It was fantastic to see a crammed full St Catherine’s Church in Ventnor for this event, especially as it was a benefit concert in aid of the Poppy Appeal – a cause close to my heart as my father was in the RAF and a life-long member of the Royal British Legion himself.

What does that have to do with chimney sweeping? William Nixon has cleverly decided to use his own professional experience in both areas to write, produce and perform a piece that informs as well as entertains. There were tears and laughter as we were taken through the history of chimney sweeping, from the earliest use of chimneys through to the present day, in a mix of monologues, readings, songs, instrumental music and dramatic vignettes.

There were extremely poignant moments, such as a reading from ‘The Water Babies’, and a staged funeral of a little chimney sweep, complete with coffin, mourners, funeral music and an impassioned sermon. The stark realities of the use of child labour was brought to us also by factual information, and one particularly powerful dramatic section managed to make us laugh while realising the harsh truths – we saw a little girl being bought from her impoverished family to be sent up the chimney – the cleverly designed prop even enabled us to see the cramped conditions in which she was forced to work – and how she became overcome by the fumes and fell, injuring herself. Yet the way this was presented, with the cheerful master sweep, calling up the chimney ‘That’s right – sweepy sweepy, scrapey, scrapey’  drew some smiles, the humour actually pointing up the horror of it all more effectively.

With its wealth of information, the show had the potential to be one long lesson, but the different characters presented to us by William himself, superbly aided by his own children Freddie and Gertie, along with Rob and Katie Walker-Green and their children Noah  and Maisie, gave the piece the variety, humour and entertainment which made the two hours of what William dismissed as ‘nonsense’ (actually it was anything but) fly by. The talented actors were ably supported by Delia Studt and Jennifer Culshaw providing some wonderful musical accompaniments and dedicated musical interludes.

I left the church knowing I had learned more about the history of chimney sweeping; with an increased empathy for the young children caught up in the trade, but also uplifted and admiring of the talents of the small group of actors, notably the children, and the versatility of William himself who gave us a number of characters, including a hilarious rendition of the Duchess of Kent!

I look forward to seeing what this talented group of actors do next….