The lengths a man has to go to for a drink these days...

After 48 years' climbing some of the tallest buildings around, steeplejack Bert Wilkinson has finally got a pint bought for him - or rather, a pint named after him.

The Clayton man is being recognised for decades of high flying in the way every drinker dreams of - by having an ale named in his honour.

Brewers Camerons were inspired to create the tipple after seeing Bert and his team from George Drake Steeplejacks working on their chimney in Hartlepool.

"I'm just waiting for the barrel now. I've always said that beer keeps me regular and makes me sleep," joked 63-year-old George. Bert's work has taken him around the country as the number of chimneys and steeples in Bradford declined.

Traditional work centring on churches and factories has been joined by safety projects on motorways.

He said: "My father and grandfather both worked at George Drake and, like me, my dad was a director of the company.

"The company has been around since 1875 and our family has been associated with it for a long time.

"But I don't think the tradition is going to pass onto my children, one is going to work with chemicals and the other is a store manager for Morrisons.

"The highest I have been is probably about 290ft, one at an incinerator chimney in Halifax. But I don't go up too much anymore, age is catching up on me."

Bert was the youngest steeplejack in Bradford when he started out in 1958, and some of his more unusual tasks have included climbing to the top of tall buildings in Leeds dressed as Father Christmas.

More serious work at the Bradford company involves making sure the gantries at the A1 and M1 junctions with the M62 are made safe against lightning strikes.

His working relationship with Camerons stretches back about 40 years and it is in honour of this that the company came up with the idea for the pint, called Steeplejack.

Martin Dutoy, head brewer, said: "I was watching Bert and his team hard at work, high above Hartlepool's skyline and that's what gave me the inspiration to brew the beer.

"It's guaranteed to whet the whistle of any worker, especially the team at Drake."

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