@@TheOriginal_BigMacDid you not hear the part where they called the police on Jerry in the clip? That Fred was angry that Jerry was not trained and it would be him that had to rescue Jerry? He was just as unwelcome climbing the ladder on safety grounds then as he would be today.
Google Dixon Chimney, Carlisle, man dies. They left a guy stuck up there to die whilst they tried to decide how to get him down 'safely'. @@TheOriginal_BigMac
i didnt known him until the late 1990's@@OlafProt, but I do think he treated his first wife bloody rough. I got the impression when Sue left him she still cared greatly for him. I'm afraid me and Sheila never did see eye to eye, and after his death she said some hurtful and offensive things, which now would be covered by The Equality Act 2010, but this was previous to then. I guess some of my ex's might say I'm just as bad, my ex partners have all got fed up with my love of steam engines and vintage machine and not being very domesticated. I was once asked about my past relationships, and I replied, 'most of my ex girlfriends all complained "You love that bloody engine more than you love me" and you know what, they was dead right! their long gone, but my engine is still here and going strong' lol.
@@OlafProtI wouldnt want to be married to me lol. I'm a country boy, I cant stand being in a big town or city, yet I've made engineering my lifes work, I don't like what happened in the 1980's to industry, but I dont think its fair to lay the blame completely at Maggies government. I blame several things, one of which was signed off by my political hero. In return for help from the Yanks in the early 1940's, churchill was forced to open up commonwealth markets to American trade, which undercut our british goods, and destroyed our export trade with the commonwealth (further compounded by Heath, Thatcher, Major and Blair all turning away from our commonwealth partners). I hold the Labour government of 1945 to 1950 who nationalised everything allowing the civil service and governments to mismanage our industry accountable, I blame the militant, over politicalized and greedy labour unions of the 70's and 80's, whos constant strikes helped to destroy manufacturing, in particular the evil slimy and uncaring Scargill. To me Ted Heath was even worse than the socialist government of the 1940's, signing us up to the EEC, destroying barriers that protected UK manufacturing against cheaper imports, which was made worse by Major, and Blair taking us even deeper into the EU. Since our joining of the EEC it hasn't just been industry that has suffered, its been our home grown agriculture, and until we are prepared to support homegrown goods and pay a premium for imported goods, it will only get worse. I get very depressed when I look at what we have lost, not only industry, but the building on our green and beautiful country side, our once comprehensive rail network, and the loss of rural life that I was able to catch the end of. There was one major difference between me and Fred (besides the fact I'm scared of heights lol), fred saw no beauty in fields and trees. To me they are natural works of art and are glorious beautiful things, that the current administration seams to want to build houses all over to house our artificially inflated population. My late grandad always said I was born 50 years too late. I think he was right, but had I been born 150 years before and had some financial backing, who knows, I might have been mentioned in the same sentence as Fowlers of Leeds, Marshalls of Gainsburough and Burrells of Theford lol
I love that Fred called a meeting with the local authorities, a decision was made to break for dinner and the guy from the animal sanctuary just took it upon himself to climb up after the cat, none of this would happen today.
The animal sanctuary guy must be so strong to cary such a big cat and 2 steel balls down. Fred is used to the highs but the guts of that animal sanctuary guy! Respect
None of them are asking how it got up there? Did it climb up the ladder or use the rope? I'm guessing it went up the ladder rung by rung but couldn't figure out how to climb down again. Or knowing cats, he probably could have climbed down and just wanted attention.
Apparently it Sat originally on the 3rd ladder up (each one of Fred's ladders were 12 foot long). As Fred went up to get the cat, the cat climbed further up to get away from him. Fred tried climbing up the ladder on the other side to throw bits of soot and loose motar to scare the cat back down, but the cat couldn't work out how to go back down and climbed further up. By the time Fred had got back down it had got onto the staging he had started erecting nearby he top. After a quick pint or 6 to discuss the "Modus operandi" they returned with the RSPCA (who refused to go up the chimney) so a cat basket with some cat food on was left attached to the ladder hoping the cat would climb in. Upon return next morning, the can was walking around the very top of the chimney.
@Eddie-Spaghetti I'm from the immediate area as well, and I think otherwise. My family has been in the area for generations, and I have relatives with older and thicker dialects than Fred. I understand what he's saying without even stopping to think about it.
Unfortunately for the cat, climbing up a ladder is easy. Coming down a ladder is impossible. A cow can climb stairs, but because of the configuration if its front legs, it cannot descend stairs.
This was more complex than reported. Having grabbed the cat the bloke froze at one point and had to be talked down by Dibnah. A double rescue. Yes, he did say cnut, and the BBC didn't catch it before it went to air. You have to be a cat to do summat stupid like that. People rip up their whole floor to get a cat out, when all you have to do is remove one floorboard, leave the light on, put a bowl of food by the hole, then go up the pub.
@@andywatts8654 it's very true, and you can see in the film that Fred had to go up to the cat basket because "jerry" can't move. The story has been well documented in several places. As soon as Jerry was back on the ground, the police arrested him before the news people could interview him. As for Fred couldn't be arsed, he had already been up there to try and get the cat down and it kept going further away from him. These events are also well documented be the BBC. Personally I'd had got people with blankets around the chimney and kicked it off and prayed it was court in one of the blankets.
i suspect the constant smoking aged him a lot. But some people always had older faces, we was watching the Titfield thunderbolt on sunday, and it was commented that Sid james was years older than his love interest Joan played by Gabrielle Brune. In fact Brune was almost a year older than Sid, who was 39 years old when the film was being filmed despite looking about 60.
Oh man. Getting a cat in one of those boxes is hard at the best of times. These two strangers doing it above and below one another on the same ladder far up in the air with a scared cat who also considers them "strangers" is quite the feat! 😮🎉
yes, but he must have also been one of the few people who said "bloody" as frequently as that and got away with it. The BBC were very tight lipped when you thing about it back then. Dave Allen got the sack for the F bomb that was frequently on channel 4 at the time, and that was several years later.
@andywatts8654 not that decent, Fred had to go up and rescue both the jerry and the cat, when the silly man got scared and froze. Fred had to coach him all the way down. The story is well counted by verious publications
Life really was different in the 80's wasn't it! That man must REALLY love cats because no way in hell would I climb up a 160ft chimney unharnessed like that! But maybe in the 80s people still did that sort of thing and it was just normal...? haha
I just found out about Fred Dibnah. The guy was...like a real life movie character. Kind of what I always envisioned Theodore Roosevelt to have been like. But I think Fred had more bravery yet. Probably one of the bravest souls to ever live. What a gem of a man he is to represent his nation.
Who would have thought a Jerry would rescue a cat😆 but good old Jerry for being brave enough and going up the chimney to save Tom, obviously when watching the Tom and Jerry cartoons back in the day he never took side's..😂
What baffles me that cat's can climb ladders it's understandable for a tall tree but a bricked up chimney so high . The one look at a cat it's a mouser ha ha .
he was arrested back then. According to Fred's version of the story, the moment his feet touched the ground, the police whisked him away before the press could interview him.
In just 4 years Fred Dibnah visibly aged I saw the other video where Fred Dibnah was steeple jacking it must be the smoking and harsh conditions of his work