Fred was not only a steeplejack, but an engineer, and an artist. He was a very intelligent man, and lovely with it. Recently a ship got stuck in the Panama for several days. Someone said they should of sent for Fred Dibnah, he'd of cleared it in a day lol
Wooden ladders give a warning of weakness. They split rather then break. So they don’t suddenly fail. Metal is very strong and light but gives little notice of failure.
I get what your saying there. I spent 20 years as the only electrician brave (daft) enough to service the 3 X 150ft lighting towers holding 35 lights each around our sites rail sidings. Even though the towers had permanent steel ladders you still had to check the firmness of each rung both climbing and coming down. Hanging over the platform rails at the top changing bulbs or repairing lamps was a doddle compared to climbing and coming down.
Let me tell you, I was a scaffolder for 30+ years erecting scaffolding jobs all over the UK with various scaffolding companies I subcontracted myself to work for. Old-school Steeplejacks are a different breed of construction worker, Fred Dibnah is a legendary master tradesman, craftsmen, a one-off genius, gentleman... RIP Fred
@@leedavies4589 There is no reward to it. Fred struggled to make a living from his craft. He was married 3 times and all his wives left him and took his kids with him when they left. None of them worked outside the home or helping his business. Now that governments tax men to pay women excessively for the jobs they used to do for nothing, because they were so easy, there is no reason for men to be slaves for the government and women. This is why the economy is failing and why the West is in freefall. The people who feed off the workers take everything, and there is no incentive to work. By the time the accountants, bankers, lawyers, women, doctors, entertainers, politicians, salesmen and managers take their cut there is nothing left for the people who actually do something. We have become too civilized to be successful, just like every empire before us.
@@joycegibbs5267 Agree ..I loved old Fred ,I'm from down south in the UK ,but I totally identified with the lad from Bolton that was the late great Fred dibnah 👍
My uncle, a now retired journalists and photographer, was assigned to get an interview with Fred who was working on a local chuch steeple. Fred agreed to the interview but only on the top of the steeple. That's how my uncle, who is scared of heights, found himself sitting with his legs dangling over the edge chatting to Fred and admiring the scenery for miles around. He also brought Fred a pack of his favourite cigarette. I spoke to my uncle about it last week and he said he was shaking so much he struggled to get the cigarette into his mouth. Fred of course was as cool as a cucumber. Afterwards they met for exclusive interviews many times but in a local pub over a beer. They became good friends and he said Fred always gave him a pack of cigarettes after every interview. Fred told him he had known how scared my uncle had been so he respected him for climbing the steeple and entering Freds world.
This guy never worked out in a gym, lifted weights, jogged he just lived on a diet of hard work, bacon, bread and beer, what a British working class hero.
Fred was a good friend. RIP mate. He uses the lightening conductor as a vertical guide as they are perfectly vertical. Note it the the right of the ladder. He did say to me once, do you fancy coming on a job in Manchester. What do you think my answer was ?
Fred was a very intelligent man. His technical and architectural drawings are like artworks. His ability to make and repair things was extraordinary, next level, stuff. He was born 150 years too late really. He should have been working alongside Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He would have been in his element.
Agree entirely. His annotations on his architectural drawings were in the most beautiful, artistic, delicate copper-plate style script. Created by work-worn gnarled hands from a Northern (England), working class icon. Listen to some of the well-educated, privileged academics talk to, and about Fred, in total admiration and respect. He was a true legend.
I have watched Fred since the early 80's, and I watch him every evening now on Yesterday channel, he was an art student, check out the chimney he built on his home terraced house! His knowledge is vast on the industrial revolution. His demonstration models and drawings whitch he does himself, are amazing. Then it's all presented in the most layman but charismatic manner. He has a serious heavy duty workshop powered by steam, whitch is his true passion, climbing the chimneys was just a means to an end. It was people like Fred that truly made Britain great. A true legend and working class hero Rest in Peace Fred........you will never be forgotten x
As Brits, we are so proud of our Fred Dibnah, I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude seeing you guys compliment and admire him, I’m not ashamed to say that hearing his voice makes me tear up and smile at the same time. Thank you for finding him.
Us non Brits look at British engineering in awe. The railways, canals, bridges, tunnels, ships, aircraft, radar, computers.... Alan Turing and Isambard Kingdom Brunel didn't mess around!
I love that it probably took Fred less time to put that laddering up than it would to fill in all of the health & safety risk assessments and insurance forms today. 💚🐇🐴💚
You can just imagine the visit from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)! Looking up and saying "He can't DO things like that!" And his mate saying "You wanna climb up and tell him?"
Quite a naïve comment, health and safety laws really helped save lives of menial labourers all over the UK doing much more dangerous jobs than walking up and down ladders, my grandad who worked in a slate quarry lived through the new fangled health and safety laws being implemented, and what did he say about it? About time he said, he said it was a disgrace that it took so long for workers basic rights to work in a safe environment to be recognised, it was too late for him as he was already dying from terminal lung disease but he said it would help to save lives for future workers.
I live near Bolton and have been past the house he lived in I also saw him at work many times you would always see him in his old land rover with all the ladders strapped on top he was the kind of working class bloke that would probably hit the pub after a hards work every day a true working class hero and gentleman rip Fred he lashed his own ladders all the way to the pearly gates.
The man is a legend in England not just the best stepplejack also known for building steam engines in his back yard spent years building them. Also engineering and going round all the old Mills and so on RIP Fred
I saw Fred bring down a chimney when I was a kid. He used a wood bonfires heat & a prayer. He put that chimney down exactly where he intended. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. What a gentleman he was. A true Englishman of the first order. We're very proud of him. Peace out.
AS you wondered how he got past the chimney collar you should watch "Fred Dibnah How to climb a chimney overhang at 50+". It's quite a short video. Possibly your next dive into the world of Fred should be, "Fred Dibnah How to erect a chimney scaffold" thats just under 10 minutes long and utterly breath taking. It might be an idea to do those two videos together.
@@blackbirdsr71 - The overhang bit is a definite 'Nope' moment. I'm not afraid of heights, but I draw the line somewhere. I remember watching it sitting next to my late father, who had been a paratrooper - I could hear him muttering swear words all the way through. He ended with a loud and heartfelt "Sod that for a game of soldiers!"
Being in the construction business I visited the Empire State building in New York back in 1971 one of the tallest at the time , the new Two Towers were still being built at the time . Not long after we also visited St Pauls Cathedral in the UK and Salisbury Cathedral and wondered really in amazement how they had been built hundred of years before using just timber and sisal ropes for scaffolding . Gives you respect for the tradesmen of years ago .
Fred is surely a British treasure. The next video you have to watch in this series is how he puts the scaffolding (staging) around the top of the chimney once he has a ladder up on both sides.
Check out how Fred used to drop these chimneys using fire, no explosives. There is one particular chimney that dropped a little closer to him than he expected 😳
I love this! Fred is a true British hero. When I was a kid in the 80s Royal Mail had a scheme to get children writing letters, and at school they got us to write a letter to our favourite celebrities. I chose Fred.
Glad you're checking him out again. You should watch him drop a Chimney and also build his staging platform around the top of one. His programmes about the Industrial Age are excellent
@@tbrowniscool PFrom memory he started knocking bricks out at the base on the Friday and continued into the Saturday, Saturday Evening stacked the would into the excavated part and slit it at 9AM Sunday it collapsed about 2 hours after he lit the fire., he beeped his old hot. Just before it fell. Growing up Fred was just a Blake from next town, he seemed just a normal chap io us and not a celebrity at all, as I have mentioned Ed elsewhere many a time stuck in lines of traffic, when got to the front there was Fred in one of his Steam Traction Engines holding everybody up, Local Character
The men hand-building these ladders were highly skilled carpenters & just as dedicated to their craft as Fred was to his...and the £7k Fred earned for demolishing the chimney stack would have bought him a lovely house in those days😂❤
Fred was the last true Victorian. He was a genius. If you get the chance, look at some of his drawings and the GORGEOUS copperplate writing he does. Also, he rebuilt two steam engines in his back garden!
He built a coal mine in his back garden, mining wheel and lifting equipment as well. And he had a work shop completely run by steam. Where he built 2 steam engines. A roller and tractor. What a legend Fred was and is 💯🤙🏻❤️❤️
'A bit out of breath' is old school british understatement the same way a soldier who says 'we're having a bit of bother' means they under serious attack
Fred's attitude reminds me of my dad who was heavy duty plant mechanic. They were both absorbed in how things worked and took great pride in their hard work for little reward
He taught historians things they never knew. How things were built by the working man. He could tell when bricklayers changed over to another bricklayer because they would leave a mark when they had done their shift? Loads of things like that. The techniques they used. Brilliant. 🤠👍
My brother is a stone mason, and he marks his work, this goes back centuries to medieval times and the masons guild. Originally I think it had something to do with getting paid. And I’m not sure but I think their marks were registered.
I roundly blame Fred for my subsequent career as a bricklayer and the many miserable days I have spent cold and at height in the British winter, having watched this as an impressionable 11 year old when originally broadcast in 1979 (or thereabouts). RIP, Fred. One of a kind.
You guys should find one of the videos where he demolishes a chimney stack by replacing the bricks at the bottom with lengths of telegraph pole and then building a fire to burn the wooden props away. It's amazing 😁
Its mad how often he just leans back on the ladder to have a look round or chat not even holding on with his hands, just using his legs to hold himself in place 100-150ft in the air 😲 I wouldn't be doing that even at 10ft lol
For sure, if Fred had built a steam powered time machine, he would have been mates with the likes of Watt, Trevithick, Stevenson, Brunel and many other clever buggers.
I met Fred a few years before he died, he was doing a one man show tour. We went to the pub across the road from the theatre and he was in there having a pint and chatting to everybody. I had brought one of his books along just in case and he made a beautiful job of signing it. As he was holding court with us all somebody rushed in from the theatre and told him it was five minutes to curtain up. We all rushed to get our seats - a few minutes later he wandered onto the stage still holding his pint from the pub 😃 a great character, lovely man and a sad loss. Right up to the end of his life he insisted on carrying on with his tv series and existed on a diet of oranges and Guinness to keep him going.
You asked how he gets round the out crops. Same method, he fastens ladders and climbs them leaning back. Other videos show it. Guy was a legend and fearless.
Is there a video of him actually putting the ladders up round the out crop? I've seen one with him climbing them but they're already in place, and I couldn't figure out how they were put up as the ladders aren't against the wall of the chimney.
The word to describe Fred is “competent”. Absolutely confident in his own abilities and expertise, and utterly unconcerned about the height because he isn’t going to make any mistakes. And far, far cleverer than your average guy.
Fred Dibnah is rightly called a legend, he was from a different world, which disappeared a long time ago. He only hurt himself once, apparently, - he broke a leg falling off a ladder when he was painting his living room. Strange but true.
My dad met fred at Boconnoc steam fair in the early 90's, I think 93/95 somewhere around there and at the time my dads hobby/borderline job when not dropping off the yellow pages was to rebuild/fix typewriters, They got talking about type writers and steam engines...He ended up with a two day hangover after talking to fred and having a "few drinks"...Said he was one of the most wonderful chaps he ever met...Decent lad
Fred Dibnah is one of my all time British heroes, as well as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Sir David Attenborough and Beatrix Potter … Fred was so knowledgable and in later life went on to do some amazing series to do with engineering and another with his beloved steam engine 👍🏻🇬🇧
Fred is a hero of mine. So pleased you guys have shown a couple of his shows. Fred was very similar to the guys I worked with in the foundry I worked in back in the late sixties. Loved working with them and Fred did a lot more than steeple jacking. His love of steam and his workshop he had in his garden that he made things like weather vanes for example. A great man who was able to explain how things were made in easily understood language without jargon. RIP Fred.
I met Fred once, lovely guy. Looking forward to you looking at his other films - especially the one where he climbs over the overhang of a square chimney - it’s terrifying!!
I had the great pleasure of serving Fred a few pints in the pub and a more humble man you couldn't wish to meet. Such a gentleman. His great passion was traction engines and before he died he took one and its trailer around the UK
Watching Fred at work always makes my hands, knees and feet ache with the sheer terror of it all! As Fred said, if you make a mistake its half a day out with the undertaker. RIP Fred.
Fred would often have a couple of pints of bitter at lunchtime, as was the norm for many construction workers in the sixties & seventies. He appeared on TV adverts for Greenhall Whitley brewery from Warrington,
He was born and raised in Bolton And I worshipped him as a child Cos he'd climb a two hundred foot chimney After drinking five pints of mild. The Lancashire Hotpots - Dibnah Worth a gander.
Fred is an absolute legend..you are just scratching the surface !! His passion for steam engines is well worth checking out ,very clever man was Fred and very sadly missed .Great to see new people appreciating the man ..loved a pint of Guinness too 😄
You can hear the pitch change as he drives the stakes in, that's how he knows they're in tight, Fred once said, Britain was built by men in boiler suits and flat caps and Is being destroyed by men in pinstripe suits and carrying brief cases
Oh, I don't think they wear pinstripe suits any more. It's all Gucci, French connection and fancy crap. These are the people who Blaster Bates took the mickey out of.
@@peterhall8572 Oh, I didn't know that. Bates was a comedic God. I try not to listen to his stuff too much, because I want it to stay fresh. He was one of a number of comedians people I knew in the army liked, when I was posted to Germany. Bob Newhart and Billy Connelly also stick out. there's a lot of joy there.
As an englishman for me and everyone im sure fred dinbah is a legend, someone we recommend to others to feel pride in the people who made our country what it is around the world, and fred is one of them.. the reactions from people when they see his work are priceless..
Even when this series was first shown, he was one of the last of his trade. Most of his jobs were demolishing these old structures. Relics of the industrial revolution. So much cheaper and more efficient to pay him and one of his mates to do these jobs than to pay a big company with cranes and scaffolding etc. His version of health and safety was taking care in the work he did, thinking it through ahead of time and having a cool head. Seemed to work better for him than ropes, harnesses, risk assessments etc.
Don’t forget to see how he puts up his interpretation of scaffolding at the top of the chimney. Something, which is not covered is the fact that he also has to ladder the other side of the chimney to achieve this. Happy new year 👨❤️💋👨
I'm really enjoying your commentary. Having first seen Fred in the 70's, your comments reflect what we all thought and said back then. The truth is, we all ran out of descriptives for such an amazing man. Who would have thought, that Fred from a very humble background, would be so celebrated as he is today. If there was a Fred Dibnah appreciation society, I'm sure it would have numbers in the millions.
Fred was truely a one off. Pure bravery and sheer skill are only embedded in a rare breed. He even hammers away at his chisle without a hand guard on his chisle and doesn't miss a hit.
Not taking anything away from Fred, but I'm nearing 50 years old, and I've _never_ seen anyone use a hand-guard on a chisel, they'd get laughed off site.
@@Paddy.C I've been o many sites of building and there's lot of builder's use them. It's not a sign of weakness in your hammering technique it's just a safety thing and worth having one on a chisel rather than broken fingers. I was using one back in the 80s/90s and all our lads used them seen quite a few broken chipped knuckles without one. Fred was a master with that hammer n chisel one man you'd never tell to put a guard on
If Fred had been born a century or so earlier he would probably have been called Isambard Kingdom Dibnah … he absolutely loved the engineering of Victorian era …. You should also do reactions to his travels around the UK in his Steam Engine visiting various locations that started off the industrial revolution.
Thank you guys for adding another layer of respect for what Fred did, he was so good at what he did and after steeple jacking became a TV presenter but with the same charm and enthusiasm as his early TV steeple jacking. There are so many more good episodes around steam engines, Victorian architecture and of course his steam driven workshop at his home where he rebuild a steam traction engine and built a mineshaft…
I have been watching you lads for 3 years and it makes me happy watching you get so much enjoyment out of our Fred, a National hero. Keep up the good work!
I’ve been a steeplejack now for 13 years and the system I’m place now is obviously much different to back in the day. Now we use light weight aluminium ladders that have built in cleats to but the ladder off the structure and the ladders come in various different sizes. My heights climb is 238ft Longannet power station
Fred was so into preserving history and trying to teach others about it. The best thing he done was (in my humble) his tour of the country in an old traction engine, I guarantee that just about all of the places he visited got more visitors and better funds for their preservation after he went to them
I'm pretty sure that the Chimney in the video is the Ena Mill which is in Atherton, the next town over from where I live. My dad lives a 2 minute walk away. Fred Dibnah is a Legend around Bolton and the surrounding areas
I remember talking to an American pal about Fred. He was from NYC and reckoned Fred must have been part Navajo, after the guys that help build the Manhattan skyscrapers. No ropes, no parachutes, no fear.
Fred dug his own coal mine in his back garden to power is steam roller after the pits closed. He really is a British legend, and anybody over the age of 40, grew up watching him.
Glad you’ve discovered Fred. You might want to check out his abiding love of steam power - he has restored his traction engine, hitched up a traditional caravan, and travelled the country. Many episodes are out there.
The rungs on a wooden ladder, you can feel when they're going to fail. Aluminium rungs give you no warning and they just snap. Old schoolers always put more trust in wooden ladders for that reason.
He seems like a very working class man, but he had 2 doctorates, he was basically the country and i guess alot of worlds first authority on steeplejacking, clearly as he could take one down on his jack jones, with hand tools.... Something that would require a whole team of people with countless machines to achieve nowadays it sometimes hard to take him seriously because of his obvious wicked sense of humour...... absolute British Legend and he just embodies Britishness in a nutshell ❤
I watched Fred when i was a young lad. I am 58 now and respect and admire him even greater now,and miss him a lot . A true Grafter and solid brave English Icon . I am glad that younger generations admire him too in this present day.
Men like Fred built an Empire.🇬🇧
Fred was not only a steeplejack, but an engineer, and an artist. He was a very intelligent man, and lovely with it. Recently a ship got stuck in the Panama for several days. Someone said they should of sent for Fred Dibnah, he'd of cleared it in a day lol
Fred is am absolute northern legend, that mam knew no fear, and knew exactly what he was doing at all times, sadly missed
Wooden ladders give a warning of weakness. They split rather then break. So they don’t suddenly fail. Metal is very strong and light but gives little notice of failure.
I get what your saying there. I spent 20 years as the only electrician brave (daft) enough to service the 3 X 150ft lighting towers holding 35 lights each around our sites rail sidings. Even though the towers had permanent steel ladders you still had to check the firmness of each rung both climbing and coming down. Hanging over the platform rails at the top changing bulbs or repairing lamps was a doddle compared to climbing and coming down.
Let me tell you, I was a scaffolder for 30+ years erecting scaffolding jobs all over the UK with various scaffolding companies I subcontracted myself to work for. Old-school Steeplejacks are a different breed of construction worker, Fred Dibnah is a legendary master tradesman, craftsmen, a one-off genius, gentleman... RIP Fred
the way the world is we need more people like Fred ..sadly non forthcoming
@@leedavies4589 They're a softer breed in today's society... Fred was the last of his breed... Grafter!
@@Boomboom-ox9hn totally agree sir
@@leedavies4589 There is no reward to it. Fred struggled to make a living from his craft. He was married 3 times and all his wives left him and took his kids with him when they left. None of them worked outside the home or helping his business. Now that governments tax men to pay women excessively for the jobs they used to do for nothing, because they were so easy, there is no reason for men to be slaves for the government and women. This is why the economy is failing and why the West is in freefall. The people who feed off the workers take everything, and there is no incentive to work. By the time the accountants, bankers, lawyers, women, doctors, entertainers, politicians, salesmen and managers take their cut there is nothing left for the people who actually do something. We have become too civilized to be successful, just like every empire before us.
Being an arena rigger myself, all I can say is Fred Dibnah is absolutely next level!
You couldn't get me in that crane thing that was holding the cameraman, let alone on that ladder.
He was my hero, I watched him from about 5 years old. He was many people's hero I think..
He was not a showman he was for real !!
A very brave chap. Poor bugger died from cancer. Everyone in the UK loved Fred.
And we still do
Yep 👍
he was, and still is a LEGEND. Don't make them like this anymore, tragically.
@@joycegibbs5267 Agree ..I loved old Fred ,I'm from down south in the UK ,but I totally identified with the lad from Bolton that was the late great Fred dibnah 👍
Ahh I knew he was dead, I knew he never fell never knew how he died.
My uncle, a now retired journalists and photographer, was assigned to get an interview with Fred who was working on a local chuch steeple. Fred agreed to the interview but only on the top of the steeple. That's how my uncle, who is scared of heights, found himself sitting with his legs dangling over the edge chatting to Fred and admiring the scenery for miles around. He also brought Fred a pack of his favourite cigarette. I spoke to my uncle about it last week and he said he was shaking so much he struggled to get the cigarette into his mouth. Fred of course was as cool as a cucumber. Afterwards they met for exclusive interviews many times but in a local pub over a beer. They became good friends and he said Fred always gave him a pack of cigarettes after every interview. Fred told him he had known how scared my uncle had been so he respected him for climbing the steeple and entering Freds world.
You wouldn't get me up on one of those things - I get dizzy wearing thick socks
@@eddisstreet What an awesome saying.
@@eddisstreet hahaha
Your uncle is a legend for facing his fears for his job.
Cool, you got any links to those interviews? I’d love to read them 👍🏻
This guy never worked out in a gym, lifted weights, jogged he just lived on a diet of hard work, bacon, bread and beer, what a British working class hero.
We don't prat about we just get on with it
Or a cheese sandwich if you've had a barney the night before.
@@Sparks127 Or a cheese butty as he called them as he's from Bolton.
We'll never see the like again.
And died at 66
Fred was a good friend. RIP mate. He uses the lightening conductor as a vertical guide as they are perfectly vertical. Note it the the right of the ladder. He did say to me once, do you fancy coming on a job in Manchester. What do you think my answer was ?
no?
Fred Dibnah, the last of the Testicularsaurus.
Fred was a very intelligent man. His technical and architectural drawings are like artworks. His ability to make and repair things was extraordinary, next level, stuff.
He was born 150 years too late really. He should have been working alongside Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He would have been in his element.
I dread to think what Brunel and Fred would have gotten up to if they had lived at the same time.
Agree entirely. His annotations on his architectural drawings were in the most beautiful, artistic, delicate copper-plate style script. Created by work-worn gnarled hands from a Northern (England), working class icon. Listen to some of the well-educated, privileged academics talk to, and about Fred, in total admiration and respect. He was a true legend.
@@dfross87 Some very very high bridges i would imagine'lol
Well said.
I have watched Fred since the early 80's, and I watch him every evening now on Yesterday channel, he was an art student, check out the chimney he built on his home terraced house!
His knowledge is vast on the industrial revolution.
His demonstration models and drawings whitch he does himself, are amazing.
Then it's all presented in the most layman but charismatic manner.
He has a serious heavy duty workshop powered by steam, whitch is his true passion, climbing the chimneys was just a means to an end.
It was people like Fred that truly made Britain great.
A true legend and working class hero
Rest in Peace Fred........you will never be forgotten x
As Brits, we are so proud of our Fred Dibnah, I feel so overwhelmed with gratitude seeing you guys compliment and admire him, I’m not ashamed to say that hearing his voice makes me tear up and smile at the same time. Thank you for finding him.
Us non Brits look at British engineering in awe. The railways, canals, bridges, tunnels, ships, aircraft, radar, computers.... Alan Turing and Isambard Kingdom Brunel didn't mess around!
Man you said it all we really are so proud of him an amazing guy nice one
@@AlanCanon2222 some peoples in the UK work AS a trucker and farmer but they dont get credits
@borntoclimb7116 hardly the same though is it.
@@jezzab8146 true
Fred was a British icon absolutely amazing person RIP fred
A True British Icon, They don't make em like this anymore !!
And no such thing as health and safety , no harness / hard hats / safety glasses. Fred you were the dogs Bollocks mate . Absolute legend 👏
What you're seeing, besides the actual work , is a fine example of British understatement.
I love that it probably took Fred less time to put that laddering up than it would to fill in all of the health & safety risk assessments and insurance forms today.
💚🐇🐴💚
Isn't that the truth.
@@johnpoulter Quite right.
💚🐇🐴💚
you know it
You can just imagine the visit from the HSE (Health and Safety Executive)! Looking up and saying "He can't DO things like that!" And his mate saying "You wanna climb up and tell him?"
Quite a naïve comment, health and safety laws really helped save lives of menial labourers all over the UK doing much more dangerous jobs than walking up and down ladders, my grandad who worked in a slate quarry lived through the new fangled health and safety laws being implemented, and what did he say about it? About time he said, he said it was a disgrace that it took so long for workers basic rights to work in a safe environment to be recognised, it was too late for him as he was already dying from terminal lung disease but he said it would help to save lives for future workers.
Thanks for honouring the late, great Fred. Cheers lads 🇬🇧💚
Fred was a national treasure, gone but not forgotten.
Guys like Fred made Britain great !!
I live near Bolton and have been past the house he lived in I also saw him at work many times you would always see him in his old land rover with all the ladders strapped on top he was the kind of working class bloke that would probably hit the pub after a hards work every day a true working class hero and gentleman rip Fred he lashed his own ladders all the way to the pearly gates.
The only man Chuck Norris was scared of.
His passion for steam engines just brings pure joy.
The man is a legend in England not just the best stepplejack also known for building steam engines in his back yard spent years building them. Also engineering and going round all the old Mills and so on RIP Fred
I saw Fred bring down a chimney when I was a kid. He used a wood bonfires heat & a prayer. He put that chimney down exactly where he intended. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. What a gentleman he was. A true Englishman of the first order. We're very proud of him. Peace out.
This is old school genius and absolute graft. This is proper hard work.
AS you wondered how he got past the chimney collar you should watch "Fred Dibnah How to climb a chimney overhang at 50+". It's quite a short video. Possibly your next dive into the world of Fred should be, "Fred Dibnah How to erect a chimney scaffold" thats just under 10 minutes long and utterly breath taking. It might be an idea to do those two videos together.
I agree, would love to see that !
The India Mill in Darwen. Watched from my Granny's balcony.
That video is incredible
@@blackbirdsr71 - The overhang bit is a definite 'Nope' moment. I'm not afraid of heights, but I draw the line somewhere. I remember watching it sitting next to my late father, who had been a paratrooper - I could hear him muttering swear words all the way through. He ended with a loud and heartfelt "Sod that for a game of soldiers!"
it is unbelivieble,what a skill and sadly becoming a lost art
Thank you guys, this was a great watch.
Us Brits will forever be proud of our Fred 💪🏼
The first time Fred appeared on UK TV, he was an overnight sensation. RIP Fred.
Being in the construction business I visited the Empire State building in New York back in 1971 one of the tallest at the time , the new Two Towers were still being built at the time . Not long after we also visited St Pauls Cathedral in the UK and Salisbury Cathedral and wondered really in amazement how they had been built hundred of years before using just timber and sisal ropes for scaffolding . Gives you respect for the tradesmen of years ago .
Fred is surely a British treasure.
The next video you have to watch in this series is how he puts the scaffolding (staging) around the top of the chimney once he has a ladder up on both sides.
Yeah this. I think putting the scaffolding around the top is even more frightening than the ladders lol
I cant wait for Daniel to see that. Spencer takes it all pretty cool, I can see the fear on Daniels face lol. Enjoy the next vids guys
this was my favorite out of the various videos Fred did with steeplejacking
Yup keep going with all things Fred guys, fantastic!
Check out how Fred used to drop these chimneys using fire, no explosives. There is one particular chimney that dropped a little closer to him than he expected 😳
As a urban and freeclimber, i like this Videos.
I love this! Fred is a true British hero. When I was a kid in the 80s Royal Mail had a scheme to get children writing letters, and at school they got us to write a letter to our favourite celebrities. I chose Fred.
when fred hit British tv screens the nation loved him old school legend of a man.......
Glad you're checking him out again. You should watch him drop a Chimney and also build his staging platform around the top of one. His programmes about the Industrial Age are excellent
Defo
There is literally no video from Fred Dibnah which isn't amazing.
Saw him drop the chimney at Leigh Alders Mil by the burn method back in the 70’s
@@BKKMekong That's brilliant how long did it take him to take a chimney down from start to finish?
@@tbrowniscool PFrom memory he started knocking bricks out at the base on the Friday and continued into the Saturday, Saturday Evening stacked the would into the excavated part and slit it at 9AM Sunday it collapsed about 2 hours after he lit the fire., he beeped his old hot. Just before it fell. Growing up Fred was just a Blake from next town, he seemed just a normal chap io us and not a celebrity at all, as I have mentioned Ed elsewhere many a time stuck in lines of traffic, when got to the front there was Fred in one of his Steam Traction Engines holding everybody up, Local Character
The men hand-building these ladders were highly skilled carpenters & just as dedicated to their craft as Fred was to his...and the £7k Fred earned for demolishing the chimney stack would have bought him a lovely house in those days😂❤
Fred used to say - “you’re as dead if you fall off 3 ladders as you are if you fell off 30 - either way it’s a half a day out with the undertaker”
But with 30 ladders you have a bit longer to shout "Oh shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..."
Great quote. Fred's dryness is legendary.
'you only fall off once!'
Fred always said... "A mistake ends up with half a day with the undertaker" :-D
The should be a Fred Dinah award for men with big balls and big engineering brains the man is a legend R I P Fred
Fred was the last true Victorian. He was a genius. If you get the chance, look at some of his drawings and the GORGEOUS copperplate writing he does. Also, he rebuilt two steam engines in his back garden!
Didn't his son take over from him, trained as an engineer from memory. Was working in Germany when his dad died.
He built his own coal mine an'all, fer't power t'steam engines
Thank You for keeping Fred in the collective Memory He was Larger than Life! An amazing Man He was, Cheers!!!
His thoughts on making a mistake that high up...."...you get half a day out with the undertaker"....absolute legend.
He built a coal mine in his back garden, mining wheel and lifting equipment as well. And he had a work shop completely run by steam. Where he built 2 steam engines. A roller and tractor. What a legend Fred was and is 💯🤙🏻❤️❤️
'A bit out of breath' is old school british understatement the same way a soldier who says 'we're having a bit of bother' means they under serious attack
Fred's attitude reminds me of my dad who was heavy duty plant mechanic. They were both absorbed in how things worked and took great pride in their hard work for little reward
You wouldn’t want metal ladders doing this job, lightening ⚡️
He taught historians things they never knew. How things were built by the working man. He could tell when bricklayers changed over to another bricklayer because they would leave a mark when they had done their shift? Loads of things like that. The techniques they used. Brilliant. 🤠👍
My brother is a stone mason, and he marks his work, this goes back centuries to medieval times and the masons guild. Originally I think it had something to do with getting paid. And I’m not sure but I think their marks were registered.
Fred's great belief (and respect) in Physics was incredible.
I roundly blame Fred for my subsequent career as a bricklayer and the many miserable days I have spent cold and at height in the British winter, having watched this as an impressionable 11 year old when originally broadcast in 1979 (or thereabouts).
RIP, Fred. One of a kind.
"the many miserable days I have spent cold and at height in the British winter," - aren't you confusing that with summer 😂😂
A good old working class northerner. Respect to this bloke Fred❤
And when Fred wasn't doing something like this he was building steam traction engines and making an industrial museum in his garden.
Fcukin legend !
The Lancashire Hotpots - Dibnah.
A fitting tribute.
Or beating up his wife. The guy was a real piece of shit away from the cameras, read up about him.
You guys should find one of the videos where he demolishes a chimney stack by replacing the bricks at the bottom with lengths of telegraph pole and then building a fire to burn the wooden props away. It's amazing 😁
Its mad how often he just leans back on the ladder to have a look round or chat not even holding on with his hands, just using his legs to hold himself in place 100-150ft in the air 😲 I wouldn't be doing that even at 10ft lol
I was with him until he explained the chimney swayed! But, then, I get dizzy if I wear thick socks
Their is no one more interesting/inspiring than an experienced tradesman doing their job well. Fascinating and awe inspiring.
It’s people like Fred that are the reason we had an empire.
A true Englishman!
For sure, if Fred had built a steam powered time machine, he would have been mates with the likes of Watt, Trevithick, Stevenson, Brunel and many other clever buggers.
And there are million of truckers who we need for our food
How o earth do you wiggle truckers into this??? 😂
I met Fred a few years before he died, he was doing a one man show tour. We went to the pub across the road from the theatre and he was in there having a pint and chatting to everybody. I had brought one of his books along just in case and he made a beautiful job of signing it. As he was holding court with us all somebody rushed in from the theatre and told him it was five minutes to curtain up. We all rushed to get our seats - a few minutes later he wandered onto the stage still holding his pint from the pub 😃 a great character, lovely man and a sad loss. Right up to the end of his life he insisted on carrying on with his tv series and existed on a diet of oranges and Guinness to keep him going.
You asked how he gets round the out crops. Same method, he fastens ladders and climbs them leaning back. Other videos show it. Guy was a legend and fearless.
Is there a video of him actually putting the ladders up round the out crop? I've seen one with him climbing them but they're already in place, and I couldn't figure out how they were put up as the ladders aren't against the wall of the chimney.
@@peterwilkins7013 I might have seen one years ago but I honestly can't remember for sure.
The word to describe Fred is “competent”. Absolutely confident in his own abilities and expertise, and utterly unconcerned about the height because he isn’t going to make any mistakes.
And far, far cleverer than your average guy.
competent is an understatement. Fred was far more than that
Highly skilled not competent.
@@mildredsparks6684 highly skilled AND competent.
@@Tony_Regime Competent is a bg compliment. In today’s world, real competence is very uncommon.
@@charlesmarshall8046 and Fred Dibnah was way more than competent
Fred had what some folks of a certain age called the "British Bulldog" spirit.
Unfortunately there are not many of them left.
Fred Dibnah is rightly called a legend, he was from a different world, which disappeared a long time ago. He only hurt himself once, apparently, - he broke a leg falling off a ladder when he was painting his living room. Strange but true.
My dad met fred at Boconnoc steam fair in the early 90's, I think 93/95 somewhere around there and at the time my dads hobby/borderline job when not dropping off the yellow pages was to rebuild/fix typewriters, They got talking about type writers and steam engines...He ended up with a two day hangover after talking to fred and having a "few drinks"...Said he was one of the most wonderful chaps he ever met...Decent lad
Fred Dibnah is one of my all time British heroes, as well as Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Sir David Attenborough and Beatrix Potter … Fred was so knowledgable and in later life went on to do some amazing series to do with engineering and another with his beloved steam engine 👍🏻🇬🇧
Fred is a hero of mine. So pleased you guys have shown a couple of his shows. Fred was very similar to the guys I worked with in the foundry I worked in back in the late sixties. Loved working with them and Fred did a lot more than steeple jacking. His love of steam and his workshop he had in his garden that he made things like weather vanes for example. A great man who was able to explain how things were made in easily understood language without jargon. RIP Fred.
Fred was amazing wasn't he I'm glad you found him
I met Fred once, lovely guy. Looking forward to you looking at his other films - especially the one where he climbs over the overhang of a square chimney - it’s terrifying!!
I drive past that chimney every day to go home and look up and think 'nah'. It must be special effects he used. Hahaha.
I had the great pleasure of serving Fred a few pints in the pub and a more humble man you couldn't wish to meet. Such a gentleman. His great passion was traction engines and before he died he took one and its trailer around the UK
Watching Fred at work always makes my hands, knees and feet ache with the sheer terror of it all! As Fred said, if you make a mistake its half a day out with the undertaker. RIP Fred.
Fred was a legend and such a modest, humorous man.
Fred would often have a couple of pints of bitter at lunchtime, as was the norm for many construction workers in the sixties & seventies. He appeared on TV adverts for Greenhall Whitley brewery from Warrington,
He was born and raised in Bolton
And I worshipped him as a child
Cos he'd climb a two hundred foot chimney
After drinking five pints of mild.
The Lancashire Hotpots - Dibnah
Worth a gander.
Fred is an absolute legend..you are just scratching the surface !! His passion for steam engines is well worth checking out ,very clever man was Fred and very sadly missed .Great to see new people appreciating the man ..loved a pint of Guinness too 😄
He wasn't just a great Speeplejack his knowledge on the history of Steam Traction Engines is amazing
Many a time when there was a line of traffic you could guarantee that at the front oiled be Fred in one of his traction engines
You should make a short of you guys trying Guinness!
You can hear the pitch change as he drives the stakes in, that's how he knows they're in tight, Fred once said, Britain was built by men in boiler suits and flat caps and Is being destroyed by men in pinstripe suits and carrying brief cases
Oh, I don't think they wear pinstripe suits any more. It's all Gucci, French connection and fancy crap. These are the people who Blaster Bates took the mickey out of.
@@peterh7594 I was quoting Fred directly, and funnily enough I grew up on blaster bates 😂
@@peterhall8572 Oh, I didn't know that. Bates was a comedic God. I try not to listen to his stuff too much, because I want it to stay fresh. He was one of a number of comedians people I knew in the army liked, when I was posted to Germany. Bob Newhart and Billy Connelly also stick out. there's a lot of joy there.
There's a Dibnah clip that shows how he puts the ladders up to work around a large overhang - sweaty palms time again....
As an englishman for me and everyone im sure fred dinbah is a legend, someone we recommend to others to feel pride in the people who made our country what it is around the world, and fred is one of them.. the reactions from people when they see his work are priceless..
Don't worry, lads - you're not the only ones to struggle to find words to describe Fred: throwback to another time.
Imagine when we were watching this on telly for the first time
Even when this series was first shown, he was one of the last of his trade. Most of his jobs were demolishing these old structures. Relics of the industrial revolution.
So much cheaper and more efficient to pay him and one of his mates to do these jobs than to pay a big company with cranes and scaffolding etc.
His version of health and safety was taking care in the work he did, thinking it through ahead of time and having a cool head. Seemed to work better for him than ropes, harnesses, risk assessments etc.
Don’t forget to see how he puts up his interpretation of scaffolding at the top of the chimney. Something, which is not covered is the fact that he also has to ladder the other side of the chimney to achieve this.
Happy new year 👨❤️💋👨
I'm really enjoying your commentary. Having first seen Fred in the 70's, your comments reflect what we all thought and said back then. The truth is, we all ran out of descriptives for such an amazing man. Who would have thought, that Fred from a very humble background, would be so celebrated as he is today. If there was a Fred Dibnah appreciation society, I'm sure it would have numbers in the millions.
Fred was truely a one off. Pure bravery and sheer skill are only embedded in a rare breed. He even hammers away at his chisle without a hand guard on his chisle and doesn't miss a hit.
Not taking anything away from Fred, but I'm nearing 50 years old, and I've _never_ seen anyone use a hand-guard on a chisel, they'd get laughed off site.
@@Paddy.C I've been o many sites of building and there's lot of builder's use them. It's not a sign of weakness in your hammering technique it's just a safety thing and worth having one on a chisel rather than broken fingers. I was using one back in the 80s/90s and all our lads used them seen quite a few broken chipped knuckles without one. Fred was a master with that hammer n chisel one man you'd never tell to put a guard on
If Fred had been born a century or so earlier he would probably have been called Isambard Kingdom Dibnah … he absolutely loved the engineering of Victorian era …. You should also do reactions to his travels around the UK in his Steam Engine visiting various locations that started off the industrial revolution.
I'm surprised we don't hear the clanging of his brass balls when he climbing up those ladders.
Nerve wrecking.
Im pretty terrified of heights. Even watching this makes my inner thighs quiver.
Thank you guys for adding another layer of respect for what Fred did, he was so good at what he did and after steeple jacking became a TV presenter but with the same charm and enthusiasm as his early TV steeple jacking. There are so many more good episodes around steam engines, Victorian architecture and of course his steam driven workshop at his home where he rebuild a steam traction engine and built a mineshaft…
And, if you look, no safety harness. Fred, what a legend and a national treasure.
Daniel. Your reaction when Fred says some are loose is priceless!!😂😂😂
I have been watching you lads for 3 years and it makes me happy watching you get so much enjoyment out of our Fred, a National hero. Keep up the good work!
Happy you are visiting Fred again. He was a unique man and was loved by us all….and he was totally fearless!
I’ve been a steeplejack now for 13 years and the system I’m place now is obviously much different to back in the day. Now we use light weight aluminium ladders that have built in cleats to but the ladder off the structure and the ladders come in various different sizes. My heights climb is 238ft Longannet power station
Fred was so into preserving history and trying to teach others about it. The best thing he done was (in my humble) his tour of the country in an old traction engine, I guarantee that just about all of the places he visited got more visitors and better funds for their preservation after he went to them
I'm pretty sure that the Chimney in the video is the Ena Mill which is in Atherton, the next town over from where I live. My dad lives a 2 minute walk away. Fred Dibnah is a Legend around Bolton and the surrounding areas
I remember talking to an American pal about Fred. He was from NYC and reckoned Fred must have been part Navajo, after the guys that help build the Manhattan skyscrapers. No ropes, no parachutes, no fear.
Fred dug his own coal mine in his back garden to power is steam roller after the pits closed.
He really is a British legend, and anybody over the age of 40, grew up watching him.
Glad you’ve discovered Fred.
You might want to check out his abiding love of steam power - he has restored his traction engine, hitched up a traditional caravan, and travelled the country. Many episodes are out there.
He did that while suffering from cancer.
The rungs on a wooden ladder, you can feel when they're going to fail. Aluminium rungs give you no warning and they just snap. Old schoolers always put more trust in wooden ladders for that reason.
Please continue with his series, it's both soothing to watch and educational too
He seems like a very working class man, but he had 2 doctorates, he was basically the country and i guess alot of worlds first authority on steeplejacking, clearly as he could take one down on his jack jones, with hand tools....
Something that would require a whole team of people with countless machines to achieve nowadays
it sometimes hard to take him seriously because of his obvious wicked sense of humour...... absolute British Legend and he just embodies Britishness in a nutshell ❤
Fred was also a very knowledgeable historian! Very clever man!
I watched Fred when i was a young lad.
I am 58 now and respect and admire him even greater now,and miss him a lot .
A true Grafter and solid brave English Icon .
I am glad that younger generations admire him too in this present day.