FredDibnah.co.uk

News has just come in about an evening event to raise fund towards the repair of the chimney in The Heritage Centre. If you are aware it’s been deemed unsafe by the council: link.

YOU CAN ENJOY AN EVENING AT THE HOLIDAY INN, BOLTON, WITH A THREE COURSE MEAL AND AFTER DINNER TALK BY SHEILA DIBNAH ABOUT LIVING WITH FRED AND HEAR LEON POWSNEY the new owner talk about BUYING FRED DIBNAH’S HOME.

The evening has been arranged to help fund the repair of Freds Chimney !!

Here’s your chance to meet Sheila Dibnah, and hear her VERY entertaining talk about life with Fred.

Also hear all about the ups and downs of buying Fred’s place, from the new owner Leon, get to hear the background of this lunatic that bought Fred’s place, when nobody else was prepared to take the risk.

• Why did he buy it ?
• How did he buy it ?
• What made him do it ?
• Where’s he from ?
• What’s his connection ?
• Wha’ts he doing with it ?
• Why is he doing it ?

Come along and be fed and entertained.

The venue is the Holiday Inn Bolton, you will be served a superb three course meal in the CLOISTERS, The Cloisters function room is a beautiful converted church and the perfect venue for an entertaining evening, refreshments will be served, and after your dinner you will be entertained by Sheila Dibnah with many side splitting stories of living with the Great Man Fred Dibnah MBE.

Then Leon will give you the nitty gritty of buying Fred’s place, how it came about, and his background.

All in all a GREAT night. What a fantastic pressie for somebody you love who is a fred fan.

Accommodation can be arranged at the Holiday inn, do not miss this night, it will be a night to remember.

This evening has been arranged to help with the repair of FRED’S CHIMNEY which we have already started working on.

For more details or tickets click below:

The new owner of Fred Dibnah’s historic home has been ordered to carry out urgent repair work to the site’s 40ft-high chimney.

Celebrity steeplejack Fred spent eight years building the brick chimney for his main boiler house in the back yard of the Grade II listed property on Radcliffe Road, Bolton.

The yard’s collection of oil-stained machinery and 70ft-deep working mineshaft featured in many of his TV shows.

New owner Leon Powsney has opened the property up to the public as the Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre and hundreds of guided tours telling Fred’s story have been held since it launched in June.

But the chimney, which hasn’t been used since Fred’s death in 2004, has now suffered serious frost damage.

A number of cracks have appeared and there are also concerns about its foundations as it perches on top of a steep banking leading down to the River Tonge.

A council surveyor attended and ordered the chimney to be assessed by a structural engineer. The chimney is now wrapped in scaffolding as engineers continue to assess the full damage.

Mr Powsney is appealing to Fred fans to suggest a way forward. He said: “We hope to save the chimney and we want to get the public involved. Should we repair it or demolish it and rebuild it?

“Our preferred option would be to repair it because it is Fred’s chimney but we would like some suggestions.

“The chimney was started by Fred in 1991 and completed in 1999.”

He added: “It is stable and safe and the tours are continuing but we are not sure about our next move.”

Engineers have quoted him £10,000 for repair work.

Bolton council said a notice was served requiring the chimney to be checked by a structural engineer.

A spokesman added: “The engineer has inspected the chimney and confirmed that there are some concerns in respect of the structural stability of the chimney.”

(source)

The first coach party will descend on Fred Dibnah’s former home in Bolton tomorrow.

Doncaster-based Steam4 Fun.com — the world’s only supplier of miniature, working Fred Dibnah model engines — has organised the trip for 49 steam enthusiasts who will be given a guided tour of the house in Radcliffe Road by owner Leon Powsney.

Mr Powsney bought the house and opened it as a heritage centre earlier this year and has since seen visitors flock from all around the country to see the late TV steeplejack’s old work yard.

He said: “We are really looking forward to welcoming the first coach party because it is a big thing for us. We have quite a few booked in over the next few months so it is all coming together.”

Since opening his doors in June, Mr Powsney has had a steady stream of visitors booking the fascinating tours, which give a real glimpse into the working life of Fred, who passed away in November 2004 after a battle with cancer.

A number of Fred’s friends, including close confidante Alf Molyneux, spent hours restoring the yard after Mr Powsney and his wife, Jan, snapped it up at auction last March.

They spent more than 12 months battling with council planning chiefs — and neighbours — before seeing their dream of creating a lasting memorial to Fred come true.

Mr Powsney said: “It has been a very testing time, but things are going well. We spent a lot of time and money on the place so, obviously, coach parties, such as the Steam4Fun one on Saturday, do help us.

“I am still in love with this place and I have never regretted buying it.”

The centre, which is open to pre-booked £12 tours every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday, has the backing of Fred’s widow, Sheila.

At the opening in June, she said: “Fred spent 38 years working in this yard and it is just a magical place to be. It feels like Fred is here and I hope it is a real success.”

Anyone interested in taking a tour of Fred’s yard or in volunteering, should call Mr Powsney on 07801 255486 or email freddibnah tours@live.com

(source)

Leon and the team over at the Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre have put a call out for volunteer guides. Read the rest of this entry »

Fred's back garden mine shaft

After months of planning and hard work Fred Dibnah’s former residence has finally opened today as a Heritage Centre.

Booking is essential to visit the heritage centre. For details email freddibnahtours@live.com. Read the rest of this entry »

Leon and the team over at the Heritage Centre have announced that despite the recent setback of discovering that they needed a complete rewiring for the house and buildings, that the opening day is still going to be Tuesday 15th June. Read the rest of this entry »

Word has come in that the Heritage Centre in Fred’s former residence, due to open on 15th June, has released a catalogue after commissioning “a local artist to design a whole new range of beautiful items of memorabilia that will be sold exclusively through the heritage centre”. Read the rest of this entry »

As we suspected a couple of days ago, the official announcement of the opening of a Heritage Centre in Fred’s former residence has been made. Read the rest of this entry »

Opening date confirmed

No official announcement as yet but I just noticed a eBay auction of tickets to what seems like the official opening of the Heritage centre at Fred’s former residence.

Update: Heritage centre confirmed to open in June. The press have been told that the official opening date is the 15th June. But the eBay auction for tickets (link below) still lists it as the 14th. Confusion.

Update 2: The opening date has been confirmed as the 15th, seems the eBay listing below incorrectly reported it as the 14th. Read the rest of this entry »