That reminds me. I read Steeplejack, a YA book you suggested, IIRC. It held my interest, but I would have loved more world building and detail on steeplejacking. The few tidbits in the beginning about steeplejacking mention that steeple jacks had to chisel out holes in chimney brickwork and attach ladders every time they work on a chimney. That piqued my interest in the details of how it worked, which are even more interesting than the book. A quick search on YouTube reveals a wealth of videos featuring Fred Dibnah, and techniques of steeplejacks from the late 1800’s.
The precarious technique of “laddering” a chimney, attaching the ladders by pounding a piton called a “dog” into a piece of wood loosly stuck in a hole in the bricks, is covered in detail. It’s time-tested, yet dodgy looking stuff that is fascinating to me:
It’s strangely discordant to watch Fred Dibnah and his partner laboriously haul ladders up the side of a chimney and attach them with with thin, loosely tied rope and all too few iron pitons, while a film crew effortlessly keeps up with them, filming from a handy cherry picker basket.
A full video:
