I was a rooftiler for nigh on 30 years and have been up and down ladders for most of my life , sometimes in pretty scary circumstances with no scaffolding and up to six storey buildings as well but what Fred used to do just amazes me . I could never have done the extreme stuff he did and I like heights too . The man was just amazing . He was so confident in his ability , such a competent man . I can’t get over the way he used to walk along those single scaffold boards bowing like crazy in the middle at the top of a chimney he was cleaning or taking down brick by brick. Those flipping boards snap and break in two sometimes when they are not fully supported in the middle . I know ,it’s happened to me a few times when I have been only 25 feet or so off the ground . It gives me a chill even now just looking at the old footage of him romping around atop those old chimneys . Nerves of steel that man had and buckets of courage . It’s such a shame he got paid a relative pittance for the highly dangerous work he did . One tiny mistake or error of judgement or even an unexpected gust of wind or a dodgy loose brick and it would have meant sudden death . The fact that he lasted so long in his profession unscathed is a testament to his skill , courage and ability . There will never be anybody quite like Fred Dibnah again .
When I was 16,59 now,my first job was on demolition of a factory in Oldham, near Manchester England, Fred came on to demolish the chimney,by knocking holes in the base putting in big timber supports ,then setting fire to them so when they burnt the chimney had no support and down it came,just when the critical time came he ran round blaring a hand held horn,awesome memory,ahhh the good old days
Thanks for that information. I saw him lighting the fire but didn't realise that he propped it up with timber and that the fire burnt through the timber and that's why the chimney collapsed. I obviously wasn't paying enough attention.
This sounds like Era Mill and Moss Mill chimneys which Fred dismantled around 1979 which matches up with your age and it being 44 years ago. However, those mills were located off Woodbine Street East in Rochdale, rather than Oldham, so maybe it was another chimney project in Oldham you refer to. However, Woodbine St East is just off Oldham Road and not too far from the border of Rochdale-Oldham. Do those Mills ring a bell? There was a third mill very close by too “State Mill” Fred was paid £500 for the big chimney (moss) and £400 for the little one (era) I believe.
When I was a young teenager in the U.K., I rang Fred because his number was not obscured. His wife answered and put me onto Fred who was more than happy to speak with me. This must have been about 1982 and I was so pleased we spoke! Not a word of a lie! He was a legend and God bless him RIP Fred
@Steve Ruddick well he commented on a public video, spouting a story that clearly is not true. And it is my duty as the bullshit detector to call him out on that.
This chimney is India Mill in Darwen. We inspected it a few years back and repaired a lot of lead and brickwork. We did with rope access - with 2 ropes attached at all times to your harness. And I can tell you, even with the ropes it was terrifying at first - incredibly exposed - so god knows how Fred keeps his head without ropes! No margin for failure whatsoever. I even abseiled to Harry Holden's ledge - his name is carved into the stone there! And it's not buzzards who nest there now - there's a female peregrine falcon who gets very upset when you approach her nest (of course we went outside of nesting season!)
I met my ex girlfriend at the house literally next door many years ago we used to go drinking at the base of that old chimney we always wondered what it would be like at the top
Sweat pouring out of my palms, and my legs have gone watching this. That man......if this was all he did, he would be a legend, but he did way way more.......a huge knowledge of engineering, master draughtsman, historian, contructed a working coalmine in his back garden, traction engine renovator....and tv presenter. He must have been incredibly fit....his core strength is phenomenal. All those years of working with sooty bricks, oil, grease and coal dust did for him....for Fred, eating a sandwich with black coal dust hands was normal. Health and Safety was unheard of....and it cost him his life through bladder cancer. A really extraordinary life. Had this series of tv programmes not bought him to a wider audience, his extraordinary life and knowledge may never have been appreciated by anyone outside Bolton. His love of Industrial Britain and his fearlessness help to define why Britain became the global hub it was....a truly extraordinary man.
Former tower climber here, highest I've climbed is 850' (feet) or ~259 meters. Watching this guy sends chills down my spine. He climbed that entire chimney without any safety harness. On top of that - the thing that scares me the most are any type of over hang. Those are my biggest fears because how easily your feet can slip. Watching Fred do this without a harness freaks me out and sends chills down my legs.
What's amazing is the way he climbed the ladders at the overhang! That itself takes strength IMO, a ladder tilting in the opposite direction with no gear! I know many old timers who do something close to this and they are so fit at their age its unbelievable! My Unc Mike is 75 and he climbs like he is 20 years old! My unc will out live me possibly, LOL. I'm 61 and out of shape, well not really, I am shaped like a pear! LOL
Firefighter here who climbs aerial ladders with huge gaps in the rungs 7 stories up..... I shit my pants watching this guy Fred... his balls are much bigger than mine 😲
It's a shame that Fred Dibnah is best remembered for his demolition work on chimneys. This was a job he undertook reluctantly. His enthusiasm for and knowledge of Victorian engineering and construction was probably unparalleled during his lifetime. Additionally he was a very skilled draftsman, and his illustrations really were things of artistic beauty. We rarely get to witness so much talent in a single person, and we are lucky that Fred Dibnah was around at a time before Television became so highly commercialised and commoditised as it is now. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy of workmanship and knowledge, and we are a richer society for that.
Back off you ignoramus - you may not like what he said but he has every right to state his opinion. Even Dear Fred himself acknowledged his shortcomings as a husband and his tendency to place his work and his steam engines above his role as father and husband. That does not, however, detract from the simple fact that Fred Dibnah was a fine son of Bolton, from an earlier and better time and a Great Briton. Even soft southern pansys like me consider him the finest example of a true working man! Your comments do NOTHING to defend his honor and his legacy.
By any accounts, this is a remarkable feat of skill and stamina. The actual construction in the 1870's in itself is something else - but Fred makes that enormous climb look almost casual and the fact that he had to place all those ladders by hand himself frankly seems extraordinary.
Yup. I was amazed how he placed ladders end-on-end against a _smooth sided stack,_ going a half ladder at a time with- what? - 8-foot lengths of rope. How he placed these cantilevered ladders without "half-laddering" boggles the mind.
@@malcolmcanning548 the builders.... but I think you're missing the joke, by stones he was referring to the guys testicles, he was saying the guy had huge balls to climb up there like that. If you didn't get that joke then I guess you have been R/Whooshed
@@pentatonicpaddy oh i get it. He was one hell of a man though. Balls of British steel and a top class engineer as well. Dont make em like him anymore. Happy Christmas.
If we're being honest here, some of the greatest men who ever lived would probably be people who actually changed the lives of millions of people for the better. Someone who had any impact instead of someone who climbed ladders really well. ...
What a bloke. I grew up watching Fred. In my youth I thought he was just a nutty steeplejack. But, as I matured so did Fred's presenting career. Let's be honest, if anyone deserves a cushy retirement in front of a camera, it's this man! Then, I learned about his love of Victorian engineering. He loved the way people cared about what they were making, with expertise and care. He was so talented in so many ways. A joiner by trade, his writing and drawings were so artistic. His writing was like calligraphy! He could build steam traction engines (which in his words, are like a bloody big bomb!) from the ground up and if he didn't have the right tools... He'd make them! And his knowledge of architecture was endless. Many of UK loved watching Fred through his career, and I'm glad he's even straying across the pond! And I don't doubt that he and our love of him put some uppity history wannabee presenters out of a job. Sorry, he earned it, you didn't. I learnt so much from his easy going, layman's style of explaining. Thank you Fred, for everything!! Rest easy now.
At school Dibnah was placed in an art class (his reading and writing skills were judged to be poor), following which he spent three years at art college, where his work was based mainly on industrial themes such as machinery, pithead gear and spinning mills.
A wonderful, well, obituary really. Our lad obviously touched your heart as did he mine. Fred was the very best example of the classic understated trait of quiet forbearance and dogged determination. God rest his soul.
Yeah it's crazy seeing him actually ladder the stacks using each section to add the next, shifty as fuck but he loved it. And guys honestly no matter how used to it you get now and again chatting to yourself does was the fact your kissing death in the face. I've been on big buildings a roofer etc and yeah it gets to you at times even after doing it years
@@adamturner2836 I worked with a bricklayer in his late 60s for about 6 years. Old school fella. We don't have any stacks around here but I've been up the side of a few tall buildings. That chatter distracts you from thinking about the risk, while your'e talking about what your'e doing your are inadvertently also paying better attention.
@@adamturner2836 Since the bottom ladder has to hold the weight of all the subsequent ladders on top of it, I wonder if he ever figured the limit of height he can ladder. I would think it would be limited by the weight the bottom ladder can hold. I know they are also pegged to the building and that takes some weight off but not much. He's lucky none of his pegs ever came out. He knew how and where to hammer them in, but still, you can never 100% guarantee the stone will hold all your pegs, especially that ladder that angled upside-down!
@@Codzilla71 Him talking to himself is being Northern lol. And probably a few jars. You don't get nerves when you've been doing it since a kid, you get balls.
I watched this clip in an episode which was aired in the late 1970’s with my dad. We were both terrified - was scarier than a Hammer Horror film. Total respect to this man. RIP Fred, a true legend.
Let's be honest, how many of you were like me and actually felt nervous just watching this legend? I was okay at ladders and heights when younger but nothing like this and that overhang...are you kidding me? A truly remarkable man, one of a kind! RIP Fred.
David Farmer Exactly, if you have no fear of heights all you are doing is climbing up a fixed ladder. Hardly comparable to rock climbing, my neighbour is a roofer still working at 72 years old climbing up on people's roofs and the occasional church spire to do repair work. And yes he didn't treat his wives very well, he'd not really have wanted to be born in the mid Victorian age as all this was new stuff then, and being an uneducated man he'd have been working 18hr days and no time for hobbies, tin bath after work then off to bed, dead at 45 years old, and if he did have kids half of them would have died in infancy. Good times
Climbing that chimney is one thing. Putting up all those ladders with only one helper on the ground is just mind boggling especially on those overhangs. Fred was definitely one a kind.
There were lots of Steeplejacks back then, you used to hear about them, see them, sometimes read about them dying from falling off, but they didn't have a camera crew with them. The other thing that made him more interesting than other Steeplejacks was his interest in steam and in restoring engines, which gave him a good career also on TV presenting those as well. th-cam.com/video/Yxh78diK1Mc/w-d-xo.html
There were plenty of good Steeplejacks around. In fact Fred Dibnah was thrown out of the Steeplejacks and lightning conductor installers Federation for bringing the industry into disrepute. He was also cited by HSE for various failed demolitions and buildings left in dangerous condition. What you see of Fred is glamourised by TV but some of the things he got up to were terrible examples of working methods.
@@PreservationEnthusiast thank you for the correction - libel/slander/defamation - whatever you want to call it. The point is that there are too many of these comments on TH-cam (and social media in general) without evidence. When you say ‘look it up on the net’ you immediately lose credibility and become a troll. I have looked and cannot find any of the aforementioned. Maybe you can enlighten us?
Whenever I’m feeling low about working from home, I watch this. This man had the biggest balls in the UK. No safety lines or equipment, just experience. Just confidence in what he was doing. Just watching this is a work out.
My second job after school was as a trainee steeple jack ,(43 or so years ago) I still remember the effort in laddering a chimney ..... no lightweight aluminium , just heavy strengthened timber about 8' long and 2 1/2 - 3 foot wide , weighed a blood tonne .... lost all my skin from both shoulders lugging these up one at a time to hand over to my foreman who incidentally was also called Fred ,who to help me out passed me his flat cap to put onder my jacket to cushion the ladder ( there was a strengthening wire under each wrung which caused all the skin loss ) great camaraderie amongst all the guys , fearless and hardworking just like Mr Dibnah
My father always kept his ladders outside...brilliant. Yeah, they eventually broke. I don't recall wire ever being used for that purpose....it was a good bit thicker than wire, it was solid rods of steel, and the better ladders had that run through a groove, which protected them a bit. I'm happy with my aluminum ladder, though it's much too heavy for me anymore--bad back. I need to get a fiberglass ladder. When I was in my teens and early twenties, I used to climb buildings for fun. Once, me and some friends snuck into the football stadium--I climbed a lighting tower. Another time, we found an iron ladder on the outside of a university building, with pavement below and no cage. We climbed it to the roof five or so stories up, but found a door and the stairs to go back, because we weren't quite stupid enough to take further chances. I like watching Fred...even at my boldest, I wasn't nearly so confident.
That man is a LEGEND I remember watching his programme when I was a kid , I am north of 50 now myself . Fred Dibnah represents all that was good about Britain, his character , hard work ethic , easy going presenting style , love of British engineering heritage, a genuine genuine guy and someone the country could be proud of ...he was not rare back in the day many Brits were like him ...sadly all gone now replaced by "reality" stars like Jordan ,Those Towie idiots, and Geordie Shore nobodys Kim Kardashian the list is endless ...how things have changed for the worse in my opinion in television land and the world in general..
Shad ow could not have said it better myself.. Kim k is famous for having a fat arse. The world is going to shit started in America first now its in Europe and I'm not for being racist its all ethnic groups won't fame for fuck all. These skills Fred had were real. Topman. ..
Remarkable. On the surface, Fred was a jolly and easy-going chap but underneath he was a superbly skilled calculating machine: He instinctively knew the right weather, wind conditions and personal health. He completely put aside any what-ifs and maybes. Fred also fine-tuned his confidence. He probably had a certain level of fear - it kept him alive, and he knew that above a certain height (maybe 30 feet), a fall would kill anyway. Personally, I get shaky standing on a triple ladder!
As Terry Pratchett pointed out in one of his discworld novels, there's no point being afraid of heights, be afraid of the ground because it's the ground that kills you.
@@tricky778 A commercial pilot I once knew said the same, but in a slightly different way: "I like flying as high as possible - it provides the time for me to think of a solution to an issue!"
I've never climbed this high up, but I work in deadly heights daily and you sort of get used to it after a while You still feel uneasy but it stops bothering and hindering you and you just focus on getting the job done
I cannot express how much admiration I have for this man. Utterly fearless. When he said "They reckon some of the stones up here weigh 5 tonnes", he means people on the ground referring to the size of his balls. Just extraordinary bravery, strength and skill. Don't be fooled by the carefree demeanour....you didn't survive in that trade unless you knew *exactly* what you were doing, and he clearly did. A master steeplejack for the ages. 🙏🤜👌
Fred was a true legend don't forget he had to put those ladders up there then remove them when he was finished biggest set of balls in the UK God rest his soul.
I was thinking through the video, "someone had a worse job putting the ladders there in the first place". That would probably be even more hair-raising to watch.
An old guy carpenter showed me a picture where he was working on a church steeple, around 110’ high. He had ladders set up sorta like Fred did, only difference, they were all old WOOD extension ones tied together with hemp ropes. Old construction workers had balls of steel, yet on the other hand, had to do what they had to, to get the job done. No JLG boom lifts back in the 1920’s.
Yes sure here in the uk but in lot of 3rd world countries, literally million of peoples work like fred even in 2024 or doing more dangerous work, no surprise a few thousands of fatal accidents happening per year and nowadays there is gore footage on reddit and another web sites.
Oh how times have changed Fred, you certainly had the best of it. Jack of all trades and master of all of them. RIP lad, thy's cemented your legacy with style and true grit.
No harness, no gloves, jack boots, terrifying overhangs and totally exposed... Fred had pure guts and amazing confidence... a lot of kudos is given to free climbers who don’t use ropes a dozen or so times in their careers... Fred didn’t use ropes for decades!
The man is a Legend, totally fearless and remember he did this to earn a living for his family before the film cameras came. It makes me anxious just watching. Fred you have my eternal respect. RIP
FraZzLe DaZzLe was a wonderful guy. Remember a story when he done an after dinner talk to dentists. He was offered all his dental work perpetually or £200. £200 quid Please he replied, that will buy me new pliers and I could use em for work too ! Absolute genius and a gentleman. Also I swear to god he had a part time job strangling gorillas: his hands were enormous and trust me he was an extremely mild mannered man, but utterly fearless. Miss him x RIP steeplejack Dibnah x
I was gobsmacked watching this. However as an ex-rock climber he could have had running ropes along the ladder to which he could have attached himself using a prusik knot and a harness. It would have arrested a fall. Even so, no way could I do what he did.
Fred was the epitome of a real true English man who was a true master of his craft and a real down to earth gentle man who can never be betterd. One in 10 billion. Cannot be replaced or forgotten ever. REST IN PEACE FRED OLD FRIEND. I REMEMBER U FROM OUR MEET AT UR HOUSE LOOKING AT UR LATEST STEAM PROJECT ..
That’s one hell of a climb with cold hands and no safety lines, those 5ft overhangs are crazy..Fred was one hell of a man though, tough as nails and a multi talented, proper grafter.. what a legend.
I never tire of watching Fred Dibnah. There will certainly never be another man like him. He was unassuming, really clever, balls of steel, and an ultimate grafter. I mean honestly, even if you could get anyone to climb one of them chimneys, how many of them would knock a chimney down brick by brick. He was awesome.
The most skilled and confident person climbing buildings I ever did see. Every single movement unharnessed on those exposed heights there is the chance for a fatal error to occur. Death is staring him in the face. But Fred just stares back and gets on with it - doing commentary, coughing, doing exercises, whistling a tune, analysing the architecture. His courage and skill are off the scale.
It's weird. My dad is like this with heights. I am not at all comfortable with them lol. He used to work on smokestacks. He'd climb to the top of some trees at home just to show us he could. Like... I dunno. As much as we do share genetically, I didn't get any of that.
I do remember they had us climb a 30 foot ladder to clean silo filters once at a factory around 10 years ago. That was the first time I ever even climbed that high. The ladder was built onto it and completely sturdy and stable but it was straight up. I had never climbed that high nor a ladder that went straight up. I found out halfway up that I was using my arms instead of my legs lol.. but I changed my "style" and finished it and didn't tell anyone. A thunderstorm came while we were inside of it. Factory workers are dumb for the most part. "Here's the safest place you could be." Yeah, sure, inside of a metal silo during a massive thunderstorm. I didn't go back the next day. Was working 7 days a week/12 hours a day anyways. Screw that. For 2 months I was told it was just temporary. For 2 months I did 12 hours a day/7 days a week. Seriously... screw that. I feel bad for the guys that think some job like that is all they can do. Don't waste your life.
@@JustAGuy85 you soft git, they were telling you the truth, you were safe in that metal silo during the thunderstorm, I promise! Any lightning striking the silo would be dissisipated around you and straight to ground, nobody inside the container gets shocked. This is why lightning strikes vehicles including planes without killing the occupants. Cheer up x
My dad is in the same mould as Fred, luckily he's still with us, he's 80 now and has gone blind but I could sit listening to his tails and his wisdom all day long. I realise he may not be around much longer, but while he is alive I'm gonna cherish every moment with him
@@borntoclimb7116 Well the tallest in the UK is 259 m the one he is climbing is around 91m tall, different materials of course and shape etc and not as good looking :) but yeah likely not costing tens of millions
@@borntoclimb7116 Yes, they are expensive to build and would no doubt be very expensive to recreate the chimney he was climbing, but we have much different materials now and they do not cost tens of millions AFAIK
Maybe not, but balls are few and far between in this none gender world where people call themselves what they want, then ask the rest of us to believe it.
@@christophestuyvaert8181 doubt it's cold fingers with all that blood pumping but possibly. .he would definitely have lactic acid with his arms above his head as pulling up climbing.
I am a South African, and became aware of Fred during the lockdown. I watched every series that he had a part in. How i whished i could have met him. If somebody wants to have a go at the English it is prudent to keep in mind that this type of tenacity is sprinkled throughout the pale tea-drinkers🤔
How is he staying attached to the ladder on the overhang 4:18 surely gravity would try and bring your legs back vertical. The camera shows how high he is but even then i dont think it does it justice. If you had a camera looking directly down from the top that would really make people shit themselves.
Ha-ha that overhang is something. His hands are just casually on the outer ladder, my hands would be gripped tightly on each rung with a harness on lol. Getting back on the overhang to come back down would be even worse as you have to come down backwards.
They were all Fred's own ladders...he chiselled holes in the chimney, and secured all the ladders with rope...an amazing feat in itself....all done by himself!!....a true unpretentious northerner...you know...the type that forged an empire!...
Nonsense man! The likes of George Osborne and his ilk that can hold 7 jobs AND their lucrative rewards are the type that can "FORGE" an empire . With the stroke of a pen . (Anyone see what I did there?)
Went to see this chimney on Saturday after visiting Fred's Grave, House and his Mothers House to see the chimney he had built there, while on a wee tour of Wales, Scotland and England for a week. I would have very much loved to have met and spoken to the man when he was still alive, but alas. I still had a few words at the grave side. Came across him first on the tv a good twenty odd years ago, and enjoyed all the series of programmes he was involved in, an extremely knowledgeable guy and so interesting to listne to plus his delivery was second to none. I returned home to Ireland after my visit to some of the places he had been, and was very happy I had done so.
Just watching Fred climb it is in itself incredible. The fact he attached all those ladders is yet more impressive. Even more impressive is the fact the chimney was built to that size and scale in the 19th century in the first place. Human engineering and grey matter amongst these phenomenal men is astonishing
@@MichaelGallagher97 they did have to worry about the bricks, mortar, and reputation lost for failure if there's a partial collapse. Loss of those things is expensive.
Loved Fred, he lived in the next town to me, he enjoyed a pint of tets (Tetley Best Bitter) and I had the pleasure of having a pint and a chat with him in Bolton pub one afternoon..
Im a yorkshireman but have no shame in saying its true lancashire grit like this that made our country great! Too few of these northern nutcases left in our world these days! I hope freds family are doing well!
@Marc Phelan The Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania) in his work Almagest (147-148 AD).
I met Fred once, he was lost looking for a feller with some bits for his Landie in Lymm, Cheshire. We dragged him into our office for a brew and were thoroughly star struck, this would have been in about 1994. He immediately set about chatting up the prettiest girl in the office....
This is the sort of thing that keeps you sitting on the edge of the chair, Not tv soaps, that mans courage is 10 times taller than that tower,what a fella..r.i.p.dear,fred.
Yes so much better than the grotty soaps which are just degenerating society, not to mention the dire shit they put on TV during Saturday evenings, so glad I no longer own a TV.
I’m a retired painter been on ladders over 50yrs, I could walk up a ladder with paint In one hand, and brush in the other without holding on.. I thought I was a cocky bastad until I seen Fred on TV, I never missed an episode and I remember seeing this one it’s never left my mind because of those two overhangs.. your body weight feels 3 times as heavy on that ladder going up that angle !! Fred was a master tradesmen, he could do anything... there’s none like him. RIP Fred ..
I used to work in a warehouse, and I was shitting it carrying a Dyson down from 30 foot up with one hand holding on, Christ knows how he taught his brain to tolerate this. Fred is an absolute legend, remember watching these with my Nan back in the day.
Fred was thrown out of the Steeplejacks federation for bringing the industry into disrepute. As for boasting of climbing ladders with no hands, you are irresponsible.
@@PreservationEnthusiast no I don’t like people who are fantasists and overcome with jealousy and try to rubbish a great mans achievements! You need to get rid of your Demons and be more positive your are coming across as a complete tosser!
@@outsidethepyramid It's obviously gone over your head. Mr Dibnah was a great man - with a wealth of knowledge. Or... is it British histroy that you have a problem with?
The health and safety at work act was in place back then, still the main piece of legislation governing health and safety, he's doing it himself and would still be legal today
Great comments regarding Fred's climbing, but just think for a moment about the guys who built it. Hauling those stones up and placing them exactly. What heroes they all were.
@@sarahcox9284 thank You sarah.. he was boltons finest...followed him from his very early days on tv...must visit his house one day...and oh..are you boltons very own sara cox...lol..x
That man was one of the most loveable, funny, interesting and charismatic people ever to appear on TV. Loved watching him whether it was scaling horrifyingly tall chimneys or working on his beloved traction/steam engines. Definitely one of a kind. RIP Mr Dibnah xx
As a 50 year old scaffolder I have huge respect for Fred !! What a legend... I would go up there in an instant , but I would have to use my harness !!! ☮❤
I used to work for First Bus and Stage Coach in Bolton Lancashire UK, and while out and about driving thoughtout Bolton and the surounding areas, I would occasionally see Fred in either his Land Rover on driving his Steam Engine as I and all the other cars would wait patiently for him to slowly pass by, or we would either past him by. But in all fairness, it was Fred Dignah, so people wasnt in and hurry to pass by to quickly, and I can tell you now, all the passengers on my bus / top and bottom would all move to one side of the bus just to see Fred and what he was up to. It's impossible not to be impressed with who Fred Dibnah was and what he did in his working life, because just seeing him riding his steam train was prity cool I can tell you, and yes he brought I smile to my face just seeing him. Thinking back now, the last time I spotted Fred out and about, he was walking through Bolton in 2001, I had stopped at the traffic lights next to the church and the train station, and Fred was acrossing the road and he went into Clough's the Opticians. I know 'Im ramberling on here, but it's a nice memory I have of a bloke I didnt know, but who really lived in another time then we all did............
The thought of having to step off the edge to climb back down... Holy shit I would be crying and having a panic attack at absolute minimum if I was up there. Fred is an absolute boss.
Especially climbing down at a backward angle. There is no way in hell I could even imagine having to do that. Yes, I understand he's been doing this for a long time...but one slip up and that's it. Truly amazing man...
Look at how fast and hard the wind is moving that flag. It takes some serious balls to free hand climb a ladder that high under those conditions. This man was truly an amazing human being and an English treasure. Every school child in Western society should be made to watch this man work.
Oh, Really - An English treasure?? Where was England when his machine shop was being knocked down, the machinery, boilers, engines and tools being sold like toys. Where was England when the contents of his house, half of which he built, were auctioned off and scattered like chaff in the wind. Where was England when the demonstration mine pit and mine head machinery were demolished and removed without any trace? England had forgotten all about Fred Dibnah. His time was twice passed in 1890 and in 2018 when all traces of his lifetime works were obliterated from the earth. England didn't care enough to put his estate in trust for preservation. There should have been restraints oon what could be done just as is the practice for "Listed" buildings. There are plenty of "Heritage" sites. The estate could have been in the care of his 2 sons with an oversight committee - just as for other historical places. But no - As is the rule today it is all talk and no action. Nothing, outside of the ill fated efforts of 1 guy, was done to assure that Fred's amazing workshop and traditional tools remained as functional institutions, just as has been done with other places. It didn't have to be restored - it was fully functional in 2004 when he died. All the weeping and wailing about his passing and all he stood for are aligator tears - NO ONE lifted a finger to preserve his heritage - HIS heritage, no some company. His workshop and two steam machines were all rebuilt by him - not to mention every machine tool he owned. - All gone All you stout Englishment had the chance to save it - TWICE - and you did nothing.
+Jimmy Twigg - Thank you. Many people knew Fred that honor should go to them. I only wish I have the honor and privilege of meeting that man. It would have been my first pint and time well spent. As a child I knew a man like him. Too sadly I never knew his worth at that time. Frd was unusual, self taught or not he mastered everything he touched. All too soon was he snatched from this life and so much more he had to give. If I am his champion, no better man could I have chosen.
@@organbuilder272 I agree with you my friend here in Malta it is the same problem we have a lot of very old machinery in our water pumping stations they are being thrown away for scrap when I talked to our cultural minister about it to save them for posterity he told me there is nothing he can do!!!!!!!!!!!! Our countries are being run by a bunch of idiots:-(
@@johnhili8664 @John Hili - There is something you can do - Grab it. Get some people together and buy it at scrap value - Better yet start a public campaign. You have the web to help you. Certainly you are not the only one who feels unhappy about the destruction of historic buildings, machinery, and processes. Historic preservation is important. Dig in, take your cause to the public and it will succeed.
Can you imagine how many times he was told that it couldn't be done, and yet he did it and the solution was so simple. Common sense, good work ethic and a shit ton of courage👍
I just discovered these videos today. This man is a legend. The health and safety blokes of today would have a heartache watching Fred work in the air or on the ground. I heard him say in another video that death is possible once you get past the height of the first ladder. I suppose you could say the ever present danger kept him alive. Not just at the top but from the first rung of the first ladder
If he fell off the top it would have killed him. The landing at bottom a different matter. I reckon he'd still narrate on the way down. Pointing out dodgy brickwork and the view.
I do scaffold for a living have been for 17 years the highest ive been is 240 feet the limit on scaffold to build is 300 feet....fred is one tough man hats off to u people do not realize how tough it is to climb that high how much strength and energy u need...then u still have to work when u get up there and then climb down when u done...much respect for the great fred hats off to u and a pint in the air for u Fred
@@countdublevay7327 ok good for you ,were do I sign in for some privileges though?seems to me very little was ever privileged my way ,pretty much worked for my keep,so I still don't get your sentiment exept for it's your imagination
![ช่วยพาฉันผ่านเวลา - วสันต์17 [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HFnntWoqc54/mqdefault.jpg)
The U.S had the space programme, the U.K had Fred Dibnah and an infinite supply of ladders.
Haha! That made me laugh out loud.. Which scared the dog.
@@sukottora Sorry dog.
@Dan Pearce You are today's winner on the internet for that comment.
Yea that proper made me laugh 👍
Irony being, one really happened, the other didn't.
I was a rooftiler for nigh on 30 years and have been up and down ladders for most of my life , sometimes in pretty scary circumstances with no scaffolding and up to six storey buildings as well but what Fred used to do just amazes me . I could never have done the extreme stuff he did and I like heights too . The man was just amazing . He was so confident in his ability , such a competent man . I can’t get over the way he used to walk along those single scaffold boards bowing like crazy in the middle at the top of a chimney he was cleaning or taking down brick by brick. Those flipping boards snap and break in two sometimes when they are not fully supported in the middle . I know ,it’s happened to me a few times when I have been only 25 feet or so off the ground . It gives me a chill even now just looking at the old footage of him romping around atop those old chimneys . Nerves of steel that man had and buckets of courage . It’s such a shame he got paid a relative pittance for the highly dangerous work he did . One tiny mistake or error of judgement or even an unexpected gust of wind or a dodgy loose brick and it would have meant sudden death . The fact that he lasted so long in his profession unscathed is a testament to his skill , courage and ability . There will never be anybody quite like Fred Dibnah again .
I think the closest thing we have now is Guy Martin who cant hold a candle 🕯 to him but has that same feeling
No one asked pal
@xwyttuucalm down pal why don't you relax a bit, have yourself a bud
@xwyttuu your life is out dated 'sunny jim'
HeN MaN jog on you useless troll
No matter how many times I've watched this it never fails to make my palms sweat
Terrifying
Dude my whole body is sweating!!!
I feel like falling watching it 😢😂
I climb trees for a living, and this man is an absolute animal.
I used to do rock climbing and even som bigger walls. This makes my palms sweat as well. The stamina, and head, of Fred was something special.
When I was 16,59 now,my first job was on demolition of a factory in Oldham, near Manchester England, Fred came on to demolish the chimney,by knocking holes in the base putting in big timber supports ,then setting fire to them so when they burnt the chimney had no support and down it came,just when the critical time came he ran round blaring a hand held horn,awesome memory,ahhh the good old days
I remember that day as well like it was yesterday. ❤
o yeh i fucked him out back behind that brick stack that day too. were gay
I also remember, what a day for everyone here
Thanks for that information. I saw him lighting the fire but didn't realise that he propped it up with timber and that the fire burnt through the timber and that's why the chimney collapsed. I obviously wasn't paying enough attention.
This sounds like Era Mill and Moss Mill chimneys which Fred dismantled around 1979 which matches up with your age and it being 44 years ago.
However, those mills were located off Woodbine Street East in Rochdale, rather than Oldham, so maybe it was another chimney project in Oldham you refer to.
However, Woodbine St East is just off Oldham Road and not too far from the border of Rochdale-Oldham.
Do those Mills ring a bell? There was a third mill very close by too “State Mill”
Fred was paid £500 for the big chimney (moss) and £400 for the little one (era) I believe.
When I was a young teenager in the U.K., I rang Fred because his number was not obscured. His wife answered and put me onto Fred who was more than happy to speak with me. This must have been about 1982 and I was so pleased we spoke! Not a word of a lie! He was a legend and God bless him RIP Fred
Just didn’t happen Why are you lying
@@jackweiss3546 why would someone lie? The number was plastered all over his land rovers on tv
@@jamst123 it’s very sad that people feel the need to lie about such Menial stuff. Sort your life out pal.
@Steve Ruddick no one asked you Steve. Thanks for your input. You know whare you can stick it
@Steve Ruddick well he commented on a public video, spouting a story that clearly is not true. And it is my duty as the bullshit detector to call him out on that.
This chimney is India Mill in Darwen. We inspected it a few years back and repaired a lot of lead and brickwork. We did with rope access - with 2 ropes attached at all times to your harness. And I can tell you, even with the ropes it was terrifying at first - incredibly exposed - so god knows how Fred keeps his head without ropes! No margin for failure whatsoever. I even abseiled to Harry Holden's ledge - his name is carved into the stone there! And it's not buzzards who nest there now - there's a female peregrine falcon who gets very upset when you approach her nest (of course we went outside of nesting season!)
@glynnejones1 British Asian? Whats that?
@@lomparti Muslim.
What was this building used for and why is it so much bigger then everything else around it?
And you meet superman too
I met my ex girlfriend at the house literally next door many years ago we used to go drinking at the base of that old chimney we always wondered what it would be like at the top
My knees start knocking just looking at this fearless guy
He’s amazing
Sweat pouring out of my palms, and my legs have gone watching this. That man......if this was all he did, he would be a legend, but he did way way more.......a huge knowledge of engineering, master draughtsman, historian, contructed a working coalmine in his back garden, traction engine renovator....and tv presenter. He must have been incredibly fit....his core strength is phenomenal. All those years of working with sooty bricks, oil, grease and coal dust did for him....for Fred, eating a sandwich with black coal dust hands was normal. Health and Safety was unheard of....and it cost him his life through bladder cancer. A really extraordinary life. Had this series of tv programmes not bought him to a wider audience, his extraordinary life and knowledge may never have been appreciated by anyone outside Bolton. His love of Industrial Britain and his fearlessness help to define why Britain became the global hub it was....a truly extraordinary man.
Former tower climber here, highest I've climbed is 850' (feet) or ~259 meters. Watching this guy sends chills down my spine. He climbed that entire chimney without any safety harness. On top of that - the thing that scares me the most are any type of over hang. Those are my biggest fears because how easily your feet can slip. Watching Fred do this without a harness freaks me out and sends chills down my legs.
have parachuted and climbed for fun ... sitting on my computer chair watching this is giving me vertigo! glad its not just me who feels this way.
What's amazing is the way he climbed the ladders at the overhang!
That itself takes strength IMO, a ladder tilting in the opposite direction with no gear!
I know many old timers who do something close to this and they are so fit at their age its unbelievable!
My Unc Mike is 75 and he climbs like he is 20 years old! My unc will out live me possibly, LOL. I'm 61 and out of shape, well not really, I am shaped like a pear! LOL
The vertical ladder is secure, the overhang ladders deflect every step he took.
Firefighter here who climbs aerial ladders with huge gaps in the rungs 7 stories up..... I shit my pants watching this guy Fred... his balls are much bigger than mine 😲
Yeah I did feel kinda sick watching him climb past the overhangs with only the akward load dangling from his waist to cushion his fall! 😱🤢
It's a shame that Fred Dibnah is best remembered for his demolition work on chimneys. This was a job he undertook reluctantly. His enthusiasm for and knowledge of Victorian engineering and construction was probably unparalleled during his lifetime. Additionally he was a very skilled draftsman, and his illustrations really were things of artistic beauty. We rarely get to witness so much talent in a single person, and we are lucky that Fred Dibnah was around at a time before Television became so highly commercialised and commoditised as it is now. He leaves behind a remarkable legacy of workmanship and knowledge, and we are a richer society for that.
yamabushi170-Very well said my friend.
yamabushi170 Thats a very nice comment you have posted. Very well said indeed.
Well said
Back off you ignoramus - you may not like what he said but he has every right to state his opinion. Even Dear Fred himself acknowledged his shortcomings as a husband and his tendency to place his work and his steam engines above his role as father and husband. That does not, however, detract from the simple fact that Fred Dibnah was a fine son of Bolton, from an earlier and better time and a Great Briton. Even soft southern pansys like me consider him the finest example of a true working man! Your comments do NOTHING to defend his honor and his legacy.
Agreed. Fred was a super skilled engineer, using steam power.
By any accounts, this is a remarkable feat of skill and stamina. The actual construction in the 1870's in itself is something else - but Fred makes that enormous climb look almost casual and the fact that he had to place all those ladders by hand himself frankly seems extraordinary.
How they built that tower in those days is mind blowing...
People would struggle doing it today with modern equipment
Don't forget strength. You're not climbing a ladder at that angle without the core of a silverback
@Old Golf Punk As Fred says quite often, most of them were built from the inside
@@Revvy85this comment is legit!
Yup. I was amazed how he placed ladders end-on-end against a _smooth sided stack,_ going a half ladder at a time with- what? - 8-foot lengths of rope.
How he placed these cantilevered ladders without "half-laddering" boggles the mind.
Thank you Fred, we all still love you from the whole Nation.
Lots of love from
Great Britain 🇬🇧
_Some of the stones at the top weigh as much as 5 tonnes each_
2 stones in particular Fred
@@countdublevay7327 Western civilisation is a good idea . Ghandi.
5 ton who put them there ..
@@pauloconnor7951 They have to go back
- Gandhi
Your not kidding mate sold iron he was a excellent man
@@malcolmcanning548 the builders.... but I think you're missing the joke, by stones he was referring to the guys testicles, he was saying the guy had huge balls to climb up there like that.
If you didn't get that joke then I guess you have been R/Whooshed
In my opinion Fred Dibnah was one of the coolest men who ever lived.
Yea. Ill go with that.
@@pentatonicpaddy He died years ago of cancer.
@@pentatonicpaddy oh i get it. He was one hell of a man though. Balls of British steel and a top class engineer as well. Dont make em like him anymore. Happy Christmas.
Yeah he used to punch his wives up and neglect his kids but yakno..
If we're being honest here, some of the greatest men who ever lived would probably be people who actually changed the lives of millions of people for the better. Someone who had any impact instead of someone who climbed ladders really well.
...
What a bloke. I grew up watching Fred. In my youth I thought he was just a nutty steeplejack. But, as I matured so did Fred's presenting career. Let's be honest, if anyone deserves a cushy retirement in front of a camera, it's this man! Then, I learned about his love of Victorian engineering. He loved the way people cared about what they were making, with expertise and care. He was so talented in so many ways. A joiner by trade, his writing and drawings were so artistic. His writing was like calligraphy! He could build steam traction engines (which in his words, are like a bloody big bomb!) from the ground up and if he didn't have the right tools... He'd make them! And his knowledge of architecture was endless. Many of UK loved watching Fred through his career, and I'm glad he's even straying across the pond! And I don't doubt that he and our love of him put some uppity history wannabee presenters out of a job. Sorry, he earned it, you didn't. I learnt so much from his easy going, layman's style of explaining. Thank you Fred, for everything!! Rest easy now.
At school Dibnah was placed in an art class (his reading and writing skills were judged to be poor), following which he spent three years at art college, where his work was based mainly on industrial themes such as machinery, pithead gear and spinning mills.
A wonderful, well, obituary really. Our lad obviously touched your heart as did he mine.
Fred was the very best example of the classic understated trait of quiet forbearance and dogged determination. God rest his soul.
I can't disagree with you there.
fantastic post ..so true
He is Impressive but AS a pro climber, climbing up a ladder is the easy climb in the book. Is Not meaning as a hate
Fred was, and will always be, a legend. A simple guy with poetry in his soul and the constitution of an ox.
Crazy to think that he had no idea one day nearly 2 million people would watch him climb that chimney on the internet
That's nowt compared with how many people have seen him on TV.
he hated anything invented after the steam engine so he would think us all wankers.
not that crazy. You new to TH-cam?
Yeah, but you had no idea it'd be 2.3m a mere 9 months later. I'm making no predictions about future viewings.
FRED = Tinternet! What the ell's tinternet?!
Armstrong - "It's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind".
Fred - "You could ride a bike round up here!" 👍 Golden ✨
🤣
They should've bottled his blood before he died. What a Legend of Mankind !
😅
Ride a bike on a chimney, some daredevil on TH-cam upload a video from a 280 meters tall old chimney and ride a unycicle
Here on yt there is a pretty famous video from a daredevil on a 256 meters tall chimney ride a unycycle on top or balance on the steelbeam on top.
I got weak as f### in the knees watching this and im actually sat down too 🤣 Fred Dibnah was just made of something else 🔥💯👏
He was and still is a real national treasure. Thank you Fred for being a true
Brit.
Don't forget he was the one who actually put those ladders up in the first place, climbing up them is a breeze for old Fred even in his 50's.
@@Codzilla71 he's not talking to himself ..he's talking for the camera and documentary.
Yeah it's crazy seeing him actually ladder the stacks using each section to add the next, shifty as fuck but he loved it. And guys honestly no matter how used to it you get now and again chatting to yourself does was the fact your kissing death in the face. I've been on big buildings a roofer etc and yeah it gets to you at times even after doing it years
@@adamturner2836 I worked with a bricklayer in his late 60s for about 6 years. Old school fella. We don't have any stacks around here but I've been up the side of a few tall buildings. That chatter distracts you from thinking about the risk, while your'e talking about what your'e doing your are inadvertently also paying better attention.
@@adamturner2836 Since the bottom ladder has to hold the weight of all the subsequent ladders on top of it, I wonder if he ever figured the limit of height he can ladder. I would think it would be limited by the weight the bottom ladder can hold. I know they are also pegged to the building and that takes some weight off but not much. He's lucky none of his pegs ever came out. He knew how and where to hammer them in, but still, you can never 100% guarantee the stone will hold all your pegs, especially that ladder that angled upside-down!
@@Codzilla71 Him talking to himself is being Northern lol. And probably a few jars.
You don't get nerves when you've been doing it since a kid, you get balls.
Tom “why am I doing this” Davies sent me
Tom “I don’t believe it” Davies
Tom "Get in" Davies
Tom "are we filming?" Davies
Tom "Oriental" Davies
lol
I watched this clip in an episode which was aired in the late 1970’s with my dad. We were both terrified - was scarier than a Hammer Horror film. Total respect to this man. RIP Fred, a true legend.
This was filmed early 90s
Yes this is impressive but for a climber, this is Just a ladder, nothing in comparsion to a big rock wall.
There was a mountain bike in the footage so not late 70’s..I’m think very early 90’s
The guy was fearless 😂 imagine someone doing that nowadays 😅 Health and safety executive would have a baby on the spot
Absolute respect for this man, he was a master at his trade and to watch him scale those chimneys is just awe inspiring. A true legend
Let's be honest, how many of you were like me and actually felt nervous just watching this legend? I was okay at ladders and heights when younger but nothing like this and that overhang...are you kidding me? A truly remarkable man, one of a kind! RIP Fred.
Dave Raybould Made me feel sick especially the overhangs
Dave, for some people heights just dont affect them. I have a few friends like that.
Yeah great man but he didn't treat his woman friends very well.
David Farmer Exactly, if you have no fear of heights all you are doing is climbing up a fixed ladder.
Hardly comparable to rock climbing, my neighbour is a roofer still working at 72 years old climbing up on people's roofs and the occasional church spire to do repair work.
And yes he didn't treat his wives very well, he'd not really have wanted to be born in the mid Victorian age as all this was new stuff then, and being an uneducated man he'd have been working 18hr days and no time for hobbies, tin bath after work then off to bed, dead at 45 years old, and if he did have kids half of them would have died in infancy.
Good times
Made my legs tingle
No hard hat, no safety harness...
Climbing that chimney is one thing. Putting up all those ladders with only one helper on the ground is just mind boggling especially on those overhangs. Fred was definitely one a kind.
There were lots of Steeplejacks back then, you used to hear about them, see them, sometimes read about them dying from falling off, but they didn't have a camera crew with them. The other thing that made him more interesting than other Steeplejacks was his interest in steam and in restoring engines, which gave him a good career also on TV presenting those as well.
th-cam.com/video/Yxh78diK1Mc/w-d-xo.html
There were plenty of good Steeplejacks around. In fact Fred Dibnah was thrown out of the Steeplejacks and lightning conductor installers Federation for bringing the industry into disrepute. He was also cited by HSE for various failed demolitions and buildings left in dangerous condition.
What you see of Fred is glamourised by TV but some of the things he got up to were terrible examples of working methods.
@@Oscuros lots of peoples died and no one cares because is no camera
@@PreservationEnthusiast got any evidence for these claims of bad workmanship or just more TH-cam slander?
@@PreservationEnthusiast thank you for the correction - libel/slander/defamation - whatever you want to call it. The point is that there are too many of these comments on TH-cam (and social media in general) without evidence. When you say ‘look it up on the net’ you immediately lose credibility and become a troll. I have looked and cannot find any of the aforementioned. Maybe you can enlighten us?
Whenever I’m feeling low about working from home, I watch this. This man had the biggest balls in the UK. No safety lines or equipment, just experience. Just confidence in what he was doing. Just watching this is a work out.
My second job after school was as a trainee steeple jack ,(43 or so years ago) I still remember the effort in laddering a chimney ..... no lightweight aluminium , just heavy strengthened timber about 8' long and 2 1/2 - 3 foot wide , weighed a blood tonne .... lost all my skin from both shoulders lugging these up one at a time to hand over to my foreman who incidentally was also called Fred ,who to help me out passed me his flat cap to put onder my jacket to cushion the ladder ( there was a strengthening wire under each wrung which caused all the skin loss ) great camaraderie amongst all the guys , fearless and hardworking just like Mr Dibnah
fucking stupid if you ask me, why not have padding? little bitch
My father always kept his ladders outside...brilliant. Yeah, they eventually broke. I don't recall wire ever being used for that purpose....it was a good bit thicker than wire, it was solid rods of steel, and the better ladders had that run through a groove, which protected them a bit. I'm happy with my aluminum ladder, though it's much too heavy for me anymore--bad back. I need to get a fiberglass ladder.
When I was in my teens and early twenties, I used to climb buildings for fun. Once, me and some friends snuck into the football stadium--I climbed a lighting tower. Another time, we found an iron ladder on the outside of a university building, with pavement below and no cage. We climbed it to the roof five or so stories up, but found a door and the stairs to go back, because we weren't quite stupid enough to take further chances. I like watching Fred...even at my boldest, I wasn't nearly so confident.
@@TheEudaemonicPlague You know it probably was steel rods.... many years ago and the memory fades
Fred was well prepared for this monumental task.....a ploughman's lunch, a couple of pints and half a dozen woodbines!
And a flat cap.
That man is a LEGEND I remember watching his programme when I was a kid , I am north of 50 now myself . Fred Dibnah represents all that was good about Britain, his character , hard work ethic , easy going presenting style , love of British engineering heritage, a genuine genuine guy and someone the country could be proud of ...he was not rare back in the day many Brits were like him ...sadly all gone now replaced by "reality" stars like Jordan ,Those Towie idiots, and Geordie Shore nobodys Kim Kardashian the list is endless ...how things have changed for the worse in my opinion in television land and the world in general..
Shad ow could not have said it better myself.. Kim k is famous for having a fat arse. The world is going to shit started in America first now its in Europe and I'm not for being racist its all ethnic groups won't fame for fuck all.
These skills Fred had were real. Topman. ..
These archives are brilliant... I don't watch any TV anymore
So right! 😕
That man's DNA needs to be saved. Unbelievable !
I wish this guy was with us today..... such a real craftsman. . He had so much knowledge and skills ... not many born like that
Remarkable. On the surface, Fred was a jolly and easy-going chap but underneath he was a superbly skilled calculating machine: He instinctively knew the right weather, wind conditions and personal health. He completely put aside any what-ifs and maybes. Fred also fine-tuned his confidence. He probably had a certain level of fear - it kept him alive, and he knew that above a certain height (maybe 30 feet), a fall would kill anyway. Personally, I get shaky standing on a triple ladder!
As Terry Pratchett pointed out in one of his discworld novels, there's no point being afraid of heights, be afraid of the ground because it's the ground that kills you.
@@tricky778 A commercial pilot I once knew said the same, but in a slightly different way: "I like flying as high as possible - it provides the time for me to think of a solution to an issue!"
I've never climbed this high up, but I work in deadly heights daily and you sort of get used to it after a while
You still feel uneasy but it stops bothering and hindering you and you just focus on getting the job done
2 pairs of socks and im shakey
Wtf, i dont think ur correct dude. Instinctively is a funny word like this just sounds stupid
I cannot express how much admiration I have for this man. Utterly fearless. When he said "They reckon some of the stones up here weigh 5 tonnes", he means people on the ground referring to the size of his balls. Just extraordinary bravery, strength and skill. Don't be fooled by the carefree demeanour....you didn't survive in that trade unless you knew *exactly* what you were doing, and he clearly did. A master steeplejack for the ages. 🙏🤜👌
Blimey, he put a Union flag up there, you couldn't do that now, the police would arrest you.
I like the bit a about the buzzard. As if he is on about some girls husband. Like he has fought him before. Makes me laugh that.
I come back here frequently, when life is complete shit… I take inspiration where this man faces his world face on! Rip Fred!
Yeh. With this level of determination and trained skill all of us can surmount whatever challenges we have
Me too
Me too.
Fred was a true legend don't forget he had to put those ladders up there then remove them when he was finished biggest set of balls in the UK God rest his soul.
I was thinking through the video, "someone had a worse job putting the ladders there in the first place". That would probably be even more hair-raising to watch.
@@featherbrain7147 go watch fred put the ladders up he has videos of it too its intense as fuck and obviously fred just cool as a cucumber lol
Fred Dibnah laddering a chimney (Part 1): th-cam.com/video/F04dGK1_wYA/w-d-xo.html
That's why he wasn't scared, God gave him them giant bouncy clackers just in case he fell.
An old guy carpenter showed me a picture where he was working on a church steeple, around 110’ high. He had ladders set up sorta like Fred did, only difference, they were all old WOOD extension ones tied together with hemp ropes. Old construction workers had balls of steel, yet on the other hand, had to do what they had to, to get the job done. No JLG boom lifts back in the 1920’s.
He's got to be one of the bravest nicest fellas you'd ever meet its great to have this footage of him he was a great teacher of history.
Yes sure here in the uk but in lot of 3rd world countries, literally million of peoples work like fred even in 2024 or doing more dangerous work, no surprise a few thousands of fatal accidents happening per year and nowadays there is gore footage on reddit and another web sites.
Oh how times have changed Fred, you certainly had the best of it. Jack of all trades and master of all of them. RIP lad, thy's cemented your legacy with style and true grit.
there you go hollywood?? no special effects there ....spiderman in a flat cap
Yes, all their special effects look tame compared to that.
and probably had 6 pints
🤣😂😅😆
@@theoldoakvideos at the top, and slid down the ladders no doubt. What a legend
@@theoldoakvideos He always said he often downed a couple of pints, before climbing one
Balls of steel. He's the type of man who made Britain great. God bless his soul.
And the country was FULL of his type at one point....
Fred an absolute legend. Amazing skill and strength to do his job. What a character. Sorely missed
Thank goodness they filmed this. Just brilliant.
No harness, no gloves, jack boots, terrifying overhangs and totally exposed... Fred had pure guts and amazing confidence... a lot of kudos is given to free climbers who don’t use ropes a dozen or so times in their careers... Fred didn’t use ropes for decades!
The man is a Legend, totally fearless and remember he did this to earn a living for his family before the film cameras came. It makes me anxious just watching. Fred you have my eternal respect. RIP
It was a terrible shame he fell to his death
My balls wanna hide just watching! They're like, you're on your own mate, we're both off
@@maruyama2076 he died of cancer
@@teemuleppa3347 Whilst falling?
This man had balls of steel, you'll always be remembered Fred rest easy ❤
The skill of Fred is incredible 300 feet up and not phased at all no rope no harness nothing but his bravery some man rip legend
Reaches the top and quips, 'you could ride a bike round here.' One in a million.
One in 56.31 million. An incredible man.
"..one mistake it's definitely half a day out with the undertaker.." classic!
FraZzLe DaZzLe was a wonderful guy. Remember a story when he done an after dinner talk to dentists. He was offered all his dental work perpetually or £200. £200 quid Please he replied, that will buy me new pliers and I could use em for work too ! Absolute genius and a gentleman. Also I swear to god he had a part time job strangling gorillas: his hands were enormous and trust me he was an extremely mild mannered man, but utterly fearless. Miss him x RIP steeplejack Dibnah x
I was gonna say I bet his grip is next level. You wouldn't want a Chinese burn off Fred he'd tear ya skin off n crush ya bones!
I was gobsmacked watching this. However as an ex-rock climber he could have had running ropes along the ladder to which he could have attached himself using a prusik knot and a harness. It would have arrested a fall. Even so, no way could I do what he did.
This man should have a gold statue made of him he's a national treasure. There will never be another one.
He does actually have a statue in Bolton. Not made out of gold, but still...
There wasn’t enough gold in the reserve to recreate those massive balls
@@TheEugeepfacts!
Fred was the epitome of a real true English man who was a true master of his craft and a real down to earth gentle man who can never be betterd. One in 10 billion. Cannot be replaced or forgotten ever. REST IN PEACE FRED OLD FRIEND. I REMEMBER U FROM OUR MEET AT UR HOUSE LOOKING AT UR LATEST STEAM PROJECT ..
That’s one hell of a climb with cold hands and no safety lines, those 5ft overhangs are crazy..Fred was one hell of a man though, tough as nails and a multi talented, proper grafter.. what a legend.
"you can ride a bike around here" (300 foot up), only Fred would
say that. An amazing man.
th-cam.com/video/sFUcxnvAeMc/w-d-xo.html
Carmen Power of
He'd probably carry one up on his back and do it!
I never tire of watching Fred Dibnah. There will certainly never be another man like him. He was unassuming, really clever, balls of steel, and an ultimate grafter. I mean honestly, even if you could get anyone to climb one of them chimneys, how many of them would knock a chimney down brick by brick. He was awesome.
What an impressive human being Fred was. Tough as nails.
The most skilled and confident person climbing buildings I ever did see. Every single movement unharnessed on those exposed heights there is the chance for a fatal error to occur. Death is staring him in the face. But Fred just stares back and gets on with it - doing commentary, coughing, doing exercises, whistling a tune, analysing the architecture. His courage and skill are off the scale.
It's weird. My dad is like this with heights. I am not at all comfortable with them lol. He used to work on smokestacks. He'd climb to the top of some trees at home just to show us he could. Like... I dunno. As much as we do share genetically, I didn't get any of that.
I do remember they had us climb a 30 foot ladder to clean silo filters once at a factory around 10 years ago. That was the first time I ever even climbed that high. The ladder was built onto it and completely sturdy and stable but it was straight up. I had never climbed that high nor a ladder that went straight up. I found out halfway up that I was using my arms instead of my legs lol.. but I changed my "style" and finished it and didn't tell anyone. A thunderstorm came while we were inside of it. Factory workers are dumb for the most part. "Here's the safest place you could be." Yeah, sure, inside of a metal silo during a massive thunderstorm. I didn't go back the next day. Was working 7 days a week/12 hours a day anyways. Screw that. For 2 months I was told it was just temporary. For 2 months I did 12 hours a day/7 days a week. Seriously... screw that. I feel bad for the guys that think some job like that is all they can do. Don't waste your life.
@@JustAGuy85 you soft git, they were telling you the truth, you were safe in that metal silo during the thunderstorm, I promise! Any lightning striking the silo would be dissisipated around you and straight to ground, nobody inside the container gets shocked. This is why lightning strikes vehicles including planes without killing the occupants. Cheer up x
@@RedPillRachel We were sitting on metal. Would say more, but you're a chick, anyways.
Your just jealous mate real jealous he had to turn work down all the time ,i bet your that guy that needs a full harness two,safety lines JEALOUS
My dad is in the same mould as Fred, luckily he's still with us, he's 80 now and has gone blind but I could sit listening to his tails and his wisdom all day long. I realise he may not be around much longer, but while he is alive I'm gonna cherish every moment with him
make sure u tell him you love him and give him a big hug , it may embarrass him but he will be more thankful than you can ever know
@@michaelwhittaker5432 as peter will be too.... lucky are we who were rasied by strong men
Tails?
Tales*
Sounds great, hoping you'll have many more years with him, 80s the new 60 these days!
Never get bored of watching Fred what a wonderful man he was. R.I.P Mr Dibnah
If we built that chimney today it would cost tens of millions! Fred was & still is a national treasure...
in todays money that would be £2,041,015 and it would like cost a lot more than that nowadays :)
Today we have 200, 250 and 300 meters tall chimneys.
@@borntoclimb7116 Well the tallest in the UK is 259 m the one he is climbing is around 91m tall, different materials of course and shape etc and not as good looking :) but yeah likely not costing tens of millions
@@wynwilliams911 but tall chimney are expensive, in Germany we have a Lot of 200 and 250 meters tall ones, some are 275 and more than 300 meters tall
@@borntoclimb7116 Yes, they are expensive to build and would no doubt be very expensive to recreate the chimney he was climbing, but we have much different materials now and they do not cost tens of millions AFAIK
Nerves of steel! A remarkable man from an era long gone.
711honved people still climb shit
gary abbot how many people over 50 climb like Fred that you know.?real men like Fred are a dying breed these days.
Anthony Redmond its not a common job. hundreds of kids climb stupid shit. climbing doesnt make someone a man. how simple are you.
Maybe not, but balls are few and far between in this none gender world where people call themselves what they want, then ask the rest of us to believe it.
Nerves of steel....... more like BALLS OF STEEL
At 3.50min shaking the lactic acid from his arms n shoulders then waving to his Mrs n kid whilst dropping the union jack out..legend
3:50
No it's against cold fingertips
@@christophestuyvaert8181 doubt it's cold fingers with all that blood pumping but possibly. .he would definitely have lactic acid with his arms above his head as pulling up climbing.
At ‘arry ‘oldens ledge...
You can clearly hear him say his fingers are cold.
Fred is an absolute one of a kind, they don’t have his type anymore! I say this with absolute respect to the man!
I am a South African, and became aware of Fred during the lockdown. I watched every series that he had a part in. How i whished i could have met him. If somebody wants to have a go at the English it is prudent to keep in mind that this type of tenacity is sprinkled throughout the pale tea-drinkers🤔
Makes your heart skip a beat.The man was a legend who worked hard and treated this as the norm.He is a credit to this Country.
Marc could not have put it better myself
Absolutely agree
How is he staying attached to the ladder on the overhang 4:18 surely gravity would try and bring your legs back vertical. The camera shows how high he is but even then i dont think it does it justice. If you had a camera looking directly down from the top that would really make people shit themselves.
beach life my hands and feet were sweating watching this
Ha-ha that overhang is something. His hands are just casually on the outer ladder, my hands would be gripped tightly on each rung with a harness on lol. Getting back on the overhang to come back down would be even worse as you have to come down backwards.
They were all Fred's own ladders...he chiselled holes in the chimney, and secured all the ladders with rope...an amazing feat in itself....all done by himself!!....a true unpretentious northerner...you know...the type that forged an empire!...
naw he was sat in his £2million trailer drinking tea whilst a crew where putting up the rigging, bit like bear grills
Olliedog Travels lol are you a moron? There’s numerous videos of himself putting up the rigging
Nonsense man! The likes of George Osborne and his ilk that can hold 7 jobs AND their lucrative rewards are the type that can "FORGE" an empire . With the stroke of a pen .
(Anyone see what I did there?)
@@cloejarozenski5109
Close you nob its call a joke FD is a distance relly of mine so put that in your mix
You wouldn't trust your life to somebody else's ladder, 300ft up a chimney.
Went to see this chimney on Saturday after visiting Fred's Grave, House and his Mothers House to see the chimney he had built there, while on a wee tour of Wales, Scotland and England for a week.
I would have very much loved to have met and spoken to the man when he was still alive, but alas.
I still had a few words at the grave side.
Came across him first on the tv a good twenty odd years ago, and enjoyed all the series of programmes he was involved in, an extremely knowledgeable guy and so interesting to listne to plus his delivery was second to none.
I returned home to Ireland after my visit to some of the places he had been, and was very happy I had done so.
That sounds like a wonderful trip and I absolutely understand why you took the time & trouble to do it. Fred was a Legend, of that there is no doubt.
@jfro5867 Absolutely, thoroughly enjoyed my week, and already planning the next one.
Just watching Fred climb it is in itself incredible. The fact he attached all those ladders is yet more impressive. Even more impressive is the fact the chimney was built to that size and scale in the 19th century in the first place. Human engineering and grey matter amongst these phenomenal men is astonishing
Less impressive when you realise how cheap life was back then.
Pretty easy to build shit when you don't have to worry about paying people to do the work or worry if they die
@@MichaelGallagher97 they did have to worry about the bricks, mortar, and reputation lost for failure if there's a partial collapse. Loss of those things is expensive.
Loved Fred, he lived in the next town to me, he enjoyed a pint of tets (Tetley Best Bitter) and I had the pleasure of having a pint and a chat with him in Bolton pub one afternoon..
Climbing those ladders is mad enough, never mind the fact he actually put them up in the first place......
No safety line, no harness, no hard hat, but huge Balls.
Gives you a better respect for the people who built it in the first place
Theres a good video of him showing how he ladders a chimney
th-cam.com/video/F04dGK1_wYA/w-d-xo.html
breakit46 check out John Noakes and Nelsons column, similar thing but filmed for a kids program he was a presenter of
How on earth did he get those ladders on the overhangs ... !? The guy was extraordinary.
There is another video showing him "laddering" a chimney
Im a yorkshireman but have no shame in saying its true lancashire grit like this that made our country great! Too few of these northern nutcases left in our world these days! I hope freds family are doing well!
Great Britain was named great because of the land mass..Ireland was known as little britain
@Marc Phelan The Greco-Egyptian scientist Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania) in his work Almagest (147-148 AD).
@Marc Phelan Hate to break it to you, but Ireland was called Little Britain many a moon ago
@Moonshine Buck Brit bong istan.. Bolton isn't even 50% white I dare to suggest now
@@paullynass4848 where did that come from?
I met Fred once, he was lost looking for a feller with some bits for his Landie in Lymm, Cheshire. We dragged him into our office for a brew and were thoroughly star struck, this would have been in about 1994. He immediately set about chatting up the prettiest girl in the office....
That landy of his is still on the go.
@@sukottora Think his daughter has it now.
His missus was a lot younger than him as well , he obviously kept her “well serviced “😀
Wouldn't have been looking for the guy who used to have a load of knackered old Landies behind Parry's Garage on Rushgreen Road, would he?
The Landy was his payment for the first documentary they did about him.
My hands are leaking just watching Fred climb those ladders! 💯
I'm amazed at how he set all those ladders up . Especially the ones on the hang overs
This is the sort of thing that keeps you sitting on the edge of the chair,
Not tv soaps, that mans courage is 10 times taller than that tower,what a fella..r.i.p.dear,fred.
Drone adventures h
Gazsx
Yes so much better than the grotty soaps which are just degenerating society, not to mention the dire shit they put on TV during Saturday evenings, so glad I no longer own a TV.
Can you imagine the 'modern' BBC commissioning a series on a Fred Dibnah now? Wrong boxes old boy...
I’m a retired painter been on ladders over 50yrs, I could walk up a ladder with paint
In one hand, and brush in the other without holding on.. I thought I was a cocky bastad
until I seen Fred on TV, I never missed an episode and I remember seeing this one it’s
never left my mind because of those two overhangs.. your body weight feels 3 times
as heavy on that ladder going up that angle !!
Fred was a master tradesmen, he could do anything... there’s none like him. RIP Fred ..
I used to work in a warehouse, and I was shitting it carrying a Dyson down from 30 foot up with one hand holding on, Christ knows how he taught his brain to tolerate this.
Fred is an absolute legend, remember watching these with my Nan back in the day.
Fred was thrown out of the Steeplejacks federation for bringing the industry into disrepute. As for boasting of climbing ladders with no hands, you are irresponsible.
@@PreservationEnthusiast get a life
@@thedonmakaveli7546 Everything I post is true. Are you afraid of that. Do you thrive on misinformation?
@@PreservationEnthusiast no I don’t like people who are fantasists and overcome with jealousy and try to rubbish a great mans achievements! You need to get rid of your Demons and be more positive your are coming across as a complete tosser!
Love Fred I’m proud to be British because of him!
I have a handful of hero`s and Fred is right up there , Jack if your reading these comments,your dad was a special and a well loved man
Jeff Jones he was not! He molested me repeatedly! And I'm a boy, and there's only one hole he was interested in.
Shut up you idiot, what a load of nonsense
Damo Don't you mean Nonce-sense
graeme skillen No I mean BULLSHIT
jsj297 and where's your evidence?
you can't make accusations like that with no evidence
Hello. I would like to express my gratitude for sharing this amazing and inspiring video. Thank you!
Sorry, but what exactly is amazing and inspiring about this video?
@@outsidethepyramidthe superhuman ability on display
@@outsidethepyramid It's obviously gone over your head. Mr Dibnah was a great man - with a wealth of knowledge. Or... is it British histroy that you have a problem with?
Mr Dibnah! Thank you Fred, for making this world so much more interesting!
❤
The days before health and safety, this guy is fearless. I'm struggling to watch. Legend and such an intelligent man.
There was always health and safety. It's called "Yeah, I'll do it".
The health and safety at work act was in place back then, still the main piece of legislation governing health and safety, he's doing it himself and would still be legal today
The “Health and Morals of Apprentices Act 1802” was the first Health and Safety legislation to be passed by parliament
> struggling to watch
ASMR for your skeleton isn't for everyone...
There was always health and safety. People just outsourced it to the government in modern times and now have no agency.
What a legend! As an ex roofer I can appreciate working at heights, but this man was Fearless. He was made of tough stuff!
People like Fred Dibnah, if you can find one like him, make up the best part of England.
Great comments regarding Fred's climbing, but just think for a moment about the guys who built it. Hauling those stones up and placing them exactly.
What heroes they all were.
And all the materials were delivered by horses.
and the children that were sent up them to clean them 🙃😄
Made my testicles retract up into my armpits just watching this.
Me too
@C Stew its even worst when you think how he got them ladders up too !
Me too
That’s a shame you will grow into a man one day look down and go koowl ballz In armpits that was a shock I’d say can I have a go .
😅
Hats off to the late Fred dibnah... nerves of steel....my arse was twitching like a bunny rabbits nose just watching him....👍
Mudplugger,I love your comment,so funny yet very real,gave me a good laugh.
@@sarahcox9284 thank You sarah.. he was boltons finest...followed him from his very early days on tv...must visit his house one day...and oh..are you boltons very own sara cox...lol..x
😂 😂 great comment mudplugger
Yep, I was getting vertigo just watching it on a laptop.
Fred this man is was back bone of English manpower and the brain of a engineer to be proud of RIP Fred 💙☀️🙏🏻
Fred Dibnah often appeared on NZ TV when I was a kid in the 1980's . I loved and still do love to watch his adventures
That man was one of the most loveable, funny, interesting and charismatic people ever to appear on TV. Loved watching him whether it was scaling horrifyingly tall chimneys or working on his beloved traction/steam engines. Definitely one of a kind. RIP Mr Dibnah xx
Aye a canny a working class fella
As a 50 year old scaffolder I have huge respect for Fred !!
What a legend...
I would go up there in an instant , but I would have to use my harness !!! ☮❤
The guy's an absolute legend - Absolutely amazing.
I used to work for First Bus and Stage Coach in Bolton Lancashire UK, and while out and about driving thoughtout Bolton and the surounding areas, I would occasionally see Fred in either his Land Rover on driving his Steam Engine as I and all the other cars would wait patiently for him to slowly pass by, or we would either past him by. But in all fairness, it was Fred Dignah, so people wasnt in and hurry to pass by to quickly, and I can tell you now, all the passengers on my bus / top and bottom would all move to one side of the bus just to see Fred and what he was up to. It's impossible not to be impressed with who Fred Dibnah was and what he did in his working life, because just seeing him riding his steam train was prity cool I can tell you, and yes he brought I smile to my face just seeing him. Thinking back now, the last time I spotted Fred out and about, he was walking through Bolton in 2001, I had stopped at the traffic lights next to the church and the train station, and Fred was acrossing the road and he went into Clough's the Opticians. I know 'Im ramberling on here, but it's a nice memory I have of a bloke I didnt know, but who really lived in another time then we all did............
The thought of having to step off the edge to climb back down... Holy shit I would be crying and having a panic attack at absolute minimum if I was up there. Fred is an absolute boss.
They'd have to pick me up in a helicopter, I'd be paralysed up there
@@royalhero4608 😂
@@royalhero4608 There'd be no need, my heart wouldn't have lasted
Especially climbing down at a backward angle. There is no way in hell I could even imagine having to do that. Yes, I understand he's been doing this for a long time...but one slip up and that's it. Truly amazing man...
I have done some rock climbing but watching this is terrifying.
What an absolute gem of a bloke! One of England’s great characters and sorely missed by a certain generation
All generations. A certain type of person who don't mind grubby finger nails or bit of coal in his tea.
Balls of steel on this bloke. An incredible human being.
He speaks to the stone to get through the end of the climb! Love it
Look at how fast and hard the wind is moving that flag. It takes some serious balls to free hand climb a ladder that high under those conditions. This man was truly an amazing human being and an English treasure. Every school child in Western society should be made to watch this man work.
Oh, Really - An English treasure?? Where was England when his machine shop was being knocked down, the machinery, boilers, engines and tools being sold like toys. Where was England when the contents of his house, half of which he built, were auctioned off and scattered like chaff in the wind. Where was England when the demonstration mine pit and mine head machinery were demolished and removed without any trace? England had forgotten all about Fred Dibnah. His time was twice passed in 1890 and in 2018 when all traces of his lifetime works were obliterated from the earth. England didn't care enough to put his estate in trust for preservation. There should have been restraints oon what could be done just as is the practice for "Listed" buildings. There are plenty of "Heritage" sites. The estate could have been in the care of his 2 sons with an oversight committee - just as for other historical places. But no - As is the rule today it is all talk and no action. Nothing, outside of the ill fated efforts of 1 guy, was done to assure that Fred's amazing workshop and traditional tools remained as functional institutions, just as has been done with other places. It didn't have to be restored - it was fully functional in 2004 when he died. All the weeping and wailing about his passing and all he stood for are aligator tears - NO ONE lifted a finger to preserve his heritage - HIS heritage, no some company. His workshop and two steam machines were all rebuilt by him - not to mention every machine tool he owned. - All gone All you stout Englishment had the chance to save it - TWICE - and you did nothing.
+Jimmy Twigg - Thank you. Many people knew Fred that honor should go to them. I only wish I have the honor and privilege of meeting that man. It would have been my first pint and time well spent. As a child I knew a man like him. Too sadly I never knew his worth at that time. Frd was unusual, self taught or not he mastered everything he touched. All too soon was he snatched from this life and so much more he had to give. If I am his champion, no better man could I have chosen.
@@organbuilder272 Yes you are spot on those who run this country are a joke.
@@organbuilder272 I agree with you my friend here in Malta it is the same problem we have a lot of very old machinery in our water pumping stations they are being thrown away for scrap when I talked to our cultural minister about it to save them for posterity he told me there is nothing he can do!!!!!!!!!!!! Our countries are being run by a bunch of idiots:-(
@@johnhili8664 @John Hili - There is something you can do - Grab it. Get some people together and buy it at scrap value - Better yet start a public campaign. You have the web to help you. Certainly you are not the only one who feels unhappy about the destruction of historic buildings, machinery, and processes. Historic preservation is important. Dig in, take your cause to the public and it will succeed.
Can you imagine how many times he was told that it couldn't be done, and yet he did it and the solution was so simple. Common sense, good work ethic and a shit ton of courage👍
Never tire of watching this one!
I just discovered these videos today. This man is a legend. The health and safety blokes of today would have a heartache watching Fred work in the air or on the ground. I heard him say in another video that death is possible once you get past the height of the first ladder. I suppose you could say the ever present danger kept him alive. Not just at the top but from the first rung of the first ladder
I discovered only a few weeks ago, I like how the algorithm favours his work
If he fell off the top it would have killed him. The landing at bottom a different matter. I reckon he'd still narrate on the way down. Pointing out dodgy brickwork and the view.
Over fifty and doing this. Jesus what a man he was. Bless you Fred you had the courage of a lion sir.
Apparently the last chimney he felled was in 2004, the year he died. Only 66, tragic
Lord Jesus Christ knows you use his name in blasphemous vain babble
I do scaffold for a living have been for 17 years the highest ive been is 240 feet the limit on scaffold to build is 300 feet....fred is one tough man hats off to u people do not realize how tough it is to climb that high how much strength and energy u need...then u still have to work when u get up there and then climb down when u done...much respect for the great fred hats off to u and a pint in the air for u Fred
Just another aspect of your white male privledge.
@@countdublevay7327 come again ?what's the problem
@@countdublevay7327 poor fella have you considered working outside the trades, maybe it's just not for you
i beg your pardon...
im an unmarried, mother of four 35yo black female who works in an office with child protective services.
@@countdublevay7327 ok good for you ,were do I sign in for some privileges though?seems to me very little was ever privileged my way ,pretty much worked for my keep,so I still don't get your sentiment exept for it's your imagination
My stomach is in a total knot watching these. I'm just amazed at how height is no concern to him. God Bless his soul.