@@TheRealSquirrel Please react to Dave Allen religious jokes and sketches. It isn't offensive just funny. Has 4.8 mill views. It's on DutchPastaGuy channel. It's about 13minutes long. Thanks 😊
i went to Fred's funeral back in 2004 in Bolton it was a rainy day BUT the crowds where large paying their respects to a great man . in the cemetery a minute long blow of the steam engines . Fred was and is a Legend .
The health and safety executive should do an extensively study of Fred and the legacy he's left behind on film. Never mind, all the whoa, omg sod that stuff. Those dopey daft bastards from HSE would instantly ground Fred today if they had half a chance. Yet there's potentially so much they could learn, one or two fundamentals of what safety at work should actually be about ,outside of that monotonous, zero tolerant world of glasses, gloves, mask, hard hat, boots, hi viz , gauntlets, not to mention those cscs or any number of neverending stupid poxy cards we all have to pay for and absolutely must have. You know, I could go on, and on and on and guess what, It's apparently still very dangerous a building site ,who'd a thought that ? RIP Fred.
No safety net No hard hat No body harness No gloves No fear A lifetime of experience Application to the job Proud to earn a living in an honest way What an Englishman Really enjoyed your understanding of all of this - and the respect you showed.
not sure what English has got to do with it, everywhere was like this at one time and though some UK health and safety regs are absurd, there is also a very good reason we do not do this anymore. It is absurdly dangerous and foolish in fact, no matter how experienced. Romanticising this is ok in a nostalgic sense but fact is, hundreds of people died like this in the past in construction, shipyards and so on or were left with horrific injuries. Nothing at all romantic and wonderful about that.
I was a risk consultant and I was asked by Fred's insurance company to have a word with him about safety. What a waste of time. Fred knew exactly how to do it safely. What a character. They don't make them like him anymore.
The ladders are temporary which is why the plug wood wasn't treated..they never stayed up longer than the job required. The holes were drilled the 1st time he went up and were used over and over again as the chimneys needed repointing. Near the 1st bottom hole you can see about of pointing which has the initials " FD"and the date scrawled into it 😊
@@danielclough86 he built a working flying scaffold that surrounds the chimney and allowed him to get off the ladder and work all round the structure - he built them first at the top and then rebuilt them several times to cover the whole thing. There is a video on RUclips where he shows how it's done
The steeplejack's ladder is removed after work is complete and the holes will be re pointed with cement from the top down as the ladders are removed to keep water out. Edit: You got it 😉
I have worked at a lot of places and some places have quite relaxed health and safety rules and some have excessive rules and what’s weird is the places where they was an excessive amount seemed to have a lot of injuries and incidents but at the relaxed places there was never any at all yet all the places were warehouses with the same hazards and equipment etc I also worked somewhere with incredibly strike rules and overbearing management for example if you went to the toilet you had paper work to fill out with how long you were and what cubicle you used … yeah insane mind boggling rules … yet at the same time it had the worst shop floor horse play and pranks etc and the most sackings , it’s like the rules create the madness to justify their existence
I spent 20 some years scaffolding, I rock climbed from being a teenager, skydiving, snowboarding but my OG background is skateboarding. I've worked hundreds of feet in the air as well as jumping from thousands of feet in the air from aeroplanes for fun and Freds videos still make my arse nip. There is no way on Gods green earth I would even consider doing what he did. The man is a legend and well respected by all in the construction industry, but for some of us he's another Yorkshire lad leading the way. RIP Fred.
Fred used to go to the pub at lunch time and have a beer. Then back on the ladder's. The thing that amazes me was him doing ladder's on the overhang at the top of a two hundred foot chimney. That really used to make my toes curl !
The term Legend is used way too freely nowadays but in Fred Dibnah's case it is fully deserved. He could turn his hand to anything and was so "ordinary" in the way he went about doing it all. He had the kind of brilliant, down to Earth, Northern humility and a way of describing things in layman's terms that was so infectious. If you were ever lucky enough to have a teacher like him you would be able to master anything. Yeah, Fred was and always will be an absolute LEGEND.
One of my favourite episodes of Fred's work was where they questioned him about his lunchtime visits to the pub, and subsequently returning to work at the top of a 200' chimney half pissed.
In one of his videos he explained you need a pint before going up the ladder. Nobody in his sober mind would climb up a chimney. The wooden pegs are just temporary. After the work at the top is done the ladders get removed and the holes filled with cement.
RIP Fred, such a cracking fella, he was a real celebrity here when I was a kid, far more famous than any footballer or sports player, real treasure of the north of england, never heard a bad word about the chap. Used to make me laugh how he had a few pints before going up there, totally immune to heights, real lust for life, would have made a great astraunaut. Not many like him here now.
Kids of today would be far better off having a guy like Fred as a role model than any of these modern day footballers or Rap artists. The man was a grafter who always seemed to have black grimy working hands and he’d gladly eat his sandwiches with his hands like that, that’s a proper man, not a namby pamby footballer who gets touched on the pitch and goes down like he’s been shot.
The most gut wrenching scene I've watched with Fred is from one of his earlier ventures taking a chimney down brick by brick. He stands on the top edge of the brickwork a few inches from the edge of the chimney opening and starts kicking loose masonry off the edge, meaning he's balancing on the edge on one leg. Always gets me. Very interesting to watch someone else's reaction to this sort of thing I must say!
I did an apprenticeship in demolition before I joined the army, in 1986 Fred did the scaffolding for a steel works chimney we had to demolish by knocking the bricks from under our feet, he lowered the complete scaffolding by hand every morning before we started work, an amazing thing to watch. He was almost certainly one of, if not the best steeplejacks ever.
This chimney is in my hometown of Atherton (North West England). From being a child just standing at the bottom and looking up to the top still makes me feel dizzy. Fred will always be a legend in this part of the world
Thank you for watching OUR Fred and getting his wonderful story to a wider audience. He’s a national treasure and we love the man to bits. ❤ RIP Fred ❤
The ladders are TEMPORARY for maintenance, not permanent, therefore not in place long enough for the wood plugs to rot. The holes were made for previous maintenance ladder rigging, (probably by Fred) then cemented up after completion.
The plug holes were there from Fred previously climbing the chimney years before. The guy watching him was his employee who sent stuff up to him on the ropes. The ladders only stay up for the duration of the job then they are removed and stuffed back on the rack on the Land Rover and on to the next job. But he liked a few pints of beer at lunchtime before going back up the ladders. An absolute legend of a man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When Fred said he had "laddered" it about 7 times he means he has worked on that chimney numerous times and each time required ladders to be erected. He did not mean 7 sets of ladders...
Fred was just real old school , and apart from being a brilliant steeple Jack, he was a very clever man he rebuilt old steam engines, and he was great at drawing , he did a series in the U.K. on ancient buildings and used his own architectural drawings to explain various building methods and they were superb. Rest in peace Fred , from someone who gets dizzy on the fourth step of a step ladder.
One of my heroes sad i never met him even tho i only lived 20 miles away although i phoned him a couple of times but he was out doing his stuff just add that he also trained at first as a carpenter before going steeplejacking
The chimney had been laddered several times before, in order to make repairs aloft. The wooden stand-offs were not treated against rot, because they were only used for one temporary ladder, likewise the rope and string.
Plug hole were there from his previous climb on a repair job...he plugged them afterwards....so easier to drill this time.....New wood for plugs each time. The lightening conductor to his right....is a good straight plumb line to follow... Seen the whole show years back. The scaffold is something else...and you may see another ladder on the other side of the chimney.
I used to live in the town that Fred came from - Bolton. The cemented holes were there because of previous work done to repair the chimney every decade or so. Given the wind, rain and freezing weather of Northern England, the cement/pointing doesn't last the life of a chimney, which is why he's been up and down that chimney over a half dozen times. Like most skilled tradesmen, Fred will know by sound and feel whether his ladders or other things made from wood were rotten. The reason he doesn't leave the ladders up there is that ladders are expensive and he probably went up a couple of dozen different chimneys a year.
I remember the media discovering Fred, who had hitherto just been going about his business. He was an absolute natural for the cameras chatting away cooly explaining what he was doing; which on the scale of dangerous things was pretty much right up there. He was an absolute star whether steeplejacking or in his last years messing around with steam engines. Legend doesn't even begin to describe him.
Never tire of watching these... genuinely. Have a look at “how to climb a chimney overhang at 50+” ive watched it so many times and my brain still can’t compute how someone’s mind allows them to feel no fear while doing something so fraught with danger at just one wrong move.
To get a true idea of how much this guy was loved and admired by the people you need to watch and react the video of his funeral. It’s on RUclips titled “The Day Bolton Stood Still”
Fred came to Doncaster Yorkshire on an open day Steam Raleigh, and I had the most wonderful experience chatting to him briefly. He was kind and had time to talk to everybody. A great man with truly nerves of steel.
I watched Fred every time he was on the Beeb. He was a British national treasure. Yes, wood rots but those dogs were never meant to stay in there forever. They are a very temporary measure for a short usage.
Fred builds the ladder up to get to the top so he can do his maintenance work that he's employed to do then he'll remove the ladders when all the works done. His ladders go home with him...A legend he was.
They broke the mould after Fred was born. I had a crack with him on the phone once, just as genuine a fella as you see here. My dad worked heights all his life, but even he winced somewhat when watching Fred Lol!
Fred was a real man. His knowledge was vast and varied. The man was a joy to listen to. It is rare to have a presenter who is a true expert in the subject matter. Not only did he have the theoretical knowledge but the man lived it.
Fred was a legend. The man was fearless and most of all he was humble. I would have loved to have met him and shook his oil covered hand as he loved his steam engines. Fred used to repair chimneys as well as demolishing them. That's why he had holes already in the chimney.
I grew up in the shadow of a mill chimney. Its now gone, along with the mill. They were impressive things. As was the sight of hundreds of workers leaving through the factory gates at the end of a shift. As kids we could play in the street as nobody had a garden and it was rare for a car to drive down it. If you could afford a car you wouldn’t be living next to the mill.
I bumped into Fred Dibnah in an indian restaurant in blackburn over 20 years ago. Even when out with his family for an evening meal he was wearing his flat cap and boiler suit jacket. Absolute legend
I met the guy several times mostly at traction engine rallies. Had some great conversations and parties at night times sitting around the rally fires. Top man and great engineer. RIP Fred.
Given his chosen profession he probably had the level of awareness, level of concentration and skill as 20 of such people knitted together. His very life depended on every second and every move and he did it so casually. I know he liked a drink but I need a drink just watching him.
I'm a southerner and in my book Fred was an absolute legend. No reliance on technology, just age old methods that have worked for years. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Here we go. Another professional "Northerner" claiming they're hard done by, yet tougher than anyone born and raised on a lower latitude. Logically, this would mean folks born in Scotland are tougher than you. And those from Orkney must be built like Greek Gods. What folks in the "north" of England mean is they don't like people in southern England, namely London. Theu have preconceived notions of what people are like and what they think of them. As a man born amd bred in central England with parents from Leeds and East London I have seen first hand this northern prejudice of looking down on folks from the south. Southerners couldn't give a shit. Anyway. Fred was a legend. In his own right. He was respected north, south east and west. A real gent and very intelligent craftsmen.
You should watch John Noakes climbing Nelsons Column. It was for an old UK children's TV show called Blue Peter and is one of the scariest things I've ever seen!
A lot of these chimneys what Fred maintained and downed were around twice the height of Nelsons Column. I live in the North West and very few of these mill chimneys remain.
@5:20 when you ask who prepared the "Plug Holes" which Fred is using to insert the "Dogs" - It was Fred himself who prepared them when he carried out repair work on the chimney previously (such as pointing etc.)
The plug holes were made by Fred himself when he first climbed the stack and filled in when he removed his ladders, the timber plugs are removed before cementing in.
Hauling up steel tube and planks to make a walkway around the chimney is yet another delight. This is just inspection / estimate. When he goes to work on that chimney, he makes a complete circular platform. Bloody amazing.
I grew up with blokes like Fred throughout the family, and as a 11yr old I started working for my uncles scaffolding company on Saturdays, and I used to climb scaffolding with no ladders, no safety harness or anything, but now I can't even go up a bloody ladder. Different times they were, proper salt of the earth guys like Fred were, every dinner time they were in the pub for a sandwich and five or six pints (within the hour) and then straight back up to the job.
As someone who's watched the original video many times, and is somewhat scared of heights, I love the way people react to Fred at the top of the second ladder when I know there are many many more to go! 🤣😂🤣
I've said this before, how strong are his legs? The sheer height ( which gives me vertigo just watching ) and the relentless pressure of gravity must be tremendous, at his age I can only watch and applaud.
remember that iconic photo of the New York skyscraper being built, and the men having lunch on a beam with legs dangling, not a safety harness in sight , think i would have passed out .
Apart from no fear of heights, incredible bravery he must have had very strong upper and lower body strength. No need for him to attend a gym.. apart from that he often went up with a few pints inside him and then smoked away while working at that height
Told ya squirrel. The nuts go funny every time. You know what I mean boy??? The holes have been put in previously and ladders put up and taken down. The holes are pointed with morter when the ladders are taken down.
We met fred at a steam rally some years ago , and he took us around the arena on his traction engine , he was a bit worse for wear , but was absolutely adorable .
Your reaction to this was golden squirrel.. Everything Fred puts up is removed after the job is finished.. Its impossible to say how many times Fred has used those same ladders.. The holes are made by the steeple Jack's themselves.. No one thought about the maintenance of them when they were built.. Can't wait to see your reaction to the scaffolding video.. Pmsl..
Balls of steel that guy had, I am with you on this one Squirrel there is no way you are getting me that high up on a ladder held by a bit of string and blowing about in the wind.
He must be like that free solo guy, just zero fear. I've enjoyed watching these this evening. I also found myself laughing at your reactions at the heights. Ide be same, it's unbelievable.
I'm from Mr Dibnah's neck of the woods. As a boisterous 80s ADD kid (undiagnosed until recently) very little sat me still for half an hour as a child like watching Fred Dibnah did. His warm nature, charm and abilities as a raconteur had me captivated from a young age. I lost both grandfather's before I was the age of 4, so that might have something to do with it perhaps. Anyway, when Fred was on the box, my folks used to plant me in front of the TV for some respite themselves, so I've been told! He's much loved by all round here. Gone, but not forgotten. Indeed, missed by many. RIP Fred.
People like Fred are alive and well you just don't know of any, not much appetite in the media for this kind of thing it doesn't conform well with the consumer culture they've created.
Fred was awesome and a joy to watch. Far better than today's pampered footballers and warblers. Highly intelligent a brilliant engineer. Fearless and so down to earth. Fred is a true legend and superstar. I doubt if Fred would have liked that label though. He was a true humble working man we all love him. RIP FRED
He's a steeplejack - an old trade, no longer really a thing. Fred was one of the best known, and certainly most loved in the U.K. He had his own T.V. show for a time, but he was basically a (really friggin huge) chimney repairman. So he would re point, fix, re-brick, or demolish some of the tallest chimneys in factories and the like. Typical, down to earth, likeable, hard-working Brit.
It says 1989. It’ll be a date the chimney was worked on. The chimney would almost certainly have been build in the 19th century. The ladders are Fred’s, they only go up whilst work is going on, then they get taken down.
Fred Dibnah was a craftsman who knew exactly what he was doing. His skills were not applied casually nor with unnecessary risk. He was deceptively gifted and to observe him in these films you learn something fundamental even as a layman - dedication to those skills. When you consider the volume of high level work Fred carried out without so much as a mishap, because any mishap would mean death, you can only salute him both as a superb craftsman and a man.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
The next upload coming in a couple hours is A MUST WATCH if you want to see a reaction to heights. Holy crap!
@Hey Look Squirrel another great reaction, keep them coming. 👍🇬🇧 Totally sympathize with you on heights I cant go further than 4th run of a ladder.
Oooh yay, I hope it's the video I'm thinking of 🤷♂️
@@JonsTunes you mean the one where he climbs the edge of the chimney. That got to me, that one definitely.
@@JonsTunes el Camino del Rey
@@TheRealSquirrel Please react to Dave Allen religious jokes and sketches. It isn't offensive just funny. Has 4.8 mill views. It's on DutchPastaGuy channel. It's about 13minutes long. Thanks 😊
Fred was 66 when he passed away and it was in 2004 he was my uncle and it’s so nice to see people from all over the world watching him xx
❤ he was a wonderful man. Gave me many hours of smiles watching his telly shows. Very much missed by many I'm sure.
Your uncle is a national treasure , remembered with fondness by millions , you must be proud. I have one of his old scaffold boards.
sadly, i never got to meet Fred, god bless him.
Thank you for all you lovely replies he was an amazing man who is sadly missed by many people there will never be another man like him x
He were ace. Reminds me so much of my dad and m my cousins and uncles.
I've still got loads of freds independent programme s on dvd
When ladders were made of wood and men were made of steel.
It's 80s things existed just fred liked old fashioned things
well said paddy
In a nutshell!.
So was his balls...!!!
and died at the age of 34
i went to Fred's funeral back in 2004 in Bolton it was a rainy day BUT the crowds where large paying their respects to a great man . in the cemetery a minute long blow of the steam engines . Fred was and is a Legend .
Just watched a video of Fred's funeral and it looked something to behold
The health and safety executive should do an extensively study of Fred and the legacy he's left behind on film. Never mind, all the whoa, omg sod that stuff. Those dopey daft bastards from HSE would instantly ground Fred today if they had half a chance. Yet there's potentially so much they could learn, one or two fundamentals of what safety at work should actually be about ,outside of that monotonous, zero tolerant world of glasses, gloves, mask, hard hat, boots, hi viz , gauntlets, not to mention those cscs or any number of neverending stupid poxy cards we all have to pay for and absolutely must have. You know, I could go on, and on and on and guess what, It's apparently still very dangerous a building site ,who'd a thought that ? RIP Fred.
God bless a good man & all of us 🇬🇧📣✌️🥸
he was a amazing beautiful guy 👍🇬🇧👍⚘
Fred”s chimney demolition with telegraph pole pit props was stunning to behold.
No safety net
No hard hat
No body harness
No gloves
No fear
A lifetime of experience
Application to the job
Proud to earn a living in an honest way
What an Englishman
Really enjoyed your understanding of all of this - and the respect you showed.
* and a couple of pints to settle the nerves😂😂🙈
Well said
not sure what English has got to do with it, everywhere was like this at one time and though some UK health and safety regs are absurd, there is also a very good reason we do not do this anymore. It is absurdly dangerous and foolish in fact, no matter how experienced. Romanticising this is ok in a nostalgic sense but fact is, hundreds of people died like this in the past in construction, shipyards and so on or were left with horrific injuries. Nothing at all romantic and wonderful about that.
And a ciggy hanging out of his gob.
And he died in bed!!!!! RIP Fred,
Fred is a working class hero he is a legend .a common man who continued to educate himself and others all his life.
The Yanks invented Spider Man. The U.K. invented Fred Dibnah. What a legend. Could never be replaced. R.I.P. Fred.
One fake Fred was real
@@Stan-m9s2k Everything about the USA is fake.
I was a risk consultant and I was asked by Fred's insurance company to have a word with him about safety. What a waste of time. Fred knew exactly how to do it safely. What a character. They don't make them like him anymore.
Someone asked Fred if he’d ever fallen. “Not yet”, said Fred.
@@Dave5843-d9m "you only fall once" hell of a guy
It's an afternoon with the undertaker
@@lordbelvoir2543 hahaha. Yeah that's right. Ha brilliant. What a guy hey. Women beer an chimneys.
@@intothewild5045 and dont forget "steam".... 🍻👍
The ladders are temporary which is why the plug wood wasn't treated..they never stayed up longer than the job required. The holes were drilled the 1st time he went up and were used over and over again as the chimneys needed repointing. Near the 1st bottom hole you can see about of pointing which has the initials " FD"and the date scrawled into it 😊
How did they repoint an entire chimney stack from a single ladder? its fascinating watching these old vids
@@danielclough86 he built a working flying scaffold that surrounds the chimney and allowed him to get off the ladder and work all round the structure - he built them first at the top and then rebuilt them several times to cover the whole thing. There is a video on RUclips where he shows how it's done
@@danieldunlavey6901 Brilliant, thanks for taking the time to reply!
@@danieldunlavey6901jag
The look on your face is priceless! The one and only Fred. There was and never will be a man like him. God rest his soul.
Fred was a gem I'm so glad I discovered through doing this channel! Thank you for watching.
Fred was truly a British working class icon and his kind are sadly missed
The steeplejack's ladder is removed after work is complete and the holes will be re pointed with cement from the top down as the ladders are removed to keep water out. Edit: You got it 😉
The perfect answer to health and safety, "he can't do that" - well you climb up and tell him.
I have worked at a lot of places and some places have quite relaxed health and safety rules and some have excessive rules and what’s weird is the places where they was an excessive amount seemed to have a lot of injuries and incidents but at the relaxed places there was never any at all yet all the places were warehouses with the same hazards and equipment etc I also worked somewhere with incredibly strike rules and overbearing management for example if you went to the toilet you had paper work to fill out with how long you were and what cubicle you used … yeah insane mind boggling rules … yet at the same time it had the worst shop floor horse play and pranks etc and the most sackings , it’s like the rules create the madness to justify their existence
"As you get a bit higher up, the holes have a tendency to get a bit deeper; I think it's called fear" - Fred Dibnah.
A gr8 line... Classic Fred..
I spent 20 some years scaffolding, I rock climbed from being a teenager, skydiving, snowboarding but my OG background is skateboarding. I've worked hundreds of feet in the air as well as jumping from thousands of feet in the air from aeroplanes for fun and Freds videos still make my arse nip. There is no way on Gods green earth I would even consider doing what he did. The man is a legend and well respected by all in the construction industry, but for some of us he's another Yorkshire lad leading the way.
RIP Fred.
Fred used to go to the pub at lunch time and have a beer. Then back on the ladder's. The thing that amazes me was him doing ladder's on the overhang at the top of a two hundred foot chimney. That really used to make my toes curl !
Incredible man was Fred
The term Legend is used way too freely nowadays but in Fred Dibnah's case it is fully deserved. He could turn his hand to anything and was so "ordinary" in the way he went about doing it all. He had the kind of brilliant, down to Earth, Northern humility and a way of describing things in layman's terms that was so infectious. If you were ever lucky enough to have a teacher like him you would be able to master anything. Yeah, Fred was and always will be an absolute LEGEND.
One of my favourite episodes of Fred's work was where they questioned him about his lunchtime visits to the pub, and subsequently returning to work at the top of a 200' chimney half pissed.
It's right. He''s gone up there with 3 or 4 pints in him. Or what about when he smokes a ciggie up there. Love him.
In one of his videos he explained you need a pint before going up the ladder. Nobody in his sober mind would climb up a chimney.
The wooden pegs are just temporary. After the work at the top is done the ladders get removed and the holes filled with cement.
I watched Fred from the original 40 minutes program when I was a teenager , the man is a legend to a lot of us in the UK
And Still is!.
RIP Fred, such a cracking fella, he was a real celebrity here when I was a kid, far more famous than any footballer or sports player, real treasure of the north of england, never heard a bad word about the chap. Used to make me laugh how he had a few pints before going up there, totally immune to heights, real lust for life, would have made a great astraunaut. Not many like him here now.
Kids of today would be far better off having a guy like Fred as a role model than any of these modern day footballers or Rap artists. The man was a grafter who always seemed to have black grimy working hands and he’d gladly eat his sandwiches with his hands like that, that’s a proper man, not a namby pamby footballer who gets touched on the pitch and goes down like he’s been shot.
Very true
The most gut wrenching scene I've watched with Fred is from one of his earlier ventures taking a chimney down brick by brick. He stands on the top edge of the brickwork a few inches from the edge of the chimney opening and starts kicking loose masonry off the edge, meaning he's balancing on the edge on one leg. Always gets me. Very interesting to watch someone else's reaction to this sort of thing I must say!
I did an apprenticeship in demolition before I joined the army, in 1986 Fred did the scaffolding for a steel works chimney we had to demolish by knocking the bricks from under our feet, he lowered the complete scaffolding by hand every morning before we started work, an amazing thing to watch. He was almost certainly one of, if not the best steeplejacks ever.
I think he was the best in my opinion and I also think he knew he was! They don't make them like Fred anymore. I have no more words
This chimney is in my hometown of Atherton (North West England). From being a child just standing at the bottom and looking up to the top still makes me feel dizzy. Fred will always be a legend in this part of the world
Yeah..as soon as I saw the green n white stripe round the chimney knew it was ena mill 😊
What a guy he should have been prime minister more balls and common sense than any politicians will ever have.
Yeah, I'm from bent too. Used to see him knocking about either in his land rover or his steam engine
Behind every great engineer like Brunel, there was always somebody like Fred Dibnah that made it all work.
If given a big 3D printer that could use anything and all the material he needed, I wonder what he would want make?
Thank you for watching OUR Fred and getting his wonderful story to a wider audience. He’s a national treasure and we love the man to bits. ❤ RIP Fred ❤
A national treasure our Fred was, miss him a lot.
The ladders are TEMPORARY for maintenance, not permanent, therefore not in place long enough for the wood plugs to rot. The holes were made for previous maintenance ladder rigging, (probably by Fred) then cemented up after completion.
The plug holes were there from Fred previously climbing the chimney years before. The guy watching him was his employee who sent stuff up to him on the ropes. The ladders only stay up for the duration of the job then they are removed and stuffed back on the rack on the Land Rover and on to the next job. But he liked a few pints of beer at lunchtime before going back up the ladders. An absolute legend of a man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When Fred said he had "laddered" it about 7 times he means he has worked on that chimney numerous times and each time required ladders to be erected. He did not mean 7 sets of ladders...
I always thought he said he was “bladdered” 😂
This is a guy who appealed to all. Something about his approach to life was just fantastic.
Legend.
I have always been amazed that Fred could climb a ladder with balls that big. Legend.
His greatest passion was his traction engine ,he totally rebuilt it himself, a simple man but a genius mind
He started a second career out of it, as other traction engine owners would pay him to fix their problems.
Fred was just real old school , and apart from being a brilliant steeple Jack, he was a very clever man he rebuilt old steam engines, and he was great at drawing , he did a series in the U.K. on ancient buildings and used his own architectural drawings to explain various building methods and they were superb. Rest in peace Fred , from someone who gets dizzy on the fourth step of a step ladder.
One of my heroes sad i never met him even tho i only lived 20 miles away although i phoned him a couple of times but he was out doing his stuff just add that he also trained at first as a carpenter before going steeplejacking
@@johnslattery6194 How come you phoned him a couple of times ?
Don’t forget on his small holding. He was also digging a mine shaft and bricking up the walls on his way down
I think he was an art student once but found the gentle pursuit of climbing around overhangs at 300 feet more appealing.
@@vordman he had a lot of bottle. 👍
Putting the platform up is equally as jaw dropping! Love it.
Roger it caused me anxiety 🤣
@@TheRealSquirrel your anxiety gave me anxiety 😬
The chimney had been laddered several times before, in order to make repairs aloft. The wooden stand-offs were not treated against rot, because they were only used for one temporary ladder, likewise the rope and string.
Plug hole were there from his previous climb on a repair job...he plugged them afterwards....so easier to drill this time.....New wood for plugs each time. The lightening conductor to his right....is a good straight plumb line to follow... Seen the whole show years back. The scaffold is something else...and you may see another ladder on the other side of the chimney.
The legend that was Fred Dibnah, we’ll never see his like again.
We still have Guy Martin
@@chrisdansey2600 don't think guy Martin has any balls to ladder a 200ft chimney
Fred Dibnah, is a national treasure ..... The man was so calm and precise, I doubt if anyone ever questioned his capabilities .... RIP Fred .
Just an old time working man who was fantastic at his job, great with people and fascinating to watch.
"You didnt tend to last long if you weren't good at the job" said Fred in that pub interview
I used to live in the town that Fred came from - Bolton.
The cemented holes were there because of previous work done to repair the chimney every decade or so. Given the wind, rain and freezing weather of Northern England, the cement/pointing doesn't last the life of a chimney, which is why he's been up and down that chimney over a half dozen times.
Like most skilled tradesmen, Fred will know by sound and feel whether his ladders or other things made from wood were rotten. The reason he doesn't leave the ladders up there is that ladders are expensive and he probably went up a couple of dozen different chimneys a year.
Fred was born and bred in hull then moved to Bolton later on in his life
I remember the media discovering Fred, who had hitherto just been going about his business. He was an absolute natural for the cameras chatting away cooly explaining what he was doing; which on the scale of dangerous things was pretty much right up there. He was an absolute star whether steeplejacking or in his last years messing around with steam engines. Legend doesn't even begin to describe him.
He was a lovely man. A real man.
I wish men were made like that these days; we’re lucky if they even identify as men.
@@catherinerobilliard7662 the internet has broken your brain 🤣
Never tire of watching these... genuinely. Have a look at “how to climb a chimney overhang at 50+” ive watched it so many times and my brain still can’t compute how someone’s mind allows them to feel no fear while doing something so fraught with danger at just one wrong move.
To get a true idea of how much this guy was loved and admired by the people you need to watch and react the video of his funeral. It’s on RUclips titled “The Day Bolton Stood Still”
I’ll have a look at it
I once fell off a 30ft ladder and I didn't hurt myself . . I was stood on the bottom rung at the time mind you 👍
😂😂😂
🤣🤣
😅😅
Fred came to Doncaster Yorkshire on an open day Steam Raleigh, and I had the most wonderful experience chatting to him briefly. He was kind and had time to talk to everybody. A great man with truly nerves of steel.
I watched Fred every time he was on the Beeb. He was a British national treasure.
Yes, wood rots but those dogs were never meant to stay in there forever. They are a very temporary measure for a short usage.
Fred builds the ladder up to get to the top so he can do his maintenance work that he's employed to do then he'll remove the ladders when all the works done.
His ladders go home with him...A legend he was.
Well, the ladders come down once the mill owner pays!
Don't forget that it's not the fall that kills you,but the sudden stop at the end!!
They broke the mould after Fred was born. I had a crack with him on the phone once, just as genuine a fella as you see here.
My dad worked heights all his life, but even he winced somewhat when watching Fred Lol!
You're right, they did brake the mode with Fred. So Fred being Fred made another one from scratch in his backyard
My Dad worked on live overhead electricity at height, but he wouldn't have done what Fred Did.
@slingshotvibe what do you mean when you say you can't get your age group up a ladder? Wtf are you on about? People say such bullshit things 🤡
@@Sycophants_should_suffer like you?
@@ajorngjdonaydbr 😴
Fred was a real man. His knowledge was vast and varied. The man was a joy to listen to. It is rare to have a presenter who is a true expert in the subject matter. Not only did he have the theoretical knowledge but the man lived it.
How Fred can climb that chimney with titanium balls the size of space hoppers is an art in itself.
The knowledge fred had would fill an encyclopaedia 10x over
Fred was a legend. The man was fearless and most of all he was humble. I would have loved to have met him and shook his oil covered hand as he loved his steam engines. Fred used to repair chimneys as well as demolishing them. That's why he had holes already in the chimney.
I grew up in the shadow of a mill chimney. Its now gone, along with the mill. They were impressive things. As was the sight of hundreds of workers leaving through the factory gates at the end of a shift. As kids we could play in the street as nobody had a garden and it was rare for a car to drive down it. If you could afford a car you wouldn’t be living next to the mill.
Mill's gone, Chimney's gone, and alas, so has Fred. Grew up watching his shows, an absolute legend with balls of steel.
The chimney and mill in this video still exist to this day. The ground floor of the mill has been converted to a shop and cafe
I bumped into Fred Dibnah in an indian restaurant in blackburn over 20 years ago. Even when out with his family for an evening meal he was wearing his flat cap and boiler suit jacket. Absolute legend
I met the guy several times mostly at traction engine rallies. Had some great conversations and parties at night times sitting around the rally fires. Top man and great engineer. RIP Fred.
Fred is the perfect definition of what used to be called a Bluff Northerner usually by Southerners lol you got a job to do, you get on and do it
Given his chosen profession he probably had the level of awareness, level of concentration and skill as 20 of such people knitted together. His very life depended on every second and every move and he did it so casually. I know he liked a drink but I need a drink just watching him.
true
I'm a southerner and in my book Fred was an absolute legend. No reliance on technology, just age old methods that have worked for years. As they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Here we go. Another professional "Northerner" claiming they're hard done by, yet tougher than anyone born and raised on a lower latitude.
Logically, this would mean folks born in Scotland are tougher than you. And those from Orkney must be built like Greek Gods.
What folks in the "north" of England mean is they don't like people in southern England, namely London. Theu have preconceived notions of what people are like and what they think of them.
As a man born amd bred in central England with parents from Leeds and East London I have seen first hand this northern prejudice of looking down on folks from the south. Southerners couldn't give a shit.
Anyway. Fred was a legend. In his own right. He was respected north, south east and west. A real gent and very intelligent craftsmen.
They broke the mould when Fred was born 👍💪🇮🇲
And then he fixed it for them
When fred was born the midwife said 'Its A Man'
You should watch John Noakes climbing Nelsons Column. It was for an old UK children's TV show called Blue Peter and is one of the scariest things I've ever seen!
Shure that's why I'm scared of heights, ok the drop.
That Is terryfing to the core
A lot of these chimneys what Fred maintained and downed were around twice the height of Nelsons Column.
I live in the North West and very few of these mill chimneys remain.
And the cameraman. WTF
@5:20 when you ask who prepared the "Plug Holes" which Fred is using to insert the "Dogs" - It was Fred himself who prepared them when he carried out repair work on the chimney previously (such as pointing etc.)
Rest in peace, Fred. Fearlessness, common sense, passion, and genius in equal measures. A true Legend.
Fred was like a national treasure when I was growing up he used to be quiet a celebrity but also a very down to earth man
I went an seen his steam engines when i were a kid was me grandads best mate :)
just as well he never came too down to earth...
He is a national treasure!
Fred was a legend I love watching the scaffolding and how he pops to the pub for lunch.
The plug holes were made by Fred himself when he first climbed the stack and filled in when he removed his ladders, the timber plugs are removed before cementing in.
Great video, Fred had nerves of steel,,, no fear, he is missed to this day , a Great British Man , and a hero , what a character 👌
3:54 this isn’t a permanent structure, the ladders will be down before the wood can even get wet so no worries about it rotting 👍
Don’t forget to watch how he puts the scaffold around the top😃
Hauling up steel tube and planks to make a walkway around the chimney is yet another delight.
This is just inspection / estimate. When he goes to work on that chimney, he makes a complete circular platform. Bloody amazing.
Fred was and still is a legend absolute genius with his work and steam engines
I grew up with blokes like Fred throughout the family, and as a 11yr old I started working for my uncles scaffolding company on Saturdays, and I used to climb scaffolding with no ladders, no safety harness or anything, but now I can't even go up a bloody ladder.
Different times they were, proper salt of the earth guys like Fred were, every dinner time they were in the pub for a sandwich and five or six pints (within the hour) and then straight back up to the job.
Just reach the top and "Oh bugger need to go down for a pee"
@@crus1n Or maybe don't bother to go down.
Your face is full of admiration for Fred and that's wonderful.
As someone who's watched the original video many times, and is somewhat scared of heights, I love the way people react to Fred at the top of the second ladder when I know there are many many more to go! 🤣😂🤣
I've said this before, how strong are his legs? The sheer height ( which gives me vertigo just watching ) and the relentless pressure of gravity must be tremendous, at his age I can only watch and applaud.
I thought the same.
I wouldn’t even pick up the bloody ladder in the first place ! 😀
remember that iconic photo of the New York skyscraper being built, and the men having lunch on a beam with legs dangling, not a safety harness in sight , think i would have passed out .
I can imagine that photo and it makes me anxious.
They admitted recently in the papers that the photo of the New York workers was a fake and was done in a studio.
Fred from Lancashire, us Yorkshire folk had the upmost respect and admiration for his down to earth attitude and skill
Always fun to watch someone second-guessing an expert!
Yeah I had no idea what the hell he was doing haha. I respect Fred and understand now that I’ve learned through watching videos
Fred had done some renovations on this chimney before and he used the same holes as before, he even signed the cement with his initials 👍🏻
let's see these muscle bound, tattooed, pretty boys do this job then.
Why them? Have you had a go? I doubt muscle bound, tattoed, pretty boys did the job back then either! Too busy joining the merchant marine.
@@jeffhubbard4688 Ooh hello sailor your a nice boy.
(In a Dick Emery voice)
@@dave_h_8742 What are you: the ship?
Let's see you do this job then.
Apart from no fear of heights, incredible bravery he must have had very strong upper and lower body strength. No need for him to attend a gym.. apart from that he often went up with a few pints inside him and then smoked away while working at that height
Told ya squirrel. The nuts go funny every time. You know what I mean boy??? The holes have been put in previously and ladders put up and taken down. The holes are pointed with morter when the ladders are taken down.
He's from Bolton where I live. Fellas are tough up here.
Fred is definitely a legend but it is soo funny watching and listening to Squirrel's reaction. Great stuff!
We met fred at a steam rally some years ago , and he took us around the arena on his traction engine , he was a bit worse for wear , but was absolutely adorable .
Your reaction to this was golden squirrel.. Everything Fred puts up is removed after the job is finished.. Its impossible to say how many times Fred has used those same ladders.. The holes are made by the steeple Jack's themselves.. No one thought about the maintenance of them when they were built.. Can't wait to see your reaction to the scaffolding video.. Pmsl..
Scaffolding video will come but watch the next upload if you want to see me scared out of my ass
God old Fred. Tough as old boots and hard as nails.
Makes me proud to be British.RIP Fred
Balls of steel that guy had, I am with you on this one Squirrel there is no way you are getting me that high up on a ladder held by a bit of string and blowing about in the wind.
He must be like that free solo guy, just zero fear. I've enjoyed watching these this evening. I also found myself laughing at your reactions at the heights. Ide be same, it's unbelievable.
I'm from Mr Dibnah's neck of the woods. As a boisterous 80s ADD kid (undiagnosed until recently) very little sat me still for half an hour as a child like watching Fred Dibnah did.
His warm nature, charm and abilities as a raconteur had me captivated from a young age. I lost both grandfather's before I was the age of 4, so that might have something to do with it perhaps.
Anyway, when Fred was on the box, my folks used to plant me in front of the TV for some respite themselves, so I've been told!
He's much loved by all round here. Gone, but not forgotten. Indeed, missed by many. RIP Fred.
Made me chuckle your height anxiety kicking in after 2 ladders lol! Just thinking give it another 100 feet and you'll be terrified for him
It's like being stuck at the top of a ladder and someone says "Just come down the same way you went up" ... "P**s off! I came up head first" >_
😂😂👍👍
I think its sad to think that people like Fred, will soon be no longer part of our world.
They are still about it’s just health and safety culture is taking over the world.
People like Fred are alive and well you just don't know of any, not much appetite in the media for this kind of thing it doesn't conform well with the consumer culture they've created.
Love your reaction😅. Fred had me on the edge of my seat too. LEGEND❤
Legend man!!! I love watching his old chimney n steam engine episodes. He was a one off.
This chimney is five minutes from my home and currently has a ladder all the way up just like Fred's. The man is a legend. Great video.
Is it still standing?
Fred was awesome and a joy to watch. Far better than today's pampered footballers and warblers. Highly intelligent a brilliant engineer. Fearless and so down to earth. Fred is a true legend and superstar. I doubt if Fred would have liked that label though. He was a true humble working man we all love him. RIP FRED
When Fred leans back, I nearly pass out...
Yes
Not only was Fred a working class hero, he was a helluva steam engineer. A very intelligent man who was down to earth.
His art is good to he initially went to study art then became a draftsman
@@lukealexanderrobertsthefir458 Very cool! I didn't know that.
@@Drewboo1968 I think sone of his drafts sold a few back for a few bob
When he wasn't up a chimney!
I've watched Fred since I was a kid.....And I still get sweaty palms when I watch him.....Proper legend.
He's a steeplejack - an old trade, no longer really a thing. Fred was one of the best known, and certainly most loved in the U.K. He had his own T.V. show for a time, but he was basically a (really friggin huge) chimney repairman. So he would re point, fix, re-brick, or demolish some of the tallest chimneys in factories and the like. Typical, down to earth, likeable, hard-working Brit.
Turns my guts to water every time I watch him. He was a strange and wonderful man.
I have death grip when cleaning out my guttering on my conservatory which is about 10 feet high.
It says 1989. It’ll be a date the chimney was worked on. The chimney would almost certainly have been build in the 19th century. The ladders are Fred’s, they only go up whilst work is going on, then they get taken down.
I think 1989 was the date of the filming (I lost track of the first broadcasts). But this is a fairly modern chimney.
Fred Dibnah was a craftsman who knew exactly what he was doing. His skills were not applied casually nor with unnecessary risk. He was deceptively gifted and to observe him in these films you learn something fundamental even as a layman - dedication to those skills. When you consider the volume of high level work Fred carried out without so much as a mishap, because any mishap would mean death, you can only salute him both as a superb craftsman and a man.