I have been talking about going on a training course for a few years now and i’ve finally gone down and got my City & Guilds accredited , “Chimney Sweeping and Advanced fault finding” certificate via Rodtech at their Heats Centre training facilities in Hingham , Norfolkshire.
I wasn’t sure how much i would know it being English rules & regulations but i was glad to find i had already self taught myself the majority of the written course information via the internet, so it wasn’t too much of a struggle. It was however, voluminous and the class room day was a long one, for all concerned the trainer too bless her cotton socks. I thought she was very good and confident so was surprised to hear her admit to a wee bit nervousness.
The second day i found invaluable , i found lots of holes in my own knowledge so it was great to fill them in. The trainers being a family of dedicated & active sweeps were a great bunch and really decent people. Picking their brains was in itself invaluable, as was being allowed to play with clean stoves with no fear of breaking them…exponential learning curve hahaha. I met sweeps from England and Estonia, which i think is the first time i have set eyes on other ‘real’ chimney sweeps.
The third and final day , was the day of reckoning and exam conditions.. yes i did get a wee bit nervous on the practical and i don’t know why ? The exam , i think i dropped only 2 or 3 questions … the best part by far though was the advanced fault finding. I dropped only one flaw in it but wow it was a learning process too… i am by nature quite analytical but still managed to learn a lot. Somethings it is true you must learn by doing and having competent brains to pick was just fantastic.
All in all a very worthwhile time spent and i will most certainly be back to do their oftec stove installation course as soon as i can.