Fantastic guy Fred Dibnah MBE Friend of mine was a steeplejack balls of steel these guys No health and safety but still manages down for a cuppa and a cheese butty
Remember him saying how he never got too drunk before climbing back up steeples. Said it was important to be careful.
Here endeth a brief summary of all modern day elfin safety policies.
I think everybody loved Fred Dibnah.
He rode through our village on his steam tractor on his way to a nearby rally.
You should have seen the people lining the streets to see him & wave to him. We were amongst them.
Tony loved his programmes. I think Fred was definitely a man’s man…
Good man - salt of the earth…
I can’t bear to even watch it .
Why not? After all, he might be a distant family member.
I have a fear of heights .
You wouldn’t get me up in one of those things!
I’m not scared of heights, just scared of falling, especially as those chimneys don’t have ladders going up the side. Before Fred began the demolition job, he had to install a series of ladders and then the working platform at the top.
I saw him once just before he died. He was doing a tour of Traction Engine repair shops and there was one a couple of doors up from where we were staying in Derbyshire. I had been out for a walk when I heard a steam whistle, so I stopped and waited whilst his weighty engine and caravan chugged up the hill before he and his boys gave me a friendly wave as they passed me by.