Birds, love notes and silver - what sweeps find in chimneys

A bundle of love letters tied with a red ribbon, a child's party balloon and a nine-foot scaffold pole are just some of the strange items discovered inside British chimneys, according to sweeps.

Throw in four tonnes of nesting material and a pile of pornographic magazines and it seems there is never a dull day being a chimney sweep.

"You name it, we found it," said Martin Glynn, president of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps.

The recent discovery by a Cornwall sweep of a live owl that got stuck in a chimney stove came during a routine clean at a home in Polperro, Cornwall.

So the BBC asked chimney sweeps what other objects and animals they had found stuck or stashed away.

Among Glynn's most unusual discoveries was a bundle of love letters exchanged between a homeowner and a man in Belgium which had been hidden in a chimney.

The sweep also found builders' boots, hammers and a scaffold pole that had fallen down a chimney while roofing work was being carried out.

In Devon, chimney sweep Jonathan Miles said one of the strangest things he had found was a "mummified bag of chips" alongside a stack of pornographic magazines inside a chimney in Topsham.

Miles, who runs Best Chimney Clean in Exeter, said chimney sweeps often uncovered items that had been deliberately hidden away.

Over the years he has found notes, cigarette packets, coins and letters to Father Christmas. He said he also knew of a London chimney sweep whose father had discovered a gun inside a chimney.

Wildlife is another common cause of call-outs. Miles said he was contacted several times a month to rescue animals that had become trapped inside chimneys, including wood pigeons, squirrels, magpies, starlings and even a seagull.

One recent job at a listed manor house in mid Devon, uncovered what he believed were decades' worth of jackdaw nests.

Alongside huge amounts of nesting material were silver-coloured spoons, sugar tongs, bottle tops and fragments of clay pigeon targets which the birds had collected.

"What was really unusual about this one... we found half a dozen spoons, like, silver-type spoons, sugar tongs, bottle tops and caps," he said.

Miles estimated around four tonnes of nesting material was removed from the property, a task that took two chimney sweeps about 16 hours to complete.

Some birds choose chimneys as nesting sites instead of trees, said the RSPCA.

If birds are nesting in a chimney, they should be left alone because wild birds, their eggs and their young are protected by law. It is also worth remembering that some species raise more than one brood each year, so a nest may still be active even if birds have not been seen using it recently.

If a homeowner wants to stop birds returning the following year, they should wait until the nest has been completely abandoned and then use a professional to fit a wire mesh guard or chimney cowl. This helps prevent future nesting without disturbing protected birds.

A fully feathered adult bird that has become trapped in a chimney can usually be removed and released during daylight hours if it is alert, active, uninjured and shows no signs of being affected by soot.

However, birds should not be removed if they appear dazed, injured, have been trapped for several hours, have soot in their eyes, or seem to be young nestlings or fledglings. In these cases, the quickest way to get help is to contact a vet.

How to help a bird trapped in a chimney

1. Open all windows and any external doors in the room.
2. Pull back curtains to maximise natural light.
3. Leave the room and monitor the situation for up to two hours.
4. If the bird is flying around indoors, leave only one obvious exit route open where possible.
5. Switch off indoor lights and close curtains over any windows you do not want the bird to fly towards.
6. Place a torch at the bottom of the chimney to help the bird see the room below, but do not shine it directly at the bird.
7. Birds that enter a room from a chimney will usually head towards the brightest light source. Creating a single clear escape route can help them find their way outside without becoming confused.

If the bird escapes but appears sick or injured, seek veterinary help. Never try to catch a flying injured bird by throwing a towel or blanket over it, as this could make existing injuries worse.

While unusual discoveries can make for memorable stories, both sweeps stressed that chimney maintenance is primarily about safety.

Glynn warned blocked chimneys could have serious consequences. He described one incident in London where a birthday balloon became lodged in a chimney after a gas fire was lit.

"It nearly gassed and poisoned the family because the balloon literally blocked the chimney," he said.

Miles said qualified chimney sweeps took their safety role seriously and worked to prevent chimney fires and carbon monoxide risks.

"Our primary role is about safety. It's about making sure that if anyone's running an open fire or a wood burner or multi-fuel stove, or any sort of solid heating device... it is safe to use," he said.

Glynn added: "A clean chimney is a safer chimney."

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