Rotherham locksmith reminders

I’m going to take the two topics of Lent and home security, mix them together in a bowl, put them in the oven, and then serve up a cake containing useful tips around what we could give up for Lent that would also help our home security.

We’ve recently been recognised as one of the top 3 locksmiths in the Rotherham area, receiving the 2023 Certificate of Excellence from Three Best Rated. This prestigious award is a testament to the exceptional quality of service that has been recognised by our customers and expert reviewers from Three Best Rated.

In the words of the great Bing Crosby, It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. He’d certainly be convinced of that this recent week with the frosted ground and smatterings of snow we’ve been having.  Another way he’d be able to tell that the day is getting near is because it’s time for my annual Christmas home security blog.

Today I’ll touch on the other side of holiday security, and look at ways you can keep your personal possessions safe whilst on holiday.

Usually, I restrict myself to information about home and business security, but a change is as good as a break, so I thought today I’d touch on the topic of how to keep your car secure.

What with Covid and lockdowns, it’s not really been much of a time for touring the world. But that got me thinking about appropriate places for a locksmith such as myself to go on holiday.

I discovered that in 2020, the average burglar (if there is such a thing) lost out on around £13,000 compared to 2019. This was due to a 20% decrease in burglaries overall.

A history lesson in the form of a whistle-stop tour through the evolution of locks and locksmiths over the years.

I know that lovers of the window tax will be disappointed to hear that I won’t be covering the whole history of windows back from the start of time, but keeping it to the uPVC windows of the last half century seemed a lot more manageable, and less Tolstoy-esque in length.

As any opportunist gravy thief knows, the turn of the year is an excellent time to take stock. And also to look forward to the year ahead, perhaps making a resolution or two!

Now I don’t normally have much time for burglars. To be honest, as a locksmith, they are my nemesis. The Lex Luther to my Superman, the Riddler to my Joker, the Donald Trump to my reasonable human being. As such, I don’t tend to pay much heed of what they say.

Now Spring is on the horizon and with it come all sorts of, well… springy arrivals like warmer weather, new-born lambs, and…err… new things to look out for when it comes to home security.

Lock-snapping is where burglars gain access to a property by simply snapping off the cylinder lock fitted to a door. This can take just a few seconds, the aftermath of which I’ve seen countless times in the course of my job.

One of my favourite British films is the 1983 comedy drama, Local Hero, directed by Bill Forsyth. If you haven’t seen it, I can tell you that it’s delightfully charming, and depicts the conflict between a local community in a small Scottish village, and a major international oil company who want to buy up land for a refinery.

Year on year, the summer months see a hefty rise in thefts from gardens and sheds. Rates are over a quarter higher than they are in the cooler months and for obvious reasons – the longer days.

Locking yourself outside in the summer might have the advantage of you being unlikely to freeze to death as quickly as if you’d done it in the depths of winter, but let’s face it, it’s still pretty inconvenient.

Well hello there. It’s Fingers McGhee here, your friendly neighbourhood burglar. The locksmith chap has been kind enough to let me have a guest blog this month. He may live to regret this…

Yes, summer is still a fair way away, but Easter is just around the corner which means many people will be going away on holiday. And as we know, this causes issues when it comes to our home security.

Hello there and welcome to the Valentine’s Day special of the blog. How is it a Valentine’s Day special, I hear you ask? And there you have me beaten, because it isn’t. But everyone else is doing bloody Valentine’s Day tie-ins so I thought if you can’t beat them, join them.

So, to ease us all into another lock-filled year, I’ll take a quick look at the locks we’re all the most familiar with – those on our own front doors.

If you have sets of keys hidden outside so that family members or friends can easily get them and let themselves into the house, you run a very high risk of someone much more unwelcome finding them!

If you’re not going away, take solace in the fact that you’ll at least be reducing the risk of falling victim to the crime that’s the subject of this blog. That doesn’t mean you can get away without reading it though…

This is a special Easter edition, replete with Easter references… suffering a break-in can turn one into a right hot cross bunny (okay, bit obvious that one) as well as being one of the most upsetting life experiences that one can suffer.

The security of student flats and houses can often be found wanting. This is down to a few factors, the cheapness of the accommodation, as well as the student lifestyle, where home security will be way down the list of priorities for youngsters eager to enjoy student life.

When choosing a locksmith, you should go through the same process as you would with any other professional trade. Not only should they be experienced and competent, but also have a strong track record that shows they’re up to the job at hand.

So here we are again. It’s 2017 (Happy New Year to you all, by the way), a time for new beginnings, new hopes and dreams; and frankly,  another chance for me to crowbar the mention of current events into a blog about home security.  I’ll do it as seamlessly as possible though – you’ll hardly notice it, honestly.

Insurance claims for burglary rise by 25% every Christmas time. December can be rich pickings for burglars – sadly it’s not just the bearded old man dressed in red trying to get into your house at this time of year.

It may seem a small thing, but teaching your children a few valuable lessons is far more likely to increase their chances of staying safe, please read on.

I just thought I’d note down some tips on how to not make a burglar’s job easy for them should the worst happens and they choose to try and break in to your house.

How to avoid a minor annoyance turning into a much worse situation… the annoyance in this case would be you getting locked out of your house. However, how you react to the situation could lead you down the path to financial heartache if you’re not careful about who you contact to help.

Put ourselves in the shoes of a burglar and consider the thought processes they go through, before deciding whether to proceed with a break in, or rather move on to an easier target down the street.

Summer is when another species, the lesser-spotted opportunistic garden burglar, ventures out from their winter habitat to stealthily see what’s on offer. They know that this is the time of year that householders are investing in garden furniture, play equipment, DIY equipment, and the like, ready to make the most of the few months of summer.

This month we’ll cross the Atlantic and look at possibly *the* most famous name in modern lock history, and a name synonymous with locks today – Yale.

So far we’ve looked at the contributions made by the  Egyptians, the Romans, Robert Barron and Jeremiah Chubb, but today we’re back in South Yorkshire itself, looking at one of Barnsley’s favourite sons, Joseph Bramah and the impact he had on the history of locks.

Well hello again, fancy seeing you here! Well it’s time for the third in my series of looking back at the history and development of locks.

You’ll be pleased to know the story of locks won’t last *quite* as long as Tolstoy’s epic, and there’s certainly less Russian names to get your head around…

The Ancient Egyptians, hey? What did they ever do for us? Well one of the Ancient Egyptians’ most exciting inventions from my point of view was the humble lock. Yes, next time you turn your key in your front door, secure your bike outside the shops, or lock your car in the multi-storey, spare a thought for  the ancient Egyptian inventors.

Following the recent Talk Talk data hacking, online security has been much in the news, but the topic I’m addressing is that of social media and what we share on sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

This period from now until Spring is the favourite time of the year for your average burglar. Here are my simple steps to keeping your home safe this Autumn.

A survey by the consumer watchdog, Which, has shown that thefts from gardens, sheds, and outbuildings rise by a quarter during the summer months.