IF you ring chimney sweep Dawn Peters and she doesn’t answer straightaway, persevere — she’s probably half way up a chimney.

Or at a wedding bestowing good luck on the newlyweds.

Dawn, 36, from St Thomas, is one of the region’s only female chimney sweeps. She picked up her first brush two years ago and set up her business in October.

She said: “Myself and my partner have several open fireplaces in our house which were cleaned by a rather rude chimney sweep. My partner reckoned I could do a better job, so I gave it a go, went off to chimney sweep school, and haven’t looked back since. It’s been a fantastic career choice.”

Dawn is registered with the Institute of Chimney Sweeps — and she said that it’s definitely not just a man’s job.

She said: “I think society does see chimney sweeping stereotypically as a man’s job, but you don’t have to be strong to do it, just fit, so there’s no reason women can’t do it.”

An average sweep usually takes Dawn about 40 minutes to an hour — but she’s been known to rummage around in sooty chimney stacks for more than six hours if it is really dirty.

She said: “Initially when I started up my business last year I told everyone I know who had chimneys and got work through word of mouth.

“Since November I’ve had my website and business has been a very positive experience. I was told by other sweeps that work tends to go quiet by February but I’m still cleaning three or four chimneys a day.”

Dawn said she’s had a lot of positive reactions from people about challenging the stereotype — but not from everyone.

“I’ve had a mixture of reactions from people,” she said. “In one conversation I was introduced to a man as a chimney sweep and he said, ‘but you’re a girl’ and I’ve had other people turn round and say, ‘but you’ll get dirty’.

“There have also been some stove suppliers that haven’t been willing to promote me because I’m a woman. I find this really surprising in today’s society.

“I clean the chimneys of  all the fuel groups — wood, coal, oil and gas — all flues and I have experience with Agas and Rayburns.”

A 200-year-old tradition is that chimney sweeps bring luck to couples getting married, and Dawn is available for the celebration, with her traditional brush and a limerick at the ready.

She said: “I turn up in a top hat and tails with my traditional rod and brush ready to pose with the happy couple or tell a limerick.

“It all depends on what the couple wants but it’s supposed to bring good luck.”