‘Mechanics And Riveters’
Fred stops off at Andy Thornton’s, a company that makes ornate carvings, moves on to Worsborough to have a go at making hot forge rivets, then travels down to Derbyshire to visit the Midland Railway Centre.

‘Pattern Making’
Leaving his traction engine to be fixed, Fred visits David Ragsdale, a skilled pattern maker who just happens to own six steam engines. He then meets a man who runs a garden centre and museum via the power of steam, before taking a trip to Ashbourne to visit a clockmaker.

‘Engines At Work’
Fred meets up with a few old friends at the North Staffs and Cheshire Traction Engine Club. He visits a pumping station with a great triple expansion engine, then calls in at the Severn Valley Railway at Bridgenorth before a look round the Black Country Living Museum.

‘Chains And Copper’
Fred is in the Black Country watching the skills of an authentic chain maker, before moving on to Anglesey to visit Parys Mountain, once the largest copper mine in the world. Then he travels further down into Wales, making an overnight stop at Ffestiniog railway.

‘The Engineering Workshop’
Fred and his team are in the mountains of Snowdonia on the final stage of their journey, and must get through Llanberis Pass. At the Welsh Slate Museum, Fred and Alf take a look in the workshop where machinery is driven by a line shaft an eighth of a mile long.

‘A Lifetime’s Achievement’
Fred completes his journey by visiting the Welsh Slate Museum, then the world’s first boat lift in Cheshire before returning home to Bolton. He makes one final trip down to London to collect his MBE for services to Broadcasting and Industrial Heritage from the Queen.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
EAN: 5030305103545
Studio: Contender Entertainment Group
DVD Release Date: 18 Jul 2005
Run Time: 180 minutes

Buy Now

The late Fred Dibnah was a modern renaissance man. For not only did Fred say how something was built in times gone by, he would show the viewer, using exquisite drawings that he had executed himself, models or full-scale replicas, how the techniques had actually been employed by master craftsmen of times gone by.

The three DVD boxed set of Fred Dibnah’s Building of Britain is a fantastic introduction to Fred Dibnah’s world.

He is able to explain and to really demonstrate how things were done in what some people describe as “the olden days.”

Disk One: The Art of Castle Building and Might Cathedrals.

He explains how the castles were designed, how they were constructed, how they were managed and also, using a technique that Fred still used, how they could be taken during a siege.

Fred’s description of how the cathedrals were made (complete with working scale models of Medieval construction techniques) is not only interesting but also somewhat moving, too. An interesting aside was that Fred was able to show carpenter’s marks on wood that were used to ensure that beams fitted into beams. A sobering thought that the master carpenter who made those marks has been dead for 1,000-odd years. Yet his work is still a testament to his skills, brought to life by Fred Dibnah.

Watch The Art of Castle Building for free.

DVD Two: The Age of the Carpenter and Scottish Style.

The age of the carpenter describes how the skills of the carpenter really came into their own during the time of the Tudor great houses, when newly-wealthy merchants decided that they required a grand house for their family, suitable to their new status. Fred also pointed out some of the problems in these houses caused by faulty construction techniques. He also showed how these are being put right by using modern engineering solutions.

Scottish Style covers what was basically the Adams style. Fred Dibnah examines examples of what became known as Scottish Baronial style. He takes the viewer round Glamis Castle, pointing out how a relatively straightforward stone structure was transformed into the wonderful structure that we see today, by using teams of master stonemasons. The plasterwork in the castle was executed by experts from Italy. Of particular note the violin, skilfully created out of a mould and plaster. As Fred discovered the tale that the plaster violin was a real violin, dipped in plaster was not right. The true story was much more interesting. And Fred has a reasonably successful go at plaster work himself.

DVD Three: Building the Canals and Victorian Splendour

Here, of course, Fred Dibnah comes into his own. For this is Fred’s favourite era, I think. The Industrial Revolution and then into the times of Victorian Britain.

He returns home to Bolton to look at what remains of the once-extensive canal system and to explain not only how they were constructed (complete with models, of course) but also why they were constructed.

In Victorian Splendour Fred Dibnah takes a look at the fantastic work of Pugin when he was required to rebuild the Palace of Westminster in Medieval style, to match the remains of the palace. He shows how it was built, and how Big Ben’s clock tower was constructed and also reveals that Victorian pennies are still used to help regulate the running of the clock.

Extras on the DVD include a biography of Fred Dibnah and a filmography, both well worth viewing.

The specially written music by Elizabeth Parker, is outstanding.

Details

Format: PAL

Region: Region 2

Number of discs: 3

Classification: Exempt

EAN: 5036193090967

Studio: Acorn Media

DVD Release Date: 11 Jun 2007

Run Time: 180 minutes

Buy Now

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: RALLYSCENE PRODUCTION
EAN/ISBN13: Unknown
DVD Release Date: Unknown
Run Time: 55 minutes

Buy Now

This DVD tales a look back at his life, all infused with Fred’s own humour and anecdotes.

Scene selections include:

• Monton Chimney Drop
• Astle Park Steam Rally
• The Caernarfon Engine
• Bolton Chimney Inspection
• The Workshop
• Dibnah Delivery Service
• The Great Dorset Steam Fair
• The Farnworth Chimney Drop

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
EAN: 5034504701779
Studio: Pegasus Entertainment
DVD Release Date: 30 Sep 2002
Run Time: 55 minutes

Buy Now

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Contender Entertainment Group
DVD Release Date: 24 Sep 2007
Run Time: 140 minutes

Buy Now

Program One: The Early Pioneers
A visit to Cornwall illuminates the early history of the steam engine in Britain, which was developed to pump water from the tin mines.

Program Two: The Transport Revolution
How the advent of steam power radically changed the way people travelled.

Program Three: Driving the Wheels of Industry
The Lancastrian steeplejack’s continuing history of steam power charts the role of steam in Britain’s 18th- and 19th-century industrial expansion, and the use of huge stationary steam engines in mills, collieries and steel works until well into the 20th century.

[guba 2000915320 370 360]

Program Four: Steaming Down the Road
The Lancastrian steeplejack’s continuing history of steam power looks at experiments in the use of steam for road transport that took place a full century before the invention of the car.

Program Five: Steam on the Water
In the penultimate episode of the series tracing the history of steam power, the Lancastrian steeplejack follows the progression of steam ships from early paddle steamers to the use of steam turbines in modern vessels.

Program Six: Steam in the Modern Age
The Lancastrian steeplejack’s history of steam power concludes with a look at today’s powerful steam turbines that generate electricity and the preservation of our steam heritage in museums.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Contender Entertainment Group
DVD Release Date: 12 Sep 2005
Run Time: 180 minutes

Buy Now

This DVD contains special features: The opening by Fred, Wetheriggs Steam Plant. Plus – Beer Talk with Fred, plus Friends talk of the Fred Dibnah they knew. Plus 25 minutes of Rallyscene trailers previewing some of our other entertaining video programmes.

This programme was originally filmed in the early days when Fred was still working as a Steeplejack, climbing up, and knocking down chimneys. Our Filming started shortly after Fred’s hit BBC 2 series “A year with Fred”, and was the first professional video Fred made. This film has now been digitally re-mastered and includes a rare and previously unheard voice-over, where Fred talks us through the film in his own words.

The Day That Bolton Stood Still “A Victorian Funeral with Steam”

Fred Dibnah’s funeral procession was one of the biggest events that the people of Bolton and Lancashire have ever seen. The town centre streets were lined three and four deep as this “Son of Bolton”, with his oily cap set proudly on top of his coffin, made its way through the streets, being pulled by his own treasured steam tractor and well decorated trailer.

The Day that Bolton stood still is a respectful and dignified film of the Funeral of Fred Dibnah; the film captures all that the television cameras missed and is an historic record of an extraordinary day. Narration is by Fred’s treasured friend Neil Carney.

Special features:
Wetheriggs Steam Plant – Beer Talk (Fred with a pint) – A Tribute from Friends Fred Dibnah includes Fred’s final journey as the town of Bolton came to a complete standstill. His Victorian funeral procession was one of the biggest events that the people of Bolton have ever seen.

The video programme is in two parts, the first half covers the life of Fred when he was still a steeplejack. The second half is a respectful and dignified film of the funeral of Fred Dibnah.

Narration is by both Fred and Neil Carney, Fred’s ‘Right Hand Man’. Neil Carney drove Fred Dibnah’s beloved Steam Roller ‘Betsy’, on the day of Fred’s Victorian Funeral.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Rallyscene
DVD Release Date: 25 May 2005
Run Time: 75 minutes

Buy Now

Join Fred as he visits the famous Cheshire Steam Fair, one of the country’s greatest steam spectacles.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Beckmann Visual Publishing
DVD Release Date: 20 Dec 2004
Run Time: 55 minutes

Buy Now

Fred Dibnah’s Great Buildings, new DVD.

The fifth release in a major new venture to release Fred’s archive footage on DVD.

Fred brings history vividly to life in his own inimitable hands-on style, and explains how the builders and engineers of the past created great castles, houses and churches, and developed a ship-building industry that was the envy of the world.

Disk One: Castle Builders

From Roman and Iron Age fortifications to a medieval castle that became a Second World War command centre, Fred looks at the work of some of Britain’s greatest castle builders. Shot on location at Dover, Eastnor, Warwick, Edinburgh, Beaumaris, Caernarfon, Conwy and Harlech Castles, Old Sarum and Hadrian’s Wall.

Disk Two: Master Builders

Fred served his apprenticeship as a joiner and he always had a great appreciation for the work of the craftsmen who worked on construction projects throughout the ages. Here he visits Bath, Winchester, York, Lacock, Culross, Ightham Mote and a medieval tithe barn in Sussex to see the work of builders, thatchers, roofers, carpenters and stonemasons.

Disk Three: Ship Builders

Ship building was one of Britain’s major industries and here, starting at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Fred gives his own distinctive view of the industry. He goes on board some of his favourite ships including SS Great Britain, HMS Warrior, the paddle steamer Waverley, SS Shieldhall and the Royal Yacht Britannia, visits the Windermere Steam Boat Museum and goes cruising on a steamboat on a Scottish loch.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 3 disk set
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Acorn Media UK
DVD Release Date: 7 Dec 2009
Run Time: 360 minutes

Available Now From

Mills and factories; mines and quarries; iron foundries and steel works. Fred had a passion for Britain’s industrial past and he never tired of reminding us of the industrial genius that made Britain the ‘workshop of the world.’ Here he tells us the stories of Britain’s biggest industries as he takes us on a tour of his favorite industrial heritage sites.

Program 1: THE INDUSTRIAL LANDSCAPE

Fred was born in Bolton, Lancashire in 1938 and as a boy he fell in love with the decaying industrial landscape around him. It was a love that was to stay with him for the rest of his life. Fred paints a vivid picture of the Lancashire he grew up in before embarking on a journey around the industrial Britain of yesterday taking in Armley Mills in Leeds, North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish, Coldharbour Mill in Devon, Etruria Industrial Museum, Helmshore Textile Museum, Hook Norton Brewery, Quarry Bank Mill, Queen Street Mill in Burnley, Tees Cottage Pumping Station, Wetheriggs Country Pottery and Wigan Pier.

Program 2: RICHES BENEATH THE EARTH

When Fred was a lad coal was king and Britain still had a flourishing mining industry. Mining and all the engineering that was involved always fascinated Fred – not just coal, but lead, tin, iron ore and all the riches from beneath the earth that provided the raw materials for our industrial society. Filmed on location at Big Pit National Mining Museum, Geevor Tin Mine, Llechwedd Slate Caverns, National Coal Mining Museum, North of England Lead Mining Museum, Scottish Mining Museum, Welsh Slate Museum and Wet Earth Colliery, Fred gives us his own unique and highly personal history of mining in Britain.

Program 3: IRON AND STEEL

From Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, often described as the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, to a modern forge in Sheffield, Fred takes us around the country to tell us about the history of iron and steel making and to have a look at some of the processes. Share Fred’s excitement and watch the sparks fly with him as he visits Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Independent Forgings and Kelham Island Museum in Sheffield, Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, Finch Foundry in Devon, Ironbridge Gorge Museums and Workington Steel Works.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
EAN: 5036193097232
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Acorn Media
DVD Release Date: 11 May 2009
Run Time: 360 minutes

Buy Now