Anyone with more than a passing interest in classic engineering should pause
for a moment to mark the passing of Fred Dibhah, steeplejack. Fred was a
real old character (who probably wouldn't thank you for saying that) who
grew up in Bolton, Lancashire as the glories of steam-powered engineering
were dying, initially repairing cotton mill chimneys and then demolishing
them by the old-fashioned method of fire rather than explosives. The BBC
produced several programs on his working life on chimneys and church
steeples and his pastimes of restoring steam road rollers and traction
engines (he didn't care much for 'infernal' combustion) and building a
steam-powered workshop in his back-yard capable of some quite heavy
engineering. He went on to present several programs on industrial machinery
and architecture of times past. He was that rare breed, a presenter who
knew what he was talking about, and could demonstrate many of the old
techniques with his own hands. One of the most recent showed Fred and his
mates building a pit in his back-yard with working shaft and head-gear to
bring loaded wagons up and a railway to carry the wagons down a bank and
through a tunnel back to the bottom of the shaft again.
"Did you like that?" Yes, Fred, we did.
Biography - http://www.fred-dibnah.co.uk/biog.htm
Info on Fred's engineering activities -
http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/fred/default.asp
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