Hot Chestnuts Man shares his secrets and meet his dog called Albert

Yorkshire Post

Meet Albert the dog and the Hot Chestnuts Man who has been trading for 42 years.

Transcript

00:00 How long have you been a chestnut man?

00:02 42 years.

00:03 I don't have to cook them right now.

00:06 And what does it take to cook them right?

00:08 You've got to get the coal and you've got to sort it.

00:11 I sort everyone out with a knife.

00:13 The other chestnut man, they've all tried to copy me.

00:16 They do them on gas, you get smelly gas on the nuts.

00:19 I do them on coke and wood, you know, like I've always done.

00:23 And where do you sell your chestnuts now?

00:26 I sell them here, Barnsley.

00:29 I was on Cattleford on Tuesday, I was on Kippock on Sunday.

00:34 This Sunday I'm going to Guiseley, the following Sunday I'm going to Putsey.

00:42 I go all over with it, you know what I mean, with the Swiss Aliso and everything.

00:46 How popular are chestnuts these days?

00:48 Well if you do them right like me, they're very popular.

00:51 A lot of people do them and for all their bad things they don't cook them properly and

00:55 they don't sell them.

00:56 They asked me to go to Liverpool, they asked me to go to Glasgow, Scotland, Southampton,

01:03 a place called Shipping Sudbury, I don't know where that is but it sounds good.

01:07 But it's a bit too far.

01:08 Who asks you?

01:09 The district, do I get those full?

01:11 I don't ask for size.

01:14 Is this your dog?

01:16 He likes to bark when big dogs look at him.

01:19 Is he your guard dog?

01:21 Chestnut guard dog.

01:23 And what got you into selling chestnuts?

01:26 Well my dad used to do it, you know what I mean, we have stuff on the fairgrounds in

01:30 the winter, my dad wasn't doing them so he made a chestnut.

01:33 He made the first one out of my brown and I'm 71 now, you know.

01:39 Wow, and how have you made this one, have you made it yourself?

01:42 I made this myself three years ago, all the lights are running, there's white lights

01:46 and I have music on, you know what I mean, it looks nice when it's all lit up, you know.

01:51 And where do you live yourself?

01:52 I live on a farm, I live on a farm, just on Kirkshall, that's about two miles from here.

01:58 Brilliant.

01:59 Hi Albert, you're the chestnut dog then?

02:02 Yeah, he's about the seventh or eighth dog I've had.

02:05 And how important is it for you to have your dog with you?

02:08 Well, they all know the dog, they all bring him chicken and sandwiches and pork pies,

02:12 they never bring me anything but they always think about the dog.

02:15 What's the chestnut community like?

02:17 There's a nice people around here, you know in Bounsie, there are very nice people in Bounsie,

02:22 I've been going there for about 30 odd years, you know.

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