would light a fire underneath him and chase him up.

"In 1843, the law changed to stop kids going up chimneys."

Bob can spend anything between half an hour and four hours on a chimney and travels all around the region doing his work.

Although he says he has never unearthed anything unusual, he regularly finds birds nests and dead birds.

But he says with disappointment: "The old wives' tale that there's money up there isn't true. I've never found a penny."

What Bob loves about his job is: "I am all over the place seeing everybody. Everybody has a story to tell. It's great. All my family think it's quite novel. My wife hates wash days though!

"In this particular area there's only me left. But when I first started there were about 15 of us in Hartlepool and east Durham. It was quite competitive.

"Nowadays, fires are a lot cleaner. It's all gas fires and there are very few real coal fires.

"But I wouldn't swap my job for anything," said Bob, who is granddad to Charlie Campbell, 12, Katie Coverdale, eight, and Maisy Coverdale, 18 months.

Bob wears a boilersuit and a flat cap for his job and has an old-fashioned Dickensian suit with a traditional top hat he as worn when he has been hired as a lucky charm at weddings.

But he reveals that the idea that chimney sweeps appearing at weddings as good luck charms is a myth.

"In the 1850s, when the bride was getting married and they saw a chimney sweep passing, they would grab him and they would take soot off him as the soot had fertility qualities.

"I used to put a teaspoon full of soot in a packet and give it to the bride when I was asked to appear at weddings."

And Bob's good work doesn't stop there.

He has raised thousands of pounds for local causes over the years, including helping to boost the building fund of the £65,000 Blackhall Scouts, Guides and Brownies Hut in the early 1990s.

More recently, along with the Denemouth Caravan Park, he helped to raise £2,800 for a stairlift for Catherine Iceton, a multiple sclerosis sufferer from Peterlee by organising a sponsored walk.

He also takes part in yearly race nights and helps to raise around £2,000 for the Lions charity fund each year.

Daredevil Bob also did a parachute jump with his daughter Gayle and Horden businessman Dick Graham and raised around £2,000 for Mr Graham's Schools for Gambia charity.

Bob helps to raise money for Monk Hesleden Parish Council events like the yearly carnival and funday and has completed nine Boxing Day dips for Lions funds and Macmillan Nurses.

"I just love to see people smile," said Bob, who tops off his charity work by being Santa Claus at Denemouth Caravan Park and the Glendale House Care Home every Christmas.