Check out Fred Dibnah laddering a chimney. Chimneyjacks and steeplejacks are pretty much a lost tradition anymore. Full length film showcasing Fred's talent:
Outstanding post. I am always blown away when I see things like this for both the cleverness and simplicity of the solution.
Oh man! Watching that makes me pucker like I could pinch off a 3/4 inch rebar! Straddling the top of a shaky ladder, untethered to anything, hundreds of feet in the air and reaching over your head to swing a mallet like he does is not for the faint of heart. It certainly is not for me. One has to wonder though. Back in the day when all of those chimneys were being built, why wouldn’t they build a permanent ladder or other hoist kind of an arrangement onto the exterior of the chimney? Some of you old timers around here may remember a former AK member TowerBoss. He posted some videos that would make me squirm.
