Fred Dibnah Dead
 

FRED DIBNAH, the steeplejack whose flat cap and blunt style made him an unlikely television celebrity, died yesterday aged 66 after a battle with cancer, writes Charlie Warmington.
Dibnah became famous in 1978 after a projected 20-minute film about the life of a steeplejack was spun out for 19 weeks. Further series followed in the 1980s as Dibnah travelled the country presenting programmes on the industrial age and the age of steam.
He once said that he had “never been over-gifted with brain power�, but his success lay in his ability to speak to the viewer in simple, colloquial English.
Dibnah, who had six children, was with his family when he died at a hospice in Bolton, the town where he was born and had always lived.
Catherine Hall, 27, production manager on Dibnah’s last series, said: “He was a great bloke and a unique character. He will be sorely missed
Richard Klein, who executive produced Dibnah’s last two series, said: “More than anyone, Fred helped to bring our engineering history alive — making us aware that steam and coal were two of the main locomotives that made Britain great.�

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

Now there was a great character, a sad loss indeed.

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

His best line..."it's goin'...it's goin"

A legend!

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

As a former steeplejack in and around Manchester I met Fred Dibnah on many occasions.

He was in my opinion a male chauvanist prick and just a general dirtbag.

On a professional level he set the industry back to the 1800's. He blatant disregard for HSE and COSHH regulations were staggering and he was thrown out of the Master Steeplejack and Lightning Conductor Engineers Federation a long time ago for continuing to to bring the industry into disrepute.

The fact that whenever I told anyone what I did for a living they would always reply something like "oooh like Fred Dibnah" would probably be the single most worst thing anyone could ever say to me.

On his shows, when did anyone ever see him with
1) steel toecap boots
2) hard hat
3) safety harness

I'll grant about never.

The only reason he got work is for publicity reasons. More often than not our company had been called in to sort out the mess he left behind once the BBC camera's cleared off.

He was eventually censored with a permanent cease and desist order from HSE for trying to demolish a chimney in Southend that he had planned to set fire to the base (like he did with all his brick chimney demolitions) However the one in Southend was concrete which acts differently to refractory brickwork and the chimney fell down in the middle of the night.

He was a disgrace. both professionally and in person.
I am sorry but I refuse to mourn his passing.

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

Bollox to Dibnah, Howard Keel's dead mun, now well have never ending repeats of ****** okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkklahommmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa la lal la la shite.

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

LOL. As I read the first line I was expecting you to wax all lyrical about those halcyon days spent on high with old Fred, but things took another turn . .

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

LOL! I just looked at the BBC website and they've got a whole page up about Fred Dibnah's grand tour of the UK industrial sites which is now running as a TV series:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/dibnah/

The weird thing is, I would love to see the series....I remember studying about the Industrial Revolution for my 'O' Level in Economic and Social History ...one of the best school trips we went on was going to Shropshire for the day to see the Ironbridge over the River Severn and nearby museums at Coalbrookdale. (I still remember listening to 10cc on the coach....happy days...)

I took my dad there just before he died and he thought it was wonderful seeing the artisans at work all dressed in 18th century costumes.

(Hey, where is Manc these days? And Chopper Chris - I think last heard of going for a job as a copter pilot in Indiana?)

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

You didn't like him then?

Re: Fred Dibnah Dead
 

Surely most people mourn his passing because of his nack for comedy ?

I hope people are more charitable about your faults when they write your own obituary.