DAVID POULTERBeing a chimney sweep meant more to David Poulter, who died on 19 April, 2008, than removing soot from hundreds of homes in North Staffordshire.
He was invited, Mary Poppins-style and as custom allows, to attend more weddings than he could remember, to kiss the bride for good luck.
Mr Poulter was born at Farnborough, Surrey, and after leaving school he worked in London repairing war damage. But his health was not good, and he was advised to seek employment in the open air. The YMCA helped to find him a job on a farm near Uttoxeter in Staffordshire.
Through a friend he was introduced to June Atkinson, of Blythe Bridge, and they were married in 1954 at St Philomena’s Church, Caverswall. Their first home was in Cheadle before moving to Blythe Bridge, where for some years June had a grocery store on the Uttoxeter Road. For the last seven years their home was at Barlstone Avenue.
For five years, Mr Poulter was a miner at Florence Colliery, but then he saw an advertisementofferin g a chance ‘to be your own boss’ by acquiring equipment to sweep chimneys.
The idea appealed to what Mrs Poulter described as ‘the cockney sparrow in him’ and so started a 43-year career in which he built up a customer base over a wide area around Blythe Bridge. At that time, domestic coal fires were common, but even now there are enough to warrant the need for regular chimney sweeping.
Part of the job, Mrs Poulter accepted, was to respond to invitations to weddings to kiss the bride for luck. This often meant that both she and her husband were asked to attend wedding receptions. Mr Poulter got on well with people and he was always a welcome guest. He made no charge for his delightful service, but asked for donations towards the work of the Douglas Macmillan Hospice in Stoke-on-Trent, and in that way raised thousands of pounds for the vital cause.
His work schedule was demanding, and he would often leave home at 6.30 in the morning for a 12-hour day. But he enjoyed his work, said Mrs Poulter, because ‘he loved going into people’s houses as he said they offered the best possible working conditions, and he got on first-name terms with customers from all walks of life’.
He never minded the fact that chimney sweeps get dirty, as his previous work in farming and down the mine also involved dirt. But new methods of removing soot reduce the possibility of mess, and he took pride in leaving premises spotless.
Somehow he found time to be an enthusiastic supporter of St Philomena’s Church, fund-raising with football pools and as a caller at bingo sessions.
In the 1960s, he was manager of the Duke of Wellington (Blythe Bridge) Sunday football league team. Football was his great love, although he did not play the game and as a young man took a greater interest in boxing.
As a Londoner he supported Charlton Athletic Football Club, but on moving north he ‘converted’to become a season ticket holder with Stoke City. Sea cruises were his favourite holidays and over the years he and his wife enjoyed 20 of them.
His family, clients and friends remember David Poulter as a man with an unfailing sense of humour. His wife reported that even in his last days in hospital the nurses said he was often making them laugh.
Mr Poulter died, aged 76, at the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary, Stoke-on-Trent, after 15 months of failing health. As well as his wife June, he was survived by a son, two daughters and six grandchildren. The funeral was at St Philomena’s Catholic Church on 28 April, 2008.
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