Through compelling features and never before seen photographs this magbook looks back at Fred’s fascinating early life, and celebrates the journey of the humble steeplejack who grew to become the king of his trade.

The publication also includes an audio CD called “Fred Dibnah Live” with recordings from his live tours including:

1. The Early Days  (11mins)
2. T.V. Times (8mins)
3. Canvey Island Disaster (17mins)
4. Heavens Above (6mins)
5. Tristain’s Tale (2mins)
6. Car Spotting (2mins)
7. Ashes to Ashes (5mins)
8. Nine Lives (11mins)
9. Donald at the Bottom (7mins)
10. One in Four (3mins)

More details from the book’s press release:

Paul Donoghue has spent the last 6 months secretly working on the Fred Dibnah book from his office suite in the newly refurbished Station Business Centre on Station Road, Clowne.

Paul worked with Fred Dibnah in the early 1990’s, and following Fred’s second television series was responsible for Fred’s very first commercial video release. I saw, filmed and photographed it all said Paul, from chimney demolitions, placing weather vanes on the tops of church spires, and all the activities with Fred’s traction engines at his amazing steam powered yard in Bolton.

“I feel honoured to have known and worked with Fred Dibnah said Paul, he was such a unique character. The thing with Fred was that he was the real deal, no airs and graces, what you saw on television was exactly what you got in real life. My greatest memory of Fred was when I was filming him laddering (and inspecting) a huge chimney on the outskirts of Bolton, when Fred eventually reached the top, which incidentally was 180ft tall, he simply climbed off the ladder and then started to walk around the chimney rim with no safety rails or anything to hold on to. As I looked up I will never forget Fred standing there looking down at me with his arms folded as though he was waiting for a bus. Amazing said Paul. He shouted down an invitation to join him at the top. Which I politely declined.”

“During my time with Fred Dibnah we both decided to write a book together. Fred handed over many 100s of old documents and photographs for the project and we managed complete 6 chapters together. Half way through I received a disappointing phone call from Fred saying he would have to pull out of the book because the BBC were returning to make a new television series about him. He always said that we would complete what we had started, but his fame, television commitments and contracts made it impossible for Fred to finish the work he started with me.”

The new Book-Mag is a continuation of the unfinished work I started with Fred Dibnah all those years ago said Paul. Something had to be done with the Fred Dibnah archive I had amassed. I began by acquiring the rights to all Fred’s early books that were written in his own words back in the early 1980’s and set about compiling a book that would be totally in Fred’s own words, using photographs, rare documents and drawings that nobody had seen or used before. The result has been well worth the effort and I am very proud of what I have achieved, it’s a very funny book, beautifully illustrated throughout, and I am sure that the public will enjoy the opportunity to remember the real Fred Dibnah speaking in his own words. It’s a lovely tribute to a great man.

As an added bonus the Book-Mag comes with a free 80 minute compact disc of Fred Dibnah live on stage. The recording was made at one of the theatre venues where Fred appeared during his sell-out tour of England, the CD is hilarious from beginning to end as Fred tells some very funny stories about his life as a steeplejack.

Details

Hardcover: 132 pages
Publisher: Paul Donoghue, Dennis Publishing Ltd (13 Aug 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1907232001
ISBN-13: 9781907232008

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“Fred Dibnah’s World” celebrates the life and work of Britain’s best known steeplejack and national treasure, Fred Dibnah. Before his death in 2004, Fred presented many popular series, including “Magnificent Monuments”, “The Age of Steam” and “Made in Britain”, all of which attracted viewers in their millions.

“Fred” is the companion to the 12-part “BBC2″ series celebrating the life of this great man, which combines highlights from some of Dibnah’s classic programmes with previously unseen footage. The book can of course go much further than the series, including an extraordinarily account of Fred’s childhood which evokes a lost England and our great industrial heritage.

Fred’s passion for the glories of the Victorian age and his fascination with the landscape he grew up in, plus his admiration for the craftsmen and labourers who made it all possible, captivate us on every page. Fred is the personification of everything that made England great in the first place. And this is a glorious tribute to a man whom millions came to love.

Preview

Details

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Bantam Press (2 Sep 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0593056647
ISBN-13: 9780593056646
Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.8 x 3.6 cm

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“Fred Dibnah’s World” celebrates the life and work of Britain’s best known steeplejack and national treasure, Fred Dibnah. Before his death in 2004, Fred presented many popular series, including “Magnificent Monuments”, “The Age of Steam” and “Made in Britain”, all of which attracted viewers in their millions. “Fred” is the companion to the 12-part “BBC2″ series celebrating the life of this great man, which combines highlights from some of Dibnah’s classic programmes with previously unseen footage. The book can of course go much further than the series, including an extraordinarily account of Fred’s childhood which evokes a lost England and our great industrial heritage. Fred’s passion for the glories of the Victorian age and his fascination with the landscape he grew up in, plus his admiration for the craftsmen and labourers who made it all possible, captivate us on every page. Fred is the personification of everything that made England great in the first place. And this is a glorious tribute to a man whom millions came to love.

Preview

Details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Corgi Books; New Ed edition (1 Mar 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0552154881
ISBN-13: 9780552154888
Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.6 x 3.4 cm

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When Fred Dibnah debuted on television in 1979, British audiences immediately embraced a new cultural icon: a steeplejack from Bolton who fell in love with England’s decaying industrial landscape and an exhaustive storyteller whose charm and wit was matched only by his down-to-earth manner. The Producer of that first film, Don Haworth, would go on to make nineteen films about this unlikely celebrity and true British eccentric.

“Did You Like That?” collects the best stories from these films: colourful tales told by Fred himself, recounting key moments in his life, his experiences as a steeplejack, his fascination with machinery, his work as an engineer, craftsman, artist, inventor and steam enthusiast, and his forthright views on life in general.

Told with true Northern grit, “Did You Like That?” is the story of a man who never shied away from a hair-raising challenge, and the closest thing to Fred’s autobiography we’re likely to get.

This is Fred’s story, in his own words.

Details

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: BBC Books (28 May 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1846076374
ISBN-13: 9781846076374

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Accompanying the television series and DVD, Fred Dibnah tells Britain’s industrial history and picks out the machinery that made history. Traveling throughout Britain, Dibnah describes what life was really like for people in the industrial age and provides a list of industrial heritage sites to visit.

Details

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: BBC Books (11 Feb 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0563384824
ISBN-13: 9780563384823
Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 19 x 2.8 cm

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Rare Book, written based on the BBC film in which Fred first appeared.

Contents

• Early Days
• False Starts
• High Climbs
• Me Marriage
• Odd Jobs
• Chimney Pieces
• Trade Secrets
• Steam Engines
• The Rest of Fred.

Details

Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Line One Pub (3 Dec 1983)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0907036171
ISBN-10: 9780907036173

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Britain’s favorite steeplejack and industrial enthusiastic, the late Fred Dibnah, takes us back to the 18th century when the invention of the steam engine gave an enormous impetus to the development of machinery of all types. He reveals how the steam engine provided the first practical means of generating power from heat to augment the old sources of power (from muscle, wind and water) and provided the main source of power for the Industrial Revolution. In “Fred Dibnah’s Age of Steam Fred: shares his passion for steam and meets some of the characters who devote their lives to finding, preserving and restoring steam locomotives, traction engines and stationary engines, mill workings and pumps. Combined with this will be the stories of central figures of the time, including James Watts – inventor of the steam engine – and Richard Trevithick who played a key role in the expansion of industrial Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Preview ‘Fred Dibnah’s Age of Steam’

Details

Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: BBC Books (6 Jul 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 056349395X
ISBN-13: 9780563493952
Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.2 x 1.6 cm

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Among other things, Fred tells of the trials and tribulations of rebuilding a steam roller in his back garden.

Details

Hardcover: 96 pages
Publisher: Line One (1 Dec 1984)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0907036201
ISBN-13: 9780907036203
Product Dimensions: 24.9 x 19 x 2.8 cm

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The new book and free DVD “Fred Dibnah Memories of a Steeplejack”. This book goes on the shelves of W.H.Smith’s on Friday 5th October, and is predicted to be one of their best sellers this season. Here is your chance to get the bookazine a few days before the official release direct from the producers.

The new bookazine has 22 chapters (8 Chapters by Fred Dibnah) 6 Chapters by Fred’s widow Sheila Dibnah. Stories by (Fred’s pals) Alf Molyneux, Michael Webber, Neil Carney, Paul Donoghue, Alan McEwan, Eddy Chattwood and a poignant Eulogy by Patrick Donoghue. Includes 220 Photographs (Many previously unseen) and 43 fantastic Illustrations.

They made me a Doctor
Fred at Birmingham University collecting his honorary doctorate Fred’s widow Sheila Dibnah, tells the story of a very special day. Includes rare footage of Fred collecting his honorary doctorate and his unique acceptance speech.

Fred Dibnah’s Engines “A moving story”
New film. A very sad day in Bolton. It’s Boxing Day and Fred Dibnah’s treasured traction engines leave their home for the very last time. Experts battle on a cold winter’s day, to remove the engines to a safe location after a tide of thefts from Fred’s estate.

Fred and the night watchman “Putting the world to rights”
Previously unseen footage of Fred and a demolition site night watchman putting the world to rights. This footage is very funny and will bring a smile to your face as you remember the real Fred Dibnah.

Details

Hardcover & DVD: unknown pages
Publisher: Rallyscene (2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: unknown
ISBN-13: 9781427621672

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Mid-Cheshire based heritage transportation specialist photographer and feature writer Keith Langston travelled extensively with Fred Dibnah during the filming of his last TV series, ‘Made in Britain.’ Following Fred’s untimely death, Keith embarked upon the creation of a book, drawing not only on his experiences with the Bolton born steeplejack and TV presenter, but in addition talking to a representative cross section of those persons who numbered themselves amongst Fred’s many friends.

Fred became a high profile media personality and the fame which accompanied that status never affected him, or in any way changed his down to earth demeanour. He will be remembered not only for his many practical achievements, but also for encouraging thousands of others to care about our industrial heritage.

The steam bug infected Fred at a very early age possibly following his illicit visits to his father’s place of work, a bleach factory. Encouraged by one of his ex teachers Fred started what he described as ‘a steeplejack business’.

When he turned to presenting his own programmes his blunt, no nonsense style made a welcome change from the so called television professionals. His genius lay in being able to communicate with the audience in simple, direct, colloquial English.

Details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Wharncliffe Books/Pen & Sword Books Ltd (17 Sep 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1845631153
ISBN-10: 9781845631154

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