Documentary series on steeplejack, engineer and Victorian styled legend Fred Dibnah. This 1996 series is edited from several previous documentaries. This version is in the original 4x3 aspect ratio.
Folks almost always think that society has gone soft when they get older. We've been doing it since the beginning of time. You can find old texts from ancient Greece writing complaints about the youths and society of that day.
Fred was almost won over till his shop keeper mate mentioned she was into dancing then the colour drained from Fred's face 😂 He was having none of that old caper 😂😂
It's all Bullsh1t on the tv these days. There's nothing worth watching. And if there is something interesting, it is all camera shaking, shifting focus every second, fast paced, incoherent and impossible to watch.
@@123TauruZ321 There has to be a cut every roughly 2 seconds or today's average person with a roughly 2.4 second attention span loses interest and changes the channel.
@@conspiracyscholor7866 Well, you see, that is exactly why i think people, or the youth, get worse attention spans today. Becuase of the media bs. That's why i tell everyone i know, including youths, to be very very critical of what kind of shows they watch on tv. It is actively destructive to their psychological health. And personally, i think it is done with the consent of the government, in order to keep people unintelligent and not thinking about things. You know, we are not supposed to become wise and reflective individuals, just worker bees and drones generating tax income. So it is extremely important to be careful what one feeds one's mind with.
The TV crew back then seemed to have camera gear which would make the gadgets the average youtube vlogger has (vloggers are annoying) look outdated. Things like GoPro cameras aren't new just that they've been made available for the consumer and are smaller. There's an episode from 1994 where he goes to a catherdral in Cambridge, and at one point there's a pan shot from half way up the tower, and this wasn't filmed by Fred. It's as if one of the crew went up there with a camera and took a pan shot, how they got a TV camera up there I don't know, unless it a specialised camera. If Fred was alive now and still pulling down chimneys, youtube would be full of videos from wannabe vloggers trying to get their 15 mins of fame and subscribers, someone will have filmed it with a drone, but back then I don't think anyone even bothered to film it on their camcorder.
Such a funny character, he probably would have been better off single as his first love was steam engines, very much just a boy all his days, and it's clear he meant no harm RIP Fred
@@BeKindToBirds I think in a few years people won't have a choice. They'll have to develop a Victorian work ethic to survive so probably be a lot more people like Fred in the future.
I’ve got 3 signed copies of Steeplejack by Fred Dibnah, inherited from my dad who was a royal engineer who then became a 3rd watch keeper in the merchant navy. Never stopped watching Fred’s shows back in the day, brings back a lot of memories. Back when men were men and work ethic was everything. 🙏🏻
“Back when work ethic was everything” Men back then grafted their whole lives for companies, only to get fuck all in return. Shit pay, alcoholism to cope with the stress, fucked knees and a fucked back. They rarely lived past 65 and, if they did, their bodies would be too weak to enjoy retirement. My Grandad ended up down that route and my Dad’s on the same path, I’ll never make the same mistake as them.
One of the worlds great working class heroes and I can’t help but thinking that some of Fred’s past female influences only were really interested in him because of his TV fame, because after all Fred was very happy on his own and didn’t need any distractions from his happier working life.
Fred is an absolute Chad, his 3rd and final wife was a very attractive younger lady. Kudos to him for living life as he saw fit, paying tribute to our industrial past and the toiling men and women who made it all possible. RIP Fred Dibnah.
@@mariusjns that;s simply untrue, the factories were full of women in the late 19th centuy - many factory floors were staffed solely by women, particularly in textiles in the north, and places like bryant and may in london.
I think if you walked about Bolton today and asked the average (mostly ethnic minority community) about Fred Dibnah I don't think anyone would know who he was.
His mindset would not let him embrace the moderen world completely. It was uncomfortable for him at time's living in this century. He had a magic back yard that brought him home, back to the magic time of steam Fred's time, oul Victoria days. Right said Fred ☘️👊
Thanks for unloading! He was a man out of time twice removed. I don’t think he was the best husband or father but who the hell is. He made his living and they had enough. I feel very sorry and I did not know this part of his life. He was not a cheater or a sleaze, he just loved his job and his interests. And he did right by Alison and his kids.
An absolute one of a kind, although when he was bringing the building down all I could think about were all the kids helping and everyone hanging around as it was on fire, I was scared for him! Simpler times!
Very ironic Fred dropped Dart Mill Tower he’d actually demolished Dart Mill Chimney in 1971. Incidentally this mill was only round the corner from where he lived up by Tonge Moor and where he’s also buried RIP ❤️
I don't remember seeing a series called The Fred Dibnah Story. I've got Life with Fred and A Year with Fred, but this series I do recall ever watching for some reason.
@@paulduckworth316 The Life with Fred and A Year with Fred series are uploaded to my channel, they are in two parts though as I can't upload more than 15 minutes.
I watch these and enjoy every minute, can’t wait to hear the next sentence. Then I go watch some yt shorts and see people throwing balls into cups and doing dance routines n I think, when did people become so boring.
Every time, without fail... when I watch Fred Dibnah I get the same feeling. . . I'm a lazy pos haha. I work 6 days a week but I have free time I do nothing with. Well , next to nothing. I would love to be this disciplined and motivated one day.
@@nathanarievlis3985 I really get what you mean, but have found that a lack of what else to do can start an interest like that, and once youre properly 'in', you're hooked. Alot of these people back in the day had no screens to disctract themselves with, so it's either sit and watch the birds or get on with something! There wasn't so much pressure on people to always be busy back then, so pottering around the shed every evening was more acceptable to the mind. I think nowadays there's always the pressure of doing something more 'productive', because it's all so available (even if it's just watching masses of 2 minute youtube videos, to the brain that feels more productive). It took even a man like Fred years and years to restore his steam roller and traction engine. I think it's just getting out there and doing it bit by bit, whatever your hobby when you have the spare energy, and trying to cut out excess stimulation.
Brilliant! Can you imagine getting the local tidy piece to light a fire under a dangerous structure because it’s lucky to have a nice bird do it! 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂and kids riding round site on bmxs! 😂😂😂😂😂😂
i know those log's was not going to and and everything was safe (ish) in that moment but my heart sank every time he hit them and then to set my anxiety off even more he just starts smacking the bricks , what a legend
All the kids helping out to put tyres under the building that's supported on timber props. Can you imagine that happening today? Fred wouldn't be in business due to all the redtape and induction bullshit.
It's incredibly sad when you think about it. Ppl look at it and just see the potential for disaster. . . That's all they see and ignore the fact that 0 ppl were injured by his hands over the years and chimneys.
Fred was already in business working with red tape mate. Remember him going on about insurance? Do you think he couldn't figure it out and still do his job? He'd be the same man if he had to wear a harness, I'm sure he would have taken in stride and with no more complaint than he took anything else he had to do.
Health and safety has become a control tool in many ways, it's not about safety otherwise you wouldn't be seeing really extreme and over the top examples of it everywhere you go to the point where it feels like you're in a Monty Python sketch or something.
@@Embracing01 You see over the top examples because someone died or got injured and sued. Lawsuit protection is the #1 reason. Getting sued costs a lot even if you win.
He talks about how he thinks it's sad to see the dynamite men demolishing old structures without much effort, all that hard work just blown to bits. And he says his method of having to smash out the bricks at the bottom of the structure is a more fitting demise for these old buildings that took a lot of work to put up, because, "it hasn't gone down too easy" I think its in the second episode where they're dropping the smokestack.
H&S isn't what it was........Can't get the wife to burn the tyres and the local kids to help dump the tyres............a little black smoke later.and running like hell for your life is just another day.
@16:30 is that what happens to all adults? They end up thinking that the old days were better? Coz I’m 30 now and look back to my younger days as being better than now
There’s graffiti somewhere from Greece or whatever 1000s of years ago that says the youth of today aren’t like my days. I think it’s symptomatic of getting older. I work with teenagers and I know they are mostly caring and kind young adults. And we have nothing to worry about. It’s the continued curse of teens vs adults. We both think we know better. They need guidance and advice but also need to make their own choices. Peace out!
@@greenkostia Kids back in ancient Greece weren't staring at screens all day. Yeah, kids always tend to have a bit of disrespect but that grows out as they age, well it used to at least.
@@Gramscifreedom Here's a difference between 7 year olds throwing manure at Xyphonus' barn then getting beat half to death and the assclown jackasses that are coming of age today. I'm 25 and can't find a soul my age with any wits about him to hire. Some are *almost* there... Even the older folks are getting dumber.
When he said about equal rights and said you wouldn’t get woman down the pit or up a chimney. This is the argument now isn’t it, woman want equality and equal pay but only in jobs where it’s not hard labour or you get your hands dirty. As much as Fred was old fashioned, he was also ahead of his time
