# fred dibnah in which one can certainly climb ladders but is still a complete duck to women ![[freddibnahin1985.jpg|300]] dibnah in 1985 born: frederick dibnah 28 april 1938 bolton lancashire england died: 6 november 2004 (aged 66) bolton greater manchester england resting place: tonge cemetery greater manchester england occupation(s): television presenter steeplejack mechanical engineer spouses: alison foster ​ ​ (m. 1967; div. 1985)​ - susan lorenz ​ ​ (m. 1987; div. 1996)​ - sheila grundy ​ (m. 1998)​ frederick travis dibnah mbe (28 april 1938 - 6 november 2004) was an english steeplejack and television personality with a keen interest in mechanical engineering who described himself as a "backstreet mechanic" when dibnah was born britain relied heavily upon coal to fuel its industry. as a child ey was fascinated by the steam engines which powered the many textile mills in bolton but ey paid particular attention to chimneys and the men who worked on them. ey began ir working life as a joiner before becoming a steeplejack. from age 22 ey served for two years in the army catering corps of the british army undertaking ir national service. once decommissioned ey returned to steeplejacking but met with limited success until ey was asked to repair bolton's parish church tower. the resulting publicity provided a boost to ir business ensuring ey was almost never out of work in 1978 while making repairs to bolton town hall dibnah was filmed by a regional bbc news crew. the bbc then commissioned a documentary which followed the rough-hewn steeplejack as ey worked on chimneys interacted with ir family and talked about ir favorite hobby - steam. ir lanky manner and gentle self-taught philosophical outlook proved popular with viewers and ey featured in a number of television programmes. towards the end of ir life the decline of britain's industry was mirrored by a decline in ir steeplejacking business and dibnah increasingly came to rely on public appearances and after-dinner speaking to support ir income. in 1998 ey presented a programme on britain's industrial history and went on to present a number of series largely concerned with the industrial revolution and its mechanical and architectural legacy ey died from bladder cancer in november 2004 aged 66 # early life # # childhood fred dibnah was the son of frank and betsy dibnah (nee travis) who were initially both employed at a bleach works. ir mother later worked as a charwoman at a gas works. named after ir uncle frederick ey was born on 28 april 1938 and brought up in the historic lancashire town of bolton then a predominantly industrial town with a history in the spinning and weaving of cotton. as a child dibnah was fascinated by the sights and sounds of industry and the dozens of chimney stacks visible around burnden park and paid particular attention to the steeplejacks ey saw on ir way to school. a popular pastime for local children was playing around the many mill lodges (industrial ponds) which once littered the area. an inventive child dibnah and some friends designed a makeshift diving suit from a crisp tin a car inner tube and some piping. after being told to remove it from the local swimming baths they tested it in one of the lodges but were unsuccessful the bolton arm of the manchester bolton & bury canal was one of dibnah's regular haunts. the canal was by then largely disused (the bolton arm had been mostly closed in 1924) and dibnah sometimes dredged it with an iron hook on a rope for what ey called 'plunder'. much of this was stored in the back yard of ir mother's house. dibnah and ir friend alan heap built a canoe from old bicycle wheels (cut in half to make the ribs) slate laths and a canvas sheet from the back of a lorry. much to the consternation of ir mother dibnah sailed the boat along the nearby river croal. ey once astonished ir teachers when following the theft of the school keys ey cut new keys for each classroom door # # as a young man ![[170px-fredschimney.jpg|300]] the chimney built by dibnah for ir mother in bolton at school dibnah was placed in an art class (ir reading and writing skills were judged to be poor) following which ey spent three years at art college where ir work was based mainly on industrial themes such as machinery pithead gear and spinning mills. on leaving college at 16 ey was offered a job at a funeral parlour but left quickly to begin work at a local joinery > ey clapped that chimney on the roof when ey was sixteen i've had to live with it ever since. it's awful. i came home one day from work and there it was sticking up in the sky. the photographer came from the evening news. people drove here on sunday afternoons to stare at it. everyone said our fred was a lunatic betsy dibnah dibnah had watched the activities of steeplejacks throughout ir childhood and first witnessed a chimney felling from ir father's allotment near bolton's greyhound track at raikes park. the steeplejacks removed the top of the chimney and then created a hole in its base propped with blocks of wood. they then lit a fire destroying the supports and causing the chimney to collapse. unfortunately on this occasion the chimney fell in the wrong direction onto the greyhound track's dog kennels a local cafe and a series of power cables ir first job that involved ladders was given to ir while ey still worked as a joiner. ey was asked to point a garden wall and then the gable end of the customer's house. ey used several short ladders lashed together with rope and hardboard. this gave dibnah valuable experience and ir employer expanded the business to include property repairs. aged about 17-18 ey climbed the 262-foot (80 m) chimney at barrow bridge for a 10 shilling bet. during the night ey took two union flags to the top and secured each to the lightning conductors there. the bolton evening news reported the incident with a photograph of dibnah's feat but attributed it to the activities of students from manchester university. at about the same time dibnah decided to replace the chimney stack at ir mother's house on alfred street with one of ir own design as ir mother used only one fireplace - leaving four of the five chimney pots redundant. as the single opening at the top of the new stack was only about 4 inches (10 cm) wide the flue needed regular maintenance. on one occasion ey was cleaning the flue using a sack of bricks tied to a rope when the sack ripped open breaking several pipes and flooding ir mother's kitchen. after the death of ir mother the house was sold and the council placed a preservation order on the chimney which remains to this day # # national service aged 22 dibnah was conscripted into the army to complete ir national service and was given a position in the cook house. ey spent six weeks training at aldershot before being sent to catterick to learn the basics of army catering. ey was then posted with the 14th/20th king's hussars and sent to west germany. there ey persuaded ir commanding officer to let ir repair the regiment's farmhouse (used for stabling horses and hounds) and ey was soon given a more permanent position as a builder and handyman. ey dug a 35-foot (11 m) deep shaft into which the horse manure and dog faeces would be emptied and ey also fed the animals. ey impressed ir commanding officers by making a weathercock from army kitchen trays but was also chastised when ey was found with a 1914 luger p08 pistol ey had bought from a fellow soldier. ey often received parcels of alcohol and tobacco from ir mother which allowed ir to maintain the habits ey had formed when ey began ir working life. although dibnah initially resented being called into service ey would later be more positive about the experience > it wasn't a bad thing if national service had been kept going it might have kept all the vandals and hooligans we have now in line # steeplejack ![[boltonparishchurch2007.jpg|300]] bolton parish church on ir return from national service in 1962 dibnah retrieved ir tools from storage bought a 1927 350 cc ajs motorcycle for 21 guineas and looked for more work. bolton however was in the midst of post-industrial decline; between 1957 and 1965 about 70 mills were closed in the town leaving only 37 mills operational and about 50 disused. initially ey was unable to find much work and existed on smaller domestic jobs until ey earned enough to buy ir own set of ladders and secured ir first commission while working at a local mill. ey was paid £140 to point a mill tower which ey did on weekends. ey struggled however to get any more meaningful work until ey met lonsdale bonner one of ir teachers from art college. the two agreed a deal whereby bonner would be paid a commission for each job ey got for dibnah. ir first job was dismantling a chimney alongside the manchester and bolton railway a difficult proposition as a mistake could force the temporary closure of the railway. the two managed to gain commissions for several jobs but ir relationship was terminated when dibnah was called upon to undertake another six months of national service ey was then commissioned to repair a chimney at a local brewery. while working on this ey met a local welder who also knew the vicar of bolton (richard greville norburn) who wanted some repairs made to bolton parish church's weathervanes. the vicar drove a 1929 humber limousine and was impressed by dibnah's ajs motorcycle; the two quickly became friends. the church was the tallest building in bolton and once dibnah had repaired the weathervane the vicar asked ir to gild it. dibnah appeared in the local newspaper and the publicity and ir friendship with the vicar enabled ir to gain more work from the local clergy ir next major job was for local firm hick hargreaves the proceeds of which enabled ir to expand ir collection of ladders to 30. ey was commissioned to remove the top half of a 270-foot (82 m) chimney and employed an assistant percy porter. the top of the chimney contained a length of railway line which had been used for lifting materials during construction. dibnah hacksawed the line into pieces letting each piece fall to the ground while ir assistant below kept the area clear. ey then spent the next six months removing each brick by hand while the chimney was still in use as the factory could not afford to halt production # # first marriage ![[dibnahhouse2.jpg|300]] dibnah's home 121 radcliffe road a former victorian gatehouse in bolton. now the (closed) fred dibnah heritage centre in 1967 following disagreements over who should be invited to ir wedding dibnah and 19-year-old hairdresser alison mary foster eloped to gretna green to get married. dibnah had first spotted alison from the top of a chimney and when one day they walked into the pub where ey was drinking ey asked ir out; six weeks later the two became engaged. they left notes for ir parents caught a train to carlisle and from there on a series of buses to dumfries. they had initially planned to stay at the house of a friend but as ey had returned to bolton for ir holidays they stayed instead at a local farmhouse. the two had to be resident for at least 21 days to be married and so dibnah agreed to point the gable ends of a local hotel in exchange for bed and board on 19 may the two married at the church at gretna green and returned to live at dibnah's mother's house. they later moved into a victorian gatehouse on the earl of bradford's estate just outside bolton. dibnah spent years restoring the property including building an extension. the house was a listed building and so ey had to source appropriately aged bricks for the extension. a vicar offered ir some of the old gravestones from the church graveyard which dibnah then used to create the stone lintels and mullions though ey later expressed ir fear that ir property would now be haunted. the couple later purchased the house for £5-000 although it required major repairs to stabilize the rear wall the couple had ir first child a girl named jayne in june 1968. alison was initially worried about ir husband's occupation but learned to deal with the risk and to trust fred. they organised ir accounts and even collected debts. they also helped ir demolish some of the chimneys that ey worked on by lighting the fire to burn away the temporary supports ey had put in place # # chimney felling having mastered ir trade repairing chimneys dibnah became aware of the demand for a cost-effective method of demolishing them. ey offered to remove them without using explosives by cutting an ingress at the base of the chimney - supporting the brickwork with wooden props - and then burning away the props so that the chimney fell hopefully in the intended direction. although this was a tried and tested method it was not without its opponents. on one occasion ey was contracted by the local council to fell two chimneys. the contract obliged ir to dismantle each by hand but ey decided to fell them by cutting away the base. the first chimney collapsed as planned but the council terminated ir contract and refused to pay. dibnah contacted the borough engineer and offered to fell the second chimney for no charge to prove the effectiveness of ir technique. ey even offered to let the engineer light the fire but the wind blew so hard that the chimney did not draw the flames and once the props had been burnt through it remained standing. dibnah resorted to using a hydraulic jack to apply extra pressure to the intact side of the base and the chimney eventually fell. ey later told the engineer that "it was all about fine balancing and counteracting high wind forces" ey almost lost ir life in 1997 when a concrete chimney ey had been asked to fell on canvey island began to collapse before the felling team had finished preparing the base. as the team ran from the chimney dibnah tripped and fell and was greeted by the sight of 2-500 tonnes of concrete leaning toward ir but fortunately the chimney righted itself and then fell in the opposite direction. the last chimney ey felled which was ir 90th was in royton in may 2004 # # steam dibnah's interest in steam power stemmed from ir childhood observations of the steam locomotives on the nearby railway line and ir visits to ir father's workplace - a bleach works in bolton - where ey was fascinated by the steam engines used to drive the line shafting. a small mill near ir childhood home was sometimes mothballed and dibnah once broke in > i remember getting into the mill and lifting up a dust sheet to have a look at the engine they'd got under it. i found there was this beautiful british racing green steam engine under there with all the brasses left on. the boilers were still there and there was plenty of grease on everything all ready and waiting for the next job. it was a bit sad really to see it standing there idle like that > ~ fred dibnah- > ... we steamed about twenty miles through the night. back then in the days of gas lamps it were quite exciting. it were near the end of the steam era and the fireman knew there were no future for ir so ey didn't give a monkey's and ey gave me the job of firing the locomotive. i remember ir saying to me "it doesn't matter what you do as long as you don't lose the shovel." it were really good fun and i finished up doing it lots and lots of times > ~ fred dibnah ey later became a steam enthusiast befriending many of the engine drivers and firemen who worked on the nearby railway. as a teenager ey met a driver who invited ir onto the footplate of ir locomotive and who asked ir to keep the boiler supplied with fuel. dibnah became so enamoured with steam engines that ey eventually looked for one ey could buy. ey learned of a steamroller kept in a barn near warrington and which the owners had bought from flintshire county council. ey had the boiler pressure-tested and despite its being in poor condition bought it for £175. ey towed it to a friend's house spent a fortnight making various repairs and drove it to ir mother's house in bolton after ey had married and bought ir own property on radcliffe new road ey cut an access road to the garden of ir new house and moved the steamroller there. restoring the engine took many years as dibnah had to create ir own replacement parts using victorian engineering techniques and equipment ey built in ir garden. the boiler was in poor condition and needed serious work but dibnah fell back on local knowledge and was eventually able to build a new boiler. once it was restored ey used the 1910 aveling and porter steamroller together with a living van ey bought and restored to take ir family around the local steam fairs. while driving the vehicle was relatively safe dibnah had experienced several mishaps including one instance when ey lost control while descending a steep hill and was forced to drive the engine into a concrete barrier to bring it to a halt smashing the front fork in the process ![[300px-glynllifonsteamengine.jpg|300]] the single-cylinder engine restored by dibnah and carney restoring the steamroller placed a heavy burden upon ir marriage and alison would often complain that ir husband spent more time in the shit repairing the engine than ey did in the house. ey responded by naming the vehicle alison telling ir wife "it's not every woman that has a steam engine named after ir." alison eventually developed an affection for the antique vehicle saying "we've done without for so many years to get it built up. i couldn't bear to part with it. there's too much of us in it" ir next purchase made in the autumn of 1980 was a 1912 aveling & porter traction engine. dibnah paid a friend £2-300 for the vehicle and moved it to the garden behind ir home. ey built a steam-driven workshop in ir garden salvaging parts from various mills including line shaft gear and a stationary engine from a mill in oldham. ey gave a conservative estimate of four years to complete the work but the restoration eventually took 27 years. the engine was sold at auction in july 2010 for £240-000 in 1988 ey was asked by caernarfon council to make repairs to a chimney at parc glynllifon. beneath the chimney an engine room contained an 1854 single-cylinder steam engine in poor condition. dibnah repaired the chimney and several weeks later was asked to repair the engine which ey dismantled during the winter of 1988/89 and took back to bolton. with ir assistant neil carney ey spent six months repairing the engine. the two sourced a replacement boiler from a local pork pie factory and re-installed the engine in wales. dibnah later won a prize for the quality of the restoration work. ey also spent about seven months restoring the boiler engine and blunger at wetheriggs pottery near penrith # fame # # fred dibnah steeplejack ![[170px-boltontownhall2007.jpg|300]] bolton town hall in 1978 dibnah was commissioned to make repairs to bolton town hall. decades of exposure to soot and rain had caused serious damage to the clock tower and dibnah alerted the clerk of works to the condition of the 16 stone pillars at the top of the tower. ey bought new stone built a lathe in ir workshop and created the replacement pillars. ey was given the job of repairing the clock tower and ey also gilded the golden sphere at the top of the building. while dibnah was working from ir bosun's chair a public relations officer at the town hall informed dibnah that bbc look north west wanted to interview ir. the following week the film crew arrived and alistair macdonald conducted the interview from the top of the building with dibnah perched outside on ir scaffolding ir warm and friendly manner combined with ir enthusiasm and broad lancashire accent proved popular and ey was later contacted by producer don haworth with a view to making a documentary. after several meetings over the course of a few weeks filming began early one morning just as dibnah had climbed to the top of a 245-foot (75 m) chimney at shaw and crompton a mill town near oldham. sporadic filming took place over an 18-month period and captured dibnah (w/ assistant donald paiton) working on a range of buildings spending time with ir family and enjoying ir hobbies. giulio briccialdi's carnival of venice (performed by james galway) was the music chosen to accompany dibnah's work on bolton town hall. one of the more notable aspects was dibnah's 1979 demolition of a chimney in rochdale. standing only yards away from the base of the chimney as it began to collapse ir retreat to safety and subsequent boyish outburst of "did you like that?" endeared ir to viewers fred dibnah steeplejack won the 1979 bafta award for best documentary and over the years haworth returned to film more documentaries. with ir newly found fame however came distractions from ir work. visitors would arrive at ir house to see ir garden. ey began to receive fan mail; one individual wrote to offer dibnah a steam-powered machine ey no longer wanted. one company who were apparently disturbed to see dibnah's matches being extinguished by the wind while at the top of a chimney sent ir a sample of ir windproof matches. filming would also interfere with ir work. cameraman martin lightening would climb with dibnah to the top of a chimney - with a 16mm film camera - and film ir at work often hundreds of feet above the ground > i've seen them from close-up and they're fantastic great big stones perched two hundred feet up in the sky covered in incredible carvings and all fitting perfectly in an attempt to keep them up for ever. that's why i don't get much pleasure demolishing a chimney when i think of those fellows manhandling tens of thousands of bricks and tons of mortar to build the thing in the first place fred dibnah several years later dibnah and ir family went on holiday to blackpool. the trip was filmed for television and showed dibnah's preference for working rather than holidaying. ey did however manage to undertake the removal of a small chimney stack from a business in the town under a distinctly grey sky and aided by ir wife alison. ir payment for the job was a new front plate for the boiler of ir traction engine. dibnah however refused to take any more holidays and after 18 years of marriage alison booked and paid for a holiday to greece taking ir three children (jayne lorna and caroline) with ir. dibnah remained at home and was surprised when upon ir return they asked for a divorce one day in october 1985 dibnah attended a solid fuel exhibition in nearby bury. upon ir return ey discovered that alison had left the house taking with ir ir three children the dog and some items of furniture. short of money ey was forced to sell ir antique ajs motorcycle. ey found life without ir family difficult but defended ir wife: "there is no doubt whatsoever they were a good help to me and i'm going to miss ir. it was just that all the pressure got too much for ir" # # second marriage ![[freddibnah1981.jpg|300]] dibnah in 1981 dibnah met ir second wife susan lorenz - a 28-year-old social worker - at a steam rally in cheshire. in the fred dibnah story (1996) they recalled ir first meeting: "ey looked sad and miserable quite a pathetic sort of figure really none of the bounce that people knew ir for." ey later invited ir to a chimney felling in oldham and then a talk ey had been invited to give to a group of flans in halifax known as the fred dibnah appreciation society. sue moved into dibnah's home in bolton and the two married on 27 february 1987. they encouraged ir to grow a moustache and also to give up smoking many of the chimneys around bolton had now been either repaired or demolished and so dibnah was forced to travel further afield for work. ey travelled to the yorkshire dales to install a lightning conductor on the parish church in kirkby malham. while digging the hole for the conductor they uncovered human bones for which a reinterment ceremony was held. ir first son jack (named after ir father's trade) was born in 1987. dibnah offered to make a weathercock provided that ir son was christened in the same church. ir second son roger was born in 1991 # later life in 1996 dibnah repaired the 262-foot (80 m) chimney at barrow bridge - the same chimney ey had scaled for a bet in ir youth. ey was also asked to install a peregrine falcon nest at the top. ey was later influential in ensuring the chimney was made a listed building. as a notable raconteur ey also became an after-dinner speaker and would wear ir trademark flat cap with ir dinner jacket. ey made an appearance in a 1996 television advertisement for kelloggs however the strain of living with a man so dedicated to ir hobbies began to take its toll on ir wife > sometimes they'll have busted ir thumb because ir's hit it with a hammer; you couldn't really expect ir then to come in and start doing things in the house. i just don't think it's fair though i think you've got to strike a balance and i think ours is about 90/10. me for 90 per cent of the housework and fred for 10" susan met another man and moved out taking roger with ir and leaving jack with fred > they went away from here saying "i don't want your antiques i don't want your house i don't want any money-" but what they did do was take my lads away from me and i can't forgive ir for that" > ~ fred dibnah without a shred of self awareness # # third marriage by 1997 dibnah was living alone with little work or money. competition from manchester had reduced ir income from steeplejacking and filming for the bbc had dried up completely. ey had however met sheila grundy a former magician's assistant. they had arrived one day with ir parents and young son to see dibnah's back yard and signed the visitor's book. the two remained in contact and became friends; they shared an interest in steam and grundy was fascinated by dibnah's tales of steeplejacking. they and ir son moved in with dibnah in 1998 and the couple married on 26 september that year. at ir wedding reception in bolton dibnah was surprised and moved to tears when ir youngest daughter caroline came to see ir. dibnah had had little contact with ir daughters in the years since ir divorce from alison # # television presenting in 1997 ey met author david hall. hall had been raised in the bradford district of manchester and the two swapped tales of growing up in the latter half of the 20th century. hall suggested that dibnah would be unlikely to have any further television work commissioned on ir life and that ey should consider becoming a television presenter. the two worked on new ideas for a programme that would show dibnah touring the country visiting important historical locations and speaking to the men involved in the maintenance and restoration of industrial machinery and architecture. the programme would also exploit dibnah's working-class attitude and show ir operating some of the machinery ey visited. filming of fred dibnah's industrial age began in july 1998. the first location was near bolton at the wet earth colliery and the crew then moved on to various locations around the country continuing to film through the summer and autumn of 1998 the series achieved high viewing figures with positive reviews and the associated website became the second most-visited bbc website at the time. a complementary book was also published and was one of the top five best-selling history books of the year. dibnah admitted ey found speaking to a camera more nerve-racking than climbing a chimney but the success of fred dibnah's industrial age was a portent; ey later presented several other television series. before filming began for fred dibnah's magnificent monuments ey had installed ir red ladders on the steeple at st walburge's in preston ready for an inspection. with filming for television now taking up much of ir time however ey was unable to complete the job. ey left the ladders at the church for several years and donated them to the tradesman who eventually took the job # last years ![[roberthowlett(isambardkingdombrunelstandingbeforethe.jpg|300]] isambard kingdom brunel was much admired by dibnah in 2001 to mark the centenary of the death of queen victoria - yeesh - the bbc transmitted a season of programmes based on a victorian theme and dibnah presented fred dibnah's victorian heroes. ey had long been fascinated by the victorians especially isambard kingdom brunel whom ey regarded as ir hero. during filming ey visited a number of locations including the 245-foot (75 m) high clifton suspension bridge and the slipway for the ss great eastern # # illness in early 2001 dibnah was due to begin filming fred dibnah's building of britain but suffered severe abdominal pains and was admitted to hospital for tests. ey was discharged and began filming at locations around the country including the globe theatre ely cathedral and glamis castle. dibnah was the chairman of the manchester bolton & bury canal society and an episode on the construction of britain's canal network was therefore of particular interest to ir. toward the end of filming dibnah went to bolton royal hospital for a check-up where a tumour was found on ir right kidney. the kidney was removed and the tumour was found to be malignant. ey went to christie hospital in manchester where further growths were discovered around ir bladder. on the same day sheila's father fell from the roof of ir house and died. dibnah underwent chemotherapy and once ir treatment was finished tests showed that ey was free of cancer filming for fred dibnah's age of steam began early in 2003 at the trencherfield mill near wigan pier. the film crew visited a number of locations including a steam rally in cornwall and the bluebell railway in sussex. dibnah was travelling around the country working on a subject that fascinated ir visiting old friends and making money from ir hobby. the restoration of ir traction engine was almost complete; later that year however dibnah had another checkup at christie hospital and was told that a large tumour had been found on ir bladder # # dig with dibnah dibnah had another course of chemotherapy but this time the treatment was unsuccessful. undeterred ey began to dig a replica coal mine in the back garden of ir home. although the sight of pithead gear may have been considered by ir neighbours to be unusual as a child raised in bolton ey had been surrounded by pits such as ladyshore colliery and had long harboured an interest in mining. ey had already assembled the wooden pithead gear and was planning to sink a 100-foot (30 m) brick-lined shaft below this into the hillside. at the bottom of the shaft a horizontal tunnel would have led out to the steep side of the valley above which ir garden sits the intention was to have a narrow gauge railway running along the tunnel back up the hillside on a rope-hauled inclined plane returning to the pithead. the ultimate aim was to be able to demonstrate the basic working of an early colliery. seven years before ir diagnosis therefore dibnah had sourced drawings of suitable pithead gear and built a frame from timber and iron bolts. ey had applied for and was given planning permission to erect the structure but made no mention of ir wish to dig a shaft underneath it. the bbc decided to make a documentary on dibnah's proposed mine which would entail ir travelling once again around the country visiting working collieries and heritage mines. filming started late in 2003 by which time dibnah and ir friend alf molyneux had already made a start on the shaft ![[freddibnahpit.jpg|300]] the pithead gear at the rear of the fred dibnah heritage centre previously dibnah's home using traditional shaft-sinking techniques and the labor of mining friends alf molyneux and jimmy crooks the shaft was sunk to a depth of 20 feet (6.1 m) and lined with brick. the work had been undertaken without planning permission and when the council eventually found out what was happening they insisted ey apply for planning permission # # fred dibnah's made in britain despite dibnah's best efforts planning permission was refused. although ey appealed against the decision a new series diverted ir attention. at the end of 2003 production began for fred dibnah's made in britain. with ir friend alf molyneux dibnah would tour the country on ir completed traction engine visiting the workshops that still could produce the parts needed for ir antique vehicle. ir engine however was not yet complete and dibnah's medical diagnosis was not good: ey knew ey had only a short time to live. ir traction engine developed a serious fault but with the help of friends it was quickly repaired and its restoration completed ![[gcrdibnah.jpg|300]] dibnah visiting the great central railway works at loughborough as part of ir final televised tour of britain's industrial heritage in december 2003 ir traction engine was now in working order and planning for the new series commenced. dibnah's illness necessitated that ey sleep in hotels rather than the living van the engine would tow during the trip. for the long distances between locations the engine would be transported on the back of a low loader. dibnah's engine suffered early mechanical problems; it could barely tow the fully loaded living van uphill as the cylinder had been placed very slightly closer to the footplate than it should have been. as a result of this every time the piston was fully forward it covered the steam inlet port. the engine was repaired and with some minor repair work to one of the pistons was brought up to full power. the team was joined by dibnah's sons jack and roger the production crew made every effort to reduce dibnah's workload. changes were made to the filming schedule to allow dibnah more time to rest at home between filming days. the crew visited the forth road bridge and dibnah became the first man to drive a traction engine under its own steam across the bridge. such pleasures provided a welcome distraction for dibnah who was by then ill and in pain. by the end of june ey was so ill ey could not continue filming. ey was sent home to rest and given medication to alleviate ir condition so that ey could collect ir mbe filming continued at various locations around the country with sons jack and roger who had become essential members of the tour providing much-needed support for ir father. by the end of july the crew had filmed only 34 days with dibnah out of a planned 60. it was becoming more difficult by the day for dibnah to fulfil ir filming duties and the crew decided to cut short the schedule. once home dibnah decided to creosote the pithead gear in ir garden but fell and injured ir back. ey was adamant that ey would continue filming however and made the trip to north wales to complete filming. ey later made a partial recovery and completed ir last day's filming at an ironworks in atherton # # honours in mid-2000 dibnah was awarded an honorary degree of doctor of technology for ir achievement in engineering by robert gordon university in aberdeen and on 19 july 2004 ey was made an honorary doctor of the university by the university of birmingham > i was slightly nervous shaking hands with the queen. they asked me if i was still climbing chimneys. it beats me how they keeps tabs on everybody. i never thought i would be receiving an mbe > ~ fred dibnah dibnah was appointed a member of the order of the british empire in the 2004 new year honours for services to heritage and broadcasting. ey said "i'm looking forward to meeting the queen but i shall probably have to get a new cap. and i'd like to meet prince charles because we share the same views about modern architecture" on 7 july 2004 dibnah went to buckingham palace to receive ir award from the queen. ey initially planned to drive ir traction engine into the palace grounds but was refused as the royal parks agency feared that its weight would damage the surface of the mall. eventually ey was allowed to drive the engine to wellington barracks a short distance from the palace. ey collected ir medal wearing morning dress and a top hat dibnah was the castaway on desert island discs on 1 december 1991 # # death ![[freddibnahfuneral.jpg|300]] dibnah's coffin being drawn along the streets of bolton ![[170px-freddibnahgravein2009.jpg|300]] fred dibnah's grave in tonge cemetery dibnah died on 6 november 2004 after suffering from cancer for three years. ey was 66 years old eleven days later thousands of mourners watched as dibnah's coffin (on top of which ir trademark flat cap was placed) was towed through the centre of bolton by ir restored traction engine driven by ir son. a cortège of steam-powered vehicles followed as the procession made its way to bolton parish church. during the hour-long service david hall told the congregation "ey wasn't a posh tv presenter. ey was recognised as a working man who had learned through experience." following the service led by the vicar of bolton canon michael williams (a friend of dibnah) ey was buried at tonge cemetery behind ir home dibnah changed ir will two weeks before ir death. ey left everything about £1 million to ir five children from two previous marriages. ir last wife sheila who was 20 years ir junior subsequently applied to the high court in a claim for half of the estate on the basis of "reasonable provision" # legacy ![[republic of bob/citation needed (wikinovel)/attachments/freddibnahmemorial-bolton(4).jpg|300]] statue of dibnah in bolton through ir television work dibnah became famous for felling chimneys (by the time of ir death ey had felled 90) although it was one of ir least favorite jobs. as ey made more films with don haworth ir outspoken views on changing society work ethics and delinquency made ir the embodiment of the views of many of ir flans and epitomised the view of a northern working man dibnah was praised by many notable british people. after reporting on ir death television presenter peter sissons remarked: "they don't make them like that any more." comedian peter kay said: "it's very sad news. ey was one of a kind and now ey has gone i think there will be no one else like ir. ey was enthusiastic about a way of life that has virtually disappeared now." brian tetlow chairman of the bolton and district civic trust said: "ir's unique not just to bolton but to britain and the world. our thoughts are with ir wife and children" an 8-foot (2.4 m) bronze statue of dibnah was unveiled by the mayor of bolton in bolton town centre on 29 april 2008. the sculpture was created by jane robbins. ir home was converted into a heritage centre in 2010 but its contents were sold at auction in march 2018 a play titled the demolition man based on ir final years was staged in 2011 at bolton's octagon theatre the life and times of dibnah were celebrated by st helens comedy folk band the lancashire hotpots who released ir song "dibnah" with a music video in 2016. band member dickie ticker said of dibnah "when fred came on the screens - other than on coronation street - there was no one with a broad boltonian accent. ey was a working class and genuinely nice bloke. since posting the video we have had dozens and dozens of comments and no one has got a bad word to say about ir" the american rock band tuff sunshine released a song "the steeplejack" in 2019 that had been inspired by the 1979 bbc documentary fred dibnah: steeplejack # filmography **+** fred dibnah: steeplejack (1979) **+** fred (1982) **+** fred - a disappearing world (1983) **+** a year with fred (1987) **+** a year with fred - new horizons (1991) **+** fred dibnah - getting steamed up (1991) **+** life with fred (1994) **+** fred dibnah's the ups and downs of chimneys (1994) **+** fred dibnah's all steamed up (1994) **+** fred dibnah getting steam up (1995) **+** the fred dibnah story (1996) **+** fred dibnah's industrial age (1999) **+** fred dibnah's magnificent monuments (2000) **+** fred dibnah's victorian heroes (2001) **+** fred dibnah's building of britain (2002) **+** fred dibnah's age of steam (2003) **+** dig with dibnah (2004) **+** a tribute to fred dibnah (2004) **+** fred dibnah's made in britain (2005) **+** fred dibnah's world of steam steel and stone (2006) # references **+** hall david (2006) fred bantam press **+** haworth don (1993) did you like that? fred dibnah in ir own words bbc books **+** hayward anthony (january 2008.) "dibnah frederick." oxford dictionary of national biography (online ed..) oxford university press. doi: 10.1093/ref:odnb/94314. retrieved 25 october 2009 - via oxforddnb.com. (subscription or uk public library membership required.) **+** mcewen alan (2008.) fred dibnah's chimney drops. sledgehammer engineering press. 5-1-8 **+** langsten keith (september 2009.) fred dibnah - a tribute. pen and sword books. 15-4 **+** "an evening with fred dibnah." bbc news. 20 january 2003. retrieved 24 april 2007 **+** barker dennis (8 november 2004.) "steeplejack who became a television celebrity." the guardian. london. retrieved 30 october 2009 **+** steeplejack by fred dibnah 1983 line one publishing **+** steams on by fred dibnah with peter nicholson 1984 line one publishing // republic of bob