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