SWEEPING CHANGES

Many older Brigg residents will remember having their family chimneys swept by Herbert 'Sooty' Welbourn in the days when the vast majority of private and council-owned homes relied on coal fires for heating and (to a lesser extent) hot water.
'Sooty' was a senior member of Brigg Urban District Council and did his sweeping with old-fashioned brushes.
Fires would be allowed to go out and the hearth given time to cool before our man arrived to exercise his skills and remove the accumulated soot which had built up over many months.
This was important because of the risk of fire. Soot falling down the chimney, into hearths, could also spoil carpets and furniture.
Did Coun Welbourne get his nickname from the puppet pairing Sooty and Sweep? Or was 'Sooty' just a reference to his calling? We were never sure; probably the latter.
Living in South View Avenue, unfortunately he was right opposite the grassy area used by children from the Springbank estate - and further afield - for their spirited games of football and cricket.
Only a small hawthorn hedge and the road separated Sooty's 'estate' from the playing field - and many, many balls ended up in his garden.
When playing cricket, we had to resist the temptation to play the lofted straight drive back over the bowler's head. For it was only a 30-yard carry into Sooty's garden.
However, on a fateful summer's night, one of our number could not resist giving a juicy full toss 'the treatment' and sent the hard and shiny cricket ball sailing straight through the Welbourn family's sitting room window.
You couldn't blame him for being very angry indeed, and wanting a ban on youngsters playing cricket near his home.
Unfortunately, it was his own council which provided that stretch of ground as a playing field for us to use.
We'd much rather have had the run of the nearby recreation ground - for football and cricket - but the council would not allow that...unless you were prepared to pay for a properly organised game.
This painting by former Brigg resident Stephen Hill nicely captures the character of Coun Welbourn and has featured in a previous issue of the Scunthorpe Telegraph's very popular Nostalgia magazine.