I was an avid fan of Fred when he was regularly on UK TV.
A quality unlikely to be appreciated outside the UK, but his "Yorkshireness" is superb.
Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
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Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#12I was an avid fan of Fred when he was regularly on UK TV. A quality unlikely to be appreciated outside the UK, but his "Yorkshireness" is superb.
but his "Yorkshireness" is superb.
He was Lancastrian. It's minor detail but as a Yorkshireman I felt compelled to correct you.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#13If anyone is wondering how he got the ladders up the side of the chimney in the first place:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e0C57orM1s&t=10m25s
I rediscovered Fred on YouTube a couple of years ago, and spent far too much time watching pretty much everything I could find.
As the title suggests, watching the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy:
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#14Huge Fred fan here. A great example of a life spend doing what he loved and loving what he did. The rest of us could learn a lot from him.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#15If anyone is wondering how he got the ladders up the side of the chimney in the first place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e0C57orM1s&t=10m25s I rediscovered Fred on YouTube a couple of years ago, and spent far too much time watching pretty much everything I could find. As the title suggests, watching the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg
Wow. Can't believe I've never seen that overhang climb video before. Found it hard to watch - I just can't imagine doing anything like that. But extremely impressive.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#16I saw him bring down a chimney in Leigh as a school outing. Marvellous.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#17I was an avid fan of Fred when he was regularly on UK TV. A quality unlikely to be appreciated outside the UK, but his "Yorkshireness" is superb.
My Dad used to make me watch him growing up in the '70s and '80s. I don't think I really appreciated it properly at the time.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#18If anyone is wondering how he got the ladders up the side of the chimney in the first place: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e0C57orM1s&t=10m25s I rediscovered Fred on YouTube a couple of years ago, and spent far too much time watching pretty much everything I could find. As the title suggests, watching the overhang climb in this is enough to make you feel dizzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg
Wow. Can't believe I've never seen that overhang climb video before. Found it hard to watch - I just can't imagine doing anything like that. But extremely impressive.
And 50 years old as well. He just looks like a tubby little fellow but I bet he's hard as nails under the overall.
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#19His idea of a holiday was to knock a chimney down in Blackpool in exchange for a new boiler while his family went to the beach.
Yeah - that didn't work out too well for him. From his Telegraph obituary [1]:
"Dibnah did not much care for holidays and never wanted to go abroad. Alison, stoic for years, decided that there was more to life than climbing chimneys. She took their children on a package holiday to Greece, and on her return moved out with them."
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1476086/Fred-Dibn...
Re: Fred Dibnah – Steeplejack (1979) [video]
#20Absolutely loved watching Fred growing up. Interesting seeing it on HN, but I'm just glad it means a few more people can appreciate this amazing man.