Fred Dibnah 'Laddering a chimney' revisited Ena Mill, Atherton 

And he never fell off, nerves of steel that man

Fred once said " I aint gonna fall off, I'm gonna die in bed with me boots on".

Hi Barry, I think that the chimney you are referring to is 'India Mill' chimney in Darwen, Lancashire which is one I am hoping to do a similar video on to this in the future and yes he literally defies gravity as he scrambles over the overhangs up to the top. You also have to remember that he would have had to slowly ladder the chimney first before any work could be carried out all of which he did without any safety harness or rope to save him if he slipped. Glad that you enjoyed the video and found my accent easy enough to understand, I just wish that the folks in Florida also could when I go and vacation there! Lol. Anyway many thanks for commenting and all the best. 👍

Yep, but he never got to fell the chimney at the Laburnum, did he? Some cheeky chappies got there first ….

Hi Procta, this is one of the few former spinning mill chimneys that Fred was shown working on in the documentaries from the 80's and early 90's that is still in good condition today. Unfortunately many of the chimneys that Fred had worked on during this era that are still standing have had little to no maintenance done on them since and it shows. I very much doubt that Fred would be a fan of the modern way or the current restrictive culture of 'Elf & Safety' which can be seen in his demeanor during the footage of his last chimney drop when he appeared in a hi viz jacket and telling people to stand back whilst looking thoroughly miserable compared to the footage of him running away from a collapsing chimney only to emerge from a cloud of dust with a childlike "Did yer like that?" at the beginning of each episode from the early documentaries.

Hi Duncan, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍 AFAIK due to the Cottonfields development nothing now remains of the old Stotherts/Barrs factory site although locals may know of some small areas that have managed to escape being redeveloped and are now hidden behind modern fences etc. Both Ena Mill and it's iconic chimney are in excellent condition thanks to the massive investment of it's current owners and I was really impressed by their commitment to preserving the heritage of the site, as I was by them acknowledging Fred's work on the chimney with the plaque as no other site where Fred has done work on that I have visited has done this.

Hi Carl. and glad to hear that you enjoyed the video. 👍 Thanks to the owners of Ena Mill trying their best to keep the mill as original as possible it was fairly easy to match up the then and now shots of Fred working on the chimney although it is sad that his cement date 'tags' bearing his ornate initials and the years he had worked on the chimney have weathered away to almost nothing. That said an enjoyable visit and brought back some memories of being taken there on a school trip when it was still an active spinning mill.

Hi Trucker 57, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍 Although I didn't mention it in the video both the mill and chimney are Grade II listed so fair play to the owners for taking the responsibility on and digging deep into their pockets to keep it as original as possible. BTW is Coppull Ring Mill the one where when they was dropping the chimney it fell the wrong way and ended up filling in a nearby lodge or is that just an urban myth?

Hi Gr8thxAlot, glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍 Yeah the current owners have gone above and beyond to both respect and preserve the heritage of Ena Mill and it is good to see that it hasn't suffered the same fate of neglect that many former Lancashire cotton mills suffered after closing and becoming multi use industrial estates..

Hi Lorenzo, and glad that you enjoyed the video. 👍

Hi Richard and glad that you enjoyed watching this video revisiting one of Fred's old jobs. 👍 Yes I am hoping to do some more Fred related videos in the future and hope to have another one coming up soon fingers crossed. Also I try to identify the locations of Fred's jobs that haven't already been done to death on RU-vid but this obviously takes time to research and then go out and video, especially the locations where Fred had to travel far away from his native Bolton. Anyway glad that you enjoyed the video once again and all the best.

@MrHsHotPot you do a excellent job at what you do and I'm sure everyone including myself will be looking forward too the next one. Fred was a legend and is sadly missed by many.

Hi Michael, Fred left most of them on his final job at the Church of St Walburge in Preston, still laddered to the steeple which he had been commissioned to repair but had taken a break from to do some filming work. Sadly it was during this filming work that Fred's health began to deteriorate and he was unable to return to complete the work at St Walburge's so he decided to donate his ladders to the Steeplejack who then took over the job from him as he probably knew deep down that he would never use them again. The others remained in the sheds at his former home in Haulgh, Bolton which later became the 'Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre' until it closed in 2017 and all of Fred's remaining tools including what remained of his ladders along with other items such as Fred's clothes etc. were controversially auctioned off by the owner in an attempt to recoup some of the money that he had sunk into the Heritage Centre since it had opened in 2010.

Started work there in 1976, it was still a textile mill then. Chimney is very tall but is in a dip so appears smaller.

Hi Matt, and apologies for the late reply. No, sadly I didn't take a diversion to Whittakers for one of their excellent pies and just made do with the Tunnocks Tea Cake and can of Barr;s Cola at the end of the video. Probably should have done though given how close I was! 😉