FANS of Fred Dibnah flocked to Horwich on Saturday to celebrate the life of the famous steeplejack.
Dozens of visitors packed the Horwich Heritage Centre in Beaumont Road to hear a series of talks by people who knew Fred, as well as having a first look at an exhibition charting his life.
The display pays tribute to Fred, five years after his death.
Fred was well known for his love of steam engines and expertise at demolition, and he went on to become a television personality, starring in a number of BBC documentaries.
TV producer David Hall, who made many of the programmes with Fred, opened the event by talking about his memories of him.
He said: “Fred was very easy to work with, and I think the secret is that we were always very relaxed about it.
“Fred would always say: ‘It’s great this — the BBC paying me to go to all these places that I like to go to’.
“Whenever we arrived at a location, we’d always go to our ‘digs’, as Fred called them, and then to a nice local pub.
“It was an occupational hazard working with Fred. Because Fred was such an iconic recognisable figure, all eyes would turn to him, and a group would form around him.
“Fred like nothing more than to be in a group of people. He loved it — people would gather round and he would tell his stories.
“By the time we got to 1.30am, the door would have been locked, and I would be the most unpopular person in the pub when I had to drag him away because we had to get up early the next day.”
There was also a talk from Leon Powsney, the current owner of Fred’s house in Radcliffe Road, Bolton.
Mr Powsney talked about his plans to turn the house into a museum and heritage exhibition. Fred’s friend, Alf Molyneux, also addressed the audience.
The exhibition featured films, photographs of Fred and a collection of artefacts from his workshop.
(source)
