This is the review of Vic's book which appeared recently in the Rochdale Observer.  

Tales of steeplejacks entertain
Facit, near Whitworth, is a place for fights. Or was. But one fight had the half the village watching on with a mixture of awe and dread. For it took place at the top of a 200ft mill chimney! That was a long time ago, but it’s just one of the fascinating anecdotes that have emerged from the free-flowing pen of former steeplejack Victor Shackleton in a recently-published book, `There Was A Time'.

Mr Shackleton was born in Mossley [the review is not correct on this] with the scent of brickwork and smoke in his nostrils. His father was a steeplejack, a noble profession in those days when tall mill chimneys were a prominent feature on the skyline of most cotton towns around Rochdale, including Bury Bolton and Oldham. Steeplejacks were considered with awe by most people, not just for their courage and bravery in climbing the outside of such massive structures, but for their undeniable professionalism and satisfaction with a job well done.

In his new book, Mr Shackleton, who now lives in Dukinfield, writes that long before Fred Dibnah starred on television screens, there were many steeplejacks who enjoyed the public spotlight as they went about their truly unique business. In fact one had to go back to the late 1800s when a London steeplejack became famous for his repairs to prestigious, high and famous monuments, such as the great clock faces of Big Ben, working from a bosun’s chair. Joseph Smith was a famous Rochdale steeplejack. Mr Smith (as he liked other people to address him) had built up a reputation as a steeplejack of the highest order. Certainly he was no slouch where climbing chimneys was concerned. According to Mr Shackleton, Mr Smith really did earn his money and he tackled some fearful chimney jobs in his time. He never drank, nor smoked, and although lacking in height he was a strong and sturdy type who did not suffer fools gladly. Great crowds would gather in a state of excitement when he was felling a chimney stack.

Mr Shackleton relates the story of a contemporary of Mr Smith, Bill Larkins, who was carrying out repairs to a chimney stack when another worker, at the top of the stack with him, suddenly went berserk and tried to throw himself down inside the chimney’s shaft. In desperation Larkins took hold of the man’s feet and lifted him back onto the chimney top. Incredibly Mr Smith had a similar experience when an employee began a heated argument with his boss as they worked aloft. This ended in a fight between the two men, witnessed by a crowd of amazed onlookers on the ground far below They looked on in amazement at the fierce hand-to-hand battle going on above them. The affray ended when Mr Smith knocked his opponent out with a hammer blow to the head, lowering the unfortunate loser to the ground on a pulley.

`There Was A Time' is for sale at a cost of £10 by ringing 0161-338-3773 or by writing to the author at 238 Cheetham Hill Road, Dukinfield, Cheshire SK16 5JY.