I was very fortunate back in 2001 that a mutual friend took me to his home to visit Fred. He was in real life as he was in these films, totally dedicated to his love of steam engines and what doesn't come across much in these films, every bit of machinery at the back of his house was steam driven. Even when we tried to leave for the day, he insisted that he wanted to take us up into his attic to show us even more 'stuff' he had acquired over the years. He genuinely didn't want us to go without showing us everything. He truly was a wonderful man.
that's amazing, very fortunate indeed. i miss fred's shows on tv so much and you made me smile knowing he was as you see him. straight down the line kind of bloke. i would have loved so much to indulge him and get to see everything he's built or acquired. such a true gent and one of the last of his kind.
Although I lament much manufacturing that has left the UK, steam was massively inefficient from a cost, time and energy perspective; its days were always numbered. Some train lines have been electrified since the late 1800s
Only 70 throusand views! People should stop watching Love island and watch and learn from the generation of men who graffed to make our lives so easy today!
I'd been watching Fred since the early 90s. I been watching these videos before I go to bed. Its nearly 1am and I'm still up watching them. Fred you legend 🇬🇧
As a yank who adores confidence and competence, Fred is a treasure to respect and remember. Clever, afraid of nothing and almost freakishly strong, he’s a complete original.
I was just thinking of the immense grip strength the guy must have had, those ladders he uses are wooden, must weigh a ton unlike modern Aluminium alloy.
@@jk28416 , exactly! Grip strength, and core torso strength. My dad was a carpenter. After 40 years of banging nails with a heavy framing hammer, his grip was freakish, a strength that only science fiction could try to explain. Same with Fred. In the civilized world today, will probably never see this kind of strength again.
Great footage! If this was filmed this today we’d never see the chimney fall in one continuous shot - the footage would be cut over and over again with 5 advert breaks and 5 minutes of recapping after each break.
Watching this is like a totally different world to the one we have today,...proper down to earth hardworking folk enjoying the very basics of life and their own company,...when society has proper characters, and at a time when wealth and material things weren't the most important things in life....simpler times, when people made time for each other......great memories
Very true words...it's not a rose tinted memory? I remember it the same.. just something about that generation above us,well and their parents..reminded u of proper bygone days..the clothes..they hard work ethic..the lack of luxury yet content with what they had..even tho it would ice up on INSIDE of window when winter and BEFORE DUVETS existed.
It is insurance companies as much as anything driving this. We can't hire out mowers and strimmers on our allotment anymore because that would require the relevant health and safety training.
Well its like chainsaws I don't know if it is still the case I expect it will be hire shops have to send them out with a brand new chain and safety kit and no training but a new chain or old you can still do some damage with a chainsaw that regs what seem so backwards and ludacris to me
My Dad was a steam enthusiast we may have been at this show. Fred and dad engineers Clever honest and enjoyed a pint. I only discovered Fred a week ago .I have watched every episode. It’s a great way to relax and slow life down. Happy therapy session for me 🙏🏻🦅🧘♂️
Mate I’m Hungarian and I’m sat here smiling like an idiot watching Freds story. He’s was a pure soul and lived for his his craft and his steam engines. Lancashire misses him and so the does the world.
paul davies I was too young to learn any useful skills but I was old enough to enjoy the freedom of playing on building sites where all the houses in my area were being modernised, mine was the only house with anyone living in it.
Being a Lancashire lad of that era I can still fell a chimney with accuracy of Fred learnt from him. My mum knew him well as she had a nursing home near to Fred’s house . A real bloke a grafter and honest as the day he was born . He enjoyed a simple life without fuss & complication
@@willmoore3790 I doubt it. I really don't think kids are that bad. I think people are watching too much BBC news and crime dramas. Yeah maybe they would give him the finger in a sly way but they wouldn't stab him.
@@Embracing01 the most murdervases, child molester and violence to old peoples, happening in the own family, was in the 50s, today is the same, those dramatization today, is just hypocrite
His tutorials from the 80's have 2m+ views. For a guy like this to get recognition like that in today's world speaks volumes. Sometimes hero's go unsung. This man was definitely a working class hero who helped us not forget about the times back then. Rest in Heaven big man.
I believe she found a slick while on that holiday, she went without Fred for a reason. Went through a similar betrayal myself some 30 years back. When they want out, they will find an excuse.@@jk28416
I was an 80s kid and thats so true. Post modernist and marxist ideologies have slithered in to the education systems now and ruined the very foundations of our once great societies. Today kids carry knifes, no respect for life or themselves. look up Jordan Peterson on his view points on some of our societal issues, certainly thought provoking.
I feel so proud knowing there was gentleman like Fred to show the true identity of our nation someone who grafted in extreme conditions but showed no fear but a real enthusiasm for life and done his best by his family this was the British man's culture and let's not forget his wife's support of his love for steam engines looking after the children and making sure he has everything a wonderful women and a wonderful family
You probably have yet to watch the episode where his wife goes on holiday to Greece only with the kids and comes back and asks Fred of a divorce. So maybe not as idyllic after all.
What ever happened to this country. I loved the fact that a man in a non authority position asks a bunch of teenagers to move away to a position of safety. Not a peep from them and off they trot, even one of them waves back, possibly Fred's son. Imagine what abuse he'd get today. This video is absolute Gold. Bring back so many fond memories of the late 70's/80's before the pc brigade moved in. Fred an absolute legend.
My exact thoughts too when I saw that. It was a time when kids had respect and made sense of what they’re being told, rather than the “you can’t tell me what to do attitude”. ….And they would of received a “clip around the ear” from Fred, the police and parents if they did back chat. 😂
Fred could talk to anyone. I wish I could have had the chance to have met such an interesting character as Fred. A true legend in every sense of the word.
So many million people are sick from the hard work in the past or died lonely but nobody cares, those romanticitation are a little bit hipocritical. no hate
We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self-control
Absolutely brilliant videos of Fred Dibnah and his amazing skills as a steeplejack and engineering . There's a lot to be learnt from Fred and his enthusiasm for steam engines
Been to his house. Not many people had a mine shaft in their back garden or secret rooms in their house. But just imagine the lovely trips he had taking his engine the length and breadth of Britain. A real throwback, and a national treasure., liked what he liked and did what he did. A life well lived.
Love watching Fred at work but this isn't just an insight into how things were done 60 years ago. This is exactly the same method used to bring down the great fortified castle ramparts 1000's of years ago.History at work, Cheers Fred
Im 43 now, and I remember sitting down with my ol man watching Fred climbing stacks and driving steam engines when I was a kid. I miss Fred, And the part of our heritage that seems to have vacated around the same time that Fred decided to leave us. We knew better then, because we dealt with far more harsh situations daily. Idle hands are the devils playground.
People even talked differently. They were more laid back, slower and quieter in their conversation. When that chimney came down the bricks ended up about six feet from the spectators......great days....everything was alive and fun and exciting. We'll never see the like again.
Hard times make strong men Strong men makes easy times Easy times make weak men ... unfortunately we are at the weak men stage which will bring hard times
Fantastic! I thoroughly enjoyed watching this documentary series, and wholeheartedly respect this humble man.I particularly admired how he can tell a story, for example: When he speaks of being afraid that the rear of his home was going to topple over and he is startled by a loud bang one night and thinks it toppled. To his surprise though it was a gas explosion, and his unfortunate but also lucky wife appears minus eyebrows and , a hole burnt in the front of her clothing,( could have been killed)...O.M.G. I hope his memory is kept alive. Thoughts and prayers for Fred and family from Canada. God bless you Fred and may you R.I.P.
I feel I have to mention that all this footage was created before drone shots and smartphones. What a treasure he and this film is. I really enjoyed watching.
I truly admire this man if only I were born a generation sooner I'd travel across the Atlantic and shake Fred's hand myself. One in a million he was. That's for sure.
I spent a good hour plus with Fred having a one to one chat with him. Saw his Land Rover outside and invited him in for a brew. We discussed architecture, machinery, land rovers & motorbikes. Got a brilliant sketch off him and the most impressive hand written message & signature full of fancy Scrolls. Had all the time in the world to chat and as mentioned previously, what you saw on TV was what you got in real life. True gent & down to earth top bloke!👍
Yes Fred WAS exactly what you saw on tv, down to earth, interesting to speak to and a Gentleman who was seen as a soft touch by a Posse of females who saw him as a gateway to a Easy life.
I have an uncle of the same breed as Fred. I was allowed to sit quietly out of the way and watch him work. If you gave him enough steel, time and rivets he could have built an ocean liner. He's why I'm an engineer today. Engineering is all computers and dodging liability these days of course but I still like to turn a wrench every now and then in tribute.
I remember the coal man delivering coal to the house like this when I was a kid. (2:55) , also see the couple eating fish and chips out of 't paper while watchin 'tchimney coming down, ee!
No way! 4:40 a steam engine with Yeovil Somerset written down the side of it. Im sat here in 2024 watching this in Yeovil and i didnt expect that! Times have changed so much watching this, sometimes i wonder if this was a better time.
Lots of comments on here about how people missed these times. It's sickening how bad things have got today. Fred is to chimneys what RU-vid is to Fred. Heartfelt emotions about destruction of the past.
Thanks for that top totter ... I still miss Fred and always will,I think.The camera gets as close to the action as is possible.The youngsters are loving it all and there's even a Raleigh chopper and dog along for the fun..brilliant!
I met Fred just before he died, he gave me a signed copy of a flyer from his tour of Britain. He shook my hand and said: Right lad, go and take that to a chemist and get yourself some bloody proper stuff.
tedibair Adults today seem to take advice off their kids..... the kids rule their parents. There’s no barriers to what they want to do.... no barriers.... little respect Meanwhile mom is messing about on Facebook..... kids are up-to whatever Dad is playing at house hubby
@@kw9849 i don't think you can categorize kids today all in the same way. There's still people and families who kept and instilled old ways and morals, alot of it is to do with wars and poverty and the government fucking everyone over in the past.
I was born in 2002 and only got introduced to Fred a matter of months ago. Always been taught to graft all me life and can honesty this man is my hero😂 if only Britain could go back to what it was like in the 70’s and early 80’s
The knowledge Fred has I bet was second to none. Bet if he marked an X with chalk he could have dropped the chimney right on it. Good times gone. Give me a day watching Fred do his stuff than a day on the Internet.
I'm 47 from America and I want the world to know about Fred When men were made of iron I don't care what anyone says "They do not make men like this anymore" at least in America lol 😆 Fred you are so inspiring to me God bless Fred and his family
The stained hands of a working man.I fought to keep my hands looking clean for many years.now at 46 I look at my stained beat up hands and see the house cars and all the things they have provided for my family. I would not trade them for soft clean hands
All the kids back then had little or nothing, but their all respectful, & well behaved. Not all running around with knives stabbing each other like some of them today. It seems the more people have, the worse they seem to become.
Was hopeless at mechanical stuff Hated metal work steam etc But Fred got me hooked on his programmes 4ever now Was heartbroke when he died And his house should've been made into a working museum and shop Not sold off cheap to just any old bod who had no soul for the amazing adventures Fred left behind We love and miss you Fred you were a one off never forgotten 🍀🌄🚜
fred offers that they should probably had best move to the telegraph poles on the far horizon. then suggests they move to the blue car 'till the fire starts'. smart man 😊 smart kids.
Belter of a series, thanks for sharing. Fred was a fine example of what made Great Britain, Great! H&S has indeed changed our lives, quite literally. But there’s still many who’ll happily take the half day with an undertaker challenge, and lose.
The time of people connecting not over the phone but eye to eye. In our house my wife and I talk a lot about the good old days of being together in person and enjoying peoples company
At (17.00) you can see a master of diplomacy, care and common-sense. He knows how to approach his audience. He doesn't tell them. He persuasively invites them. Brilliant! Imagine any of our 'leaders' today trying to work such magic.
Fred is a legend ! Can you imagine him amongst today's youth, who are offended by anything and everything, can't decide if they're male or female or if they identify as an ironing board !
Lab rat: I'm sure today's youth would certainly respect him but many would not agree with his political views or idea of married life. Fred was a very good worker and a good person. His views on things were often dated - even back then. That's not his fault as such, but it shows that most of us have moved on from always expecting our wife/ girlfriend to cook for us and stay at home etc etc.
This era is quite a few years before my time, though I find myself getting completely absorbed into these films and ones like them every now and then just to break away from the world we live in today.
