“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 visits a number of iconic sites during his travels, from the medieval tithe barn in Sussex and the historic castle used as a command post during the Second World War, to the Windermere Steam Boat Museum and cruising on a Scottish loch on a steamboat. Fred also goes onboard some of his favourite ships, including SS Great Britain.

This three-disc set is Fred Dibnah’s sixth DVD collection, and features over five hours of previously unseen footage.

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
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Acorn
EAN/ISBN13: 5036193097225
DVD Release Date: 28 December 2009
Run Time: 360 minutes

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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

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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

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Titles Include:
The Backyard
The Building
The Industrial Collections

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 9
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Acorn Media
EAN/ISBN13: xxxx
DVD Release Date: 18 Oct 2010
Run Time: 1329 minutes (22 hours and 9 minutes)

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Summer brings Bolton steeplejack Fred Dibnah’s work on his ancient steam engine almost to a standstill. His new-found fame creates a demand for his presence at public events and for promoting causes from Barnardo’s to beer drinking. Then, just when he thinks he might get a few days on his engine, his wife Alison demands a holiday, the first (steam rallies apart) since they eloped to Gretna Green some fifteen years earlier. The family’s week at Blackpool turns out quite differently from anything ever seen in a holiday advert.

Broadcast on: BBC Four, 8:00pm Sunday 29th August 2010

Duration: 30 minutes

Available until: 8:29pm Sunday 5th September 2010

If anyone has a good quality copy of the program can they let me know.

Update: 100bigkev has uploaded a clip from the program:

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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In this book, fred Dibnah offers the reader the opportunity to explore over 500 of the country’s most famous and historic monuments, castles, cathedrals and engineering marvels. Divided into sections, including Railways and Canals, Houses and Palaces, or Military and Naval sites of interest, Fred brings history to life while explaining in his own inimitable, hands-on style, how the builders and craftsmen have managed to construct such incredible structures from as long ago as Stonehenge right up to the Millennium Dome. Packed with Fred’s enthusiasm for the feats of craftsmanship and engineering which lie at the heart of these buildings, each section contains background information on the places it features and highlights ‘Fred’s Choice’, the best sites to visit as chosen by Fred himself. Suitable for those planning family days out, this detailed gazetteer contains full descriptions of the sites, directions and maps showing how to reach them and information on opening times and facilities available.

Details

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: BBC Books (10 Feb 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0563551739
ISBN-13: 9780563551737

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Program One: Wind Water And Steam
Fred starts his journey at the old Bolton, Bury and Manchester Canal where he first discovered his passion for industrial history. As a young boy, he would walk along the towpath, passing cotton mills and old coal mines. Fred fondly retraces his childhood steps before showing viewers some of the many preservation projects he has been working on over the years: a steam-powered pottery in Cumbria, a mill chimney in Lancashire and a steam engine in North Wales.

Program Two: Mill And Factories
In Burnley, he visits Queen Street Mill where the original steam engine still powers the looms in a huge weaving shed. He meets a woman called Evelyn who has worked in the mill all her life and fondly remembers the camaraderie amongst the weavers. For more about the Queen Street Mill and other spinning and weaving heritage spots see The North West Textile Trail, or see the Amazing Animated Spinning Mill!

Program Three: Iron And Steel
Fred traces the development of the production of iron and steel and begins his journey at Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, the cradle of the industrial revolution. It was here that Abraham Darby first smelted iron with coke and thus started a dynasty of iron founders in the gorge who were to change the entire face of industry. Fred visits Abraham Darby’s original furnace and rides on a replica of the first steam railway locomotive which was built at Ironbridge in 1803. To see a blast furnace in action see Fred Amazing animated machines!

Until the 1960s, mining was a major industry around Bolton and Fred recollects how his auntie always believed that there was a coal mine under her house. Fred talks about the working conditions down the mines and the camaraderie between the miners that came from working in this hostile and dangerous environment.

At the National Coal Mining Museum for England, near Wakefield, Fred descends to the coal face to see how the machinery the miners used developed over the years. At Big Pit, in South Wales, Fred rides on top of the pit cage to carry out a shaft inspection and in Scotland he is welcomed to the Lady Victoria Colliery by a pipe band. See the Amazing Animated Winding Gear for a look at how the deep mines worked!

Program Five: Railways
Fred recollects his early excitement for steam locomotives as they roared past his bedroom window at night, the driver’s face lit only by the engine’s firebox. Fred’s enthusiasm has never burnt out and in this programme he traces the development of the railway locomotive from Richard Trevithick’s first locomotive to the world record-breaking Mallard.

Fred visits the North East which is rich in railway history. At Bowes Railway near Gateshead he sees one of George Stephenson’s early engineering projects, where a stationary engine pulled coal wagons up a hill with a rope. But at Darlington Railway Museum he admires Stephenson’s most famous engineering achievement, the original “Locomotion No.1″, which was the first locomotive to run along the Stockton and Darlington Railway.

Program Six: Ships And Shipbuilding
Fred examines the skill of the shipbuilders and machine engineers who turned Britain into a great manufacturing nation. In Bristol, Fred visits the SS Great Britain, the first ocean going ship to be constructed by iron and driven by steam, and pays tribute to the designer, Fred’s hero, Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The SS Great Britain won’t be going to sea again so Fred goes in search of a working steamship. He travels to Scotland to take a voyage along the west coast on the paddle steamer Waverley. Back in England he visits the Windermere Steamboat Museum and sails across the lake in the Steam Launch Swallow. See Fred’s animated Paddle Steamer and build-it game to find out how it all worked!

The DVD also includes additional information covering the 200 locations featured in the programmes.

Details

Format: PAL
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 1
Classification: Exempt
Studio: Beckmann Visual Publishing
DVD Release Date: 1 Mar 2004
Run Time: 150 minutes

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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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