Meet the Sheffield grandfather who quietly devotes his time to cleaning graves around city cemeteries

Meet Steve Haggerty. It was his birthday this month but he doesn’t want to slow down. That’s not Steve’s style.

He has always worked since leaving school at 16 and is now looking forward to a new career, one he hopes will take him into his 70s

Steve, who lives in Sothall, is a father-of-two and grandfather of four. He has run his own plastering company for the last 13 years but it is a physical job as he can testify.

Two shoulder operations have left him wanting a change of direction and the state of his family’s grave gave him the inspiration to tackle a challenge some might think would give you nightmares.

“I work three or four days a week plastering so I had time for something else and it started with our family headstone,” he says.

The headstone is in Orgreave Lane cemetery, Handsworth. His mum Hettie, dad Patrick and brother Arthur are buried there.

This was personal. His brother Arthur died aged just 24 after being in a road accident. Steve was 17 at the time. He says simply: “We were close, we played football together.”

It was troubling Steve that the headstone was looking so much the worse for wear after 44 years service. “It was in a bit of a state” he admits.

“We’d put flowers on it and changed them but you don’t realise how dirty the stone gets.

“I cleaned it and got a brilliant result.

“I couldn’t believe the difference. Someone else asked me to do their family’s headstone and it got me thinking.

“I asked my accountant if I could add it to my job description, I got liability insurance and talked to the council about cleaning headstones. I was told that as long as I had permission I was okay.

“So that was it, now I’ve got a new van and I’m looking forward to it.”

Not so much Halloween then but it has raised his spirits.

His new van will carry the name Headstone Cleaning Sheffield and although Steve will still do some plastering, he hopes his new toy will prove game.

“I’m going to try it, take the gamble and hopefully it pays off,” he says. “It’s less physical than plastering.”

Steve has a routine and it requires patience. “I’ll get there when the cemetery opens, normally just after 8am. You can only do so much at a time so I’ll often leave it for the spray to work for 30 minutes.

“I’ll sit outside and read a paper, enjoy the peace and quiet. It’s like being on a lake fishing, it’s really good.

“I enjoy it, I take pride in my work and achieve something when I see the difference I’ve made.

“You don’t see it straight away, so you might have to repeat the process two or three times.”

His kit includes soapy water, a nail brush, a stone cleaning spray and cloths to dry the stone with.

“Most graveyards provide water, but I always take it in four pint milk cartons just in case. Then there’s buckets and plastic brushes.”

The trick is to leave the spray long enough to get into the nooks and crannies.

“It has got to get in and work. You’ve got to give it at least 30 minutes before you start again.”

Some graves can take two days to finish and Steve always ends with the same ritual. “I put flowers on the grave. It’s a mark of respect. The grave has to be clear when I clean it so when I’m done I leave flowers, it is respectful.”

He always takes before and after photos to show to potential clients and keeps these pictures with him as he works.

That started after the reaction of one of his first customers, who gave him a job he couldn’t find. “This particular customer was 80-odd years old, she just told me a name on a headstone and where it was but I couldn’t see it.

“I knocked on the door of the cemetery office and one of the assistant’s helped me find it.

“When I’d done I took a photo and printed it to send to her. She was over the moon and told me it would go next to her by her bedside.

“That made me feel fantastic and the same lady asked me to another grave in the same cemetery.”

The pictures also help if people start staring at him as he works. “Sometimes I’m a bit cheeky, I’ll go over and give them my card. If they're interested I'll show them the photos.”

Not so much cheeky, more cany businessman. Steve says he is the only person offering such a service as other xompanies advertise to take stones from the graveyard, clean them and put them back.

“To me they shouldn’t be disturbed,” says Steve. “I do my work in the cemetery.”

So what about working in the dark? Not surprisingly, he doesn’t seem to keen. “I haven’t been there when it’s getting dark. As the nights draw in I could be stuck but there is always Saturday morning.”

Steve also admits he has been spooked. “I heard a noise one time and turned round quick. It was just a cemetery worker cutting the grass but it made me jump a bit.”

He certainly doesn’t buy into ghosts or anything supernatural. “I’m not bothered about stuff like that. I went to see a spiritualist once after the death of my mother and it was good but that’s it.”

The memories of his mum, dad and brother make family important to Steve and he is proud to say his son David played for Rotherham United in their last appearance at Millmoor.

Steve is also proud of his upbringing, which is Sheffield through and through. Brought up on the Manor estate, he went to school at Pipworth Junior and then across the road to what was Waltheof School, now the Park Academy.

Steve left school at 16 and joined Davy McKee engineering as an apprentice fitter. After being made redundant, he joined magnet maker Swift Levicks working in the foundry. “A good Sheffield job,” he says.

Married to Patricia, he spent 25 years on the Manor before moving to Handsworth, where he spent the next 29 years.

Aged 40, he decided to go to college on a day release course doing tiling. “I didn’t enjoy that so I went on another course doing plastering.”

That course shaped his next decision because he left Swift Levick after 18 years service and went to work for construction firm Omar Woodbury as a plasterer.

The company was building houses in Halfway, but closed and at 49 Steve decided to take the plunge and go self-employed.

The Handsworth Plastering Company was born and is still going strong. But those shoulder operations had taken their toll and Steve now wants to make Headstone Cleaning Sheffield a success.

Its listing on Yell.com says: “Headstone Cleaning Sheffield is a very reliable and respectful company that makes your loved ones headstone looking like new again.”

Steve is keen on respect. “You’ve got to be. Whether it’s Joe Bloggs who hasn’t got a penny or a superstar, you have got to do your best.”

The average cost of a job is between £50 and £150 and the reviews on Yell.com suggest he’s doing a good job.

This month R Davis said: “I am thrilled with the results of the cleaning of my parents' marble headstone after almost 30 years grime. The work was done quickly and efficiently with photos provided of before and after. Can heartily recommend.”

Last month Amanda W wrote: “Excellent service, good communication. Did a fabulous job restoring it back to its original glory. Really happy with the service would highly recommend fantastic work.”

And in June, Sheryl T said: “Headstone looks beautiful, service was excellent, very quick to respond and I was kept informed at all times. Restored back to its original colour and looks lovely. Very happy with the service would certainly recommend! Exceptional quality.”

To get such feedback in the early stages of the business is impressive and Steve is understandably pleased with the reaction. “Brilliant,” he says. “It gives me a lot of satisfaction. I treat every headstone like it’s my family headstone.

“I’ve been in graveyards where headstones have fallen and that’s terrible.We have good intentions to go to the cemetery every week but as you get older that doesn’t happen.

“It gets down to birthdays or Christmas and suddenly 44 years has gone and the stone has never been cleaned.

“Doing my family’s stone gave me a buzz and hopefully I can do that for many years to come, as long as my legs don’t give way!”

For more information contact Steve on 07941211952 or visit https://www.yell.com/biz/headstone-cleaning-sheffield-sheffield-901732513/