Many children aspire to be pop stars or astronauts when they grow up but one north-east girl is preparing to take over a family firm of chimney sweeps.
For more than 30 years Kenny Paterson has been cleaning lums around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.
After injuring himself while working as a builder, Mr Paterson decided to change direction in 1986 and started to focus on sweeping chimneys and flues.
Ten years later his son Ian joined the business, Sooty Sweeps, which has grown and changed over the past 30 years, and now sells stoves from a small showroom in Lumphanan.
In order to ensure the firm remains firmly in the family, Kenny’s grandchildren Chloe, 12, and Ian James, 15, have started to learn the tricks of the trade.
The grandad said: “I am a builder by trade and started up a business 40 years ago with my wife Charlotte.
“But after an injury I decided to focus on sweeping chimneys and have been doing that ever since.
“It’s nice for me to be able to work alongside my son and to see Chloe and her brother taking an interest in it.
“It’s good to think something that I started up will be carried on into the future.
“There are not many people who can say they have done something like that.”
Mr Paterson said that, although it is relatively unusual for women to go into business as chimney sweeps, it is not unheard of.
And he said that, while Chloe would be able to learn a lot from him and her dad, there are many courses she can go on to become fully qualified as a chimney sweep.
Mr Paterson said another perk of the job is the community spirit shared by sweeps around the country and even the world.
He said: “We are members of the National Association of Chimney Sweeps.
“This allows you to meet a lot of other people in the trade.
“It’s like one big family really.”
Chloe said she enjoyed watching her family work and was looking forward to learning more about the business she hopes one day she will be able to run.
