Rochester Sweeps Festival

Imagine a world 400 years ago where children were used as chimney sweeps. The pay was low, it was a dirty trade and there was little reward for the men who did the job and even less for children.

Medway’s annual Sweeps Festival recreates the joy and laughter enjoyed by the chimney sweeps at their traditional holiday: the one time of the year the sweeps could leave the soot behind and have some fun. The sweeps’ holiday was traditionally held on 1 May each year. Locally, they used to mark the occasion by staging a procession through the streets of Rochester.

Their fun continued with the Jack-in-the-Green ceremony, a seven-foot character that they used to waken at dawn on Blue Bell Hill, Chatham. The Jack-in-the-Green would walk with the chimney sweeps in their parade. When the Climbing Boys’ Act 1868 made it illegal to employ young boys to carry out the trade, the traditional procession gradually began to fade. The final May celebration was held in the early 1900s.

The modern day Rochester Sweeps Festival is a colourful mix of music, dancing and entertainment with more than 60 Morris sides and entertainers celebrating throughout the three-day festival. And the odd appearance of a real chimney sweep

Below Guild of Master Sweeps directors Daniel Hodgson and Martin Lewis meet the Mayor of Medway Cllr. Val Goulden and her husband Cllr. Tony Goulden.

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CO-Gas Safety, a small charity has launched a UK wide Schools Poster Competition to raise awareness of the dangers of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.
Ages 10-11 and 16-17 entries can be from individual students.
Posters with simple, strong messages sought.
Informative booklet with colourful pictures and all other details on the website www.co-gassafety.co.uk
Winners will be invited to the House of Lords in October 2008 for presentation of the prizes. Closing date for entries 31st July 2008.

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Daniel Hodgson and Robert Russell will be attending the American National chimney sweeping guild meeting in Nervada in April 2008 representing members of the Guild of Master Sweeps

New database and booking in system to be released soon at largely discounted rates for Guild members from the Engineers Network.net

The new system features the following

Sole Trader

1. All data held securely off site
2. Easy customer creation
3. More accurate address details
4. Satellite navigation integration allowing accurate booking and navigation to the call even with no prior knowledge of area including house names
5. Highlighted booking slots which will highlight when you are in the area which saves time and money
6. Database updated in real-time with call history, appliance details and location
7. Previous call history available on site
8. Professionally logoed certificates / job sheets created on completion of the call
9. Certificates and reminders can be emailed to save on stationary
10. Landlords details held against property and property details held against landlord
11. Customer satisfaction survey on all jobs
12. Warrantee tracking

Company or organization

All of the above points plus

1. You can setup engineers to be able to work within postcode locations to minimise on travel costs
2. Keeps track of engineers qualifications
3. Will warn when qualifications are due for renewal
4. Move work from one engineer to another one
5. Track in real time the engineers progress throughout the day
6. Display risk notice about the property
7. Issue bulletins to all engineers about meetings, training events, product recalls and updates
8. Engineers timesheets
9. Sub contractor management
10. Customised reports against any details held
11. Centralised booking facility
12. First and second line engineers and contractors enabling you to prioritise between the main engineer/contractor or the supporting engineer/contractor for that area

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