Pigeons, Pot Smashers & Goodbye to the Chicken Shed
Week beginning 6th October 2025
This week has been one of those where everything seemed to happen at once – pigeons acting like they owned the place, chimneys falling apart in my hands, traffic wardens buzzing like hornets, and even helping a customer change his car battery before I could get on his roof.
Oh, and to top it off – after more than eight years, I finally said goodbye to my trusty (but chaotic) base of operations, the Chicken Shed.
Here’s how the week panned out.
Monday – Pigeon Palaces & Solicitor Showers
The week kicked off in Wigston Leicestershire, where Sanjay had a serious pigeon problem. Someone had gone to heroic lengths installing bird spikes around his solar panels – it looked like Fort Knox up there. Sadly, pigeons are smarter than we give them credit for. They’d just tiptoed through the spikes and set up a five-star nest underneath the panels, Hilton-style. My job? Remove the spikes and fit proper solar mesh. Tenants evicted, problem solved.
Next stop: West Bridgford, where a big commercial property was leaking into a flat above some solicitors’ offices. A lead valley had developed holes the size of teapots, ridge tiles were loose, and slates were gappy. I patched, sealed, adjusted, and tweaked until everything was watertight again. Solicitors downstairs could keep arguing in the dry, and tenants upstairs no longer had an indoor water feature.
The day ended in Houndsgate Court, Nottingham, or at least it was supposed to. The moment I parked, traffic wardens descended on me like a swarm of hornets. I abandoned that survey before my wallet took a beating and instead grabbed some Flexium roof putty from Jayplas building suppies Ltd, before heading to the Chicken Shed for a bit of filming, a skip run, and a water top-up.
Tuesday – Liner Drops, Pot Smashers & an Easy Hire
First job in Allestree Derbyshire – a liner drop at Mr & Mrs Sturgess’ place. Smooth as you like, no drama.
Not quite the same story at Mr & Mrs Jones’ down the road. I was tasked with removing an old gas liner – which went fine until the chimney pot decided it had had enough of life and smashed. So, I fitted a new pot and liner, leaving everything tidy and back in business.
The last job of the day was a cherry picker hire in Chesterfield. Honestly, it couldn’t have been easier. I rolled the machine off the trailer, parked it on the drive, and lifted a air conditioning installer with a plastic pipe cover up in the basket. He cut a bit of plastic pipe off, we screwed a vent cover on (made simpler because the wall was timber-clad), and that was that. Done by 1:30pm, a rare early finish.
Evening was spent on YouTube editing before swapping cherry pickers for woggles, Cub Leader duty at 7:30pm.
Wednesday – Chimneys & Car Batteries
Over to Harlow Wood, Mansfield for a big chimney and ridge repair job for Mitch. His roof needed new flaunching and repointing to both chimney and ridge tiles, plus a tidy-up in the valley.
Only one problem: Mitch’s car hadn’t moved for months after his leg op, and the battery was flatter than a pancake. With modern cars, flat battery = no opening the doors, so there was a right kerfuffle just to get things moving. I ended up setting the cherry picker up across the front of his car while he stuck the battery on charge.
By late afternoon, Mitch had been to Halfords for a new battery, I helped him fit it, and he could finally move the car. Thankfully, I still got the flaunching finished, the chimney repointed, and the roof valley sorted. Job complete and Mitch now had both a solid chimney and a working car.
Thursday – Basford Bricks & a Harvest Festival
Originally I’d allowed two days for Mitch’s job, but finishing in one meant I could squeeze in another. So, I headed to Basford for chimney repairs at Cheltenham Street. Both front and rear chimneys had their flaunching replaced and brick joints ground out and repointed.
Job wrapped up in one day, and I even got home early enough to make it to my daughter’s Harvest Festival at the church. Let’s just say her singing won’t be troubling the X-Factor judges any time soon, but it was brilliant all the same.
Friday – From Chicken Shed to Tesco
With no booked jobs, Friday turned into a mix of odd tasks.
- Morning at the chicken shed, sorting, clearing, and taking inventory of what’s left to sell.
- A chimney survey in Wollerton.
- Back to MJC Motors in Southwell to double-check measurements for their upcoming industrial guttering job. These gutters aren’t cheap, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t order too much – or too little.
By 2pm I was home, only to be swiftly redirected to Tesco by the real boss (the wife) for the weekly shop. From rooftops to shopping aisles, versatility is key.
Saturday – Farewell Chicken Shed
The final day of the week started with taking Robin, my seven-year-old, to her tennis lesson. After dropping her off with Granny Ralph, I went back up to the chicken shed one last time.
I took out the last few bits, swept it clean, and left only a handful of items for sale and the old VW T25 camper van waiting to be collected. And that’s it the end of an era. After more than eight years of calling the Chicken Shed DJI High Access Services HQ, the doors are closed. Sad times, but onwards and upwards, time for the next base.
Follow Me Online
Want to keep up with the rooftops, cherry pickers, and pigeon evictions? You can find me here:
- 🌐 Website: www.dji-uk.co.uk
- 🎥 YouTube: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 🎵 TikTok: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 📸 Instagram: @dan_cherrypicker_man
- 👍 Facebook: Dan the Cherry Picker Man
- Google Business: DJI High Access Services – Google Search
- 🛒 Amazon shop: Amazon – Dan the Cherry Picker Man
Workwear Powered by Granite Workwear
Big thanks to the team at Granite Workwear for keeping me kitted out in gear that can survive rooftops, gutter sludge, traffic wardens, and even Chicken Shed clearance.
👉 Check them out at: www.graniteworkwear.com
