Posted by Laurence Monkhouse on April 03, 2005 at 06:42:32 from 82.7.160.4 user Laurence_.
In Reply to: Re: Fred Dibnah at Coniston? posted by Dan Lind on April 03, 2005 at 05:30:57:
Fred Dibnah first achieved public noice as a steeplejack in Bolton. Several television series were made about him, first concentrating on his work, especially repairing and demolishing high factory chimneys, both of which he did with high precision and a terrifying lack of apparent health and safety aids which he said merely made you careless!
His private and single minded love - rather to the detriment of his successive wives' interests - was steam engines, and these came to figure more and more in the television series, which then expanded onto more general industrial archaeology. His final series, released after his death, invoved driving his newly restored traction engine round Britaoin visiting notable industrial survivals. During this he went up the Coniston valley and a couple of scenes were taken beside Coniston Water with Kanchenjunga in the background.
He was a brilliant raconteur, very approachable. As his health (and the number of factory chimneys still standing) declined he took to public lecturing. I attended a lecture last year which filled the big local theatre - he was in the bar with a pint in his hand when I arrived, moved onto the stage with the pint (or another one) and talked without notes or visual aids for 90 minutes, went back to the bar at the interval, back to the theatre, still with a pint and without aids, held forth for another hour, before going back to the bar, where he was chatting when I finally left.
A very remarkable man who did a great deal to open public eyes to our disappearing industrial heritage. We will miss him.