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the grime accumulated in houses over the winter,
it was time for the annual spring clean. This
usually started with a visit from the chimney
sweep that cleaned the fireplace and chimney.
I remember as a small child living in Greet Rd
looking forward to the visit from the local
chimney sweep he was called Mr Smith who lived
at 56 Windmill Rd and must have had a good trade
in Brentford with all those houses that had
chimneys to clean. Mr Smith was a happy sort
of chap who always had a big smile on his face
hat was always covered in soot. When he arrived
at our house he would put the old sooty sheet
up against the fire place held with a dirty pole
each side and the sheet had a hole in the middle
where he would push the brush and poles in to
the hole to reach up into the chimney then he
would ask me to go into the garden to see if
the brush had popped out of the top of the
chimney. After the visit everything in the room
smelt of soot. Then it was down to scrubbing
and the carpet was taken out in to the
garden and hung over the washing line.
Frustrations soon evaporated as you beat the
carpet to dislodge all the dust and soot,
next the picture rails, where washed furniture
was polished often with bee wax but of course
there was other cleaning jobs to be done all
year around. Black-leading the grate with Zebrite?
and not forgetting the job I hated cleaning the
brasses I had to go around the house armed with
old rags and a can of Brasso also to clean the
number on the front door. Cleaning the front of
your house was very important as the interior
and you would see women scrubbing doorsteps with
donkey stone and washing windows and windowsills
the front of the houses always looked smart and tidy.
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