Written by Aelish Michael in collaboration with Fred’s third wife Sheila and some of his closest friends, the play chronicles the last few years of Fred’s life, his determination to get his steam engine on the road and the ups and downs of his relationship with Sheila.

David says Aelish’s play came about after the writer raised enough money to put on a rehearsed reading of the script, which she had been developing with him.

“We had a very frank and open discussion with the audience as to whether the play honoured Fred.” he said.

“It became very clear that there was a strong sense that we should do this play, so the next morning I rang Aelish up and commissioned it.”

The Octagon’s web site describes it as:

Aelish Michael’s funny and tender new play, researched in collaboration with Fred’s wife and some of his closest friends, focuses on the last few years of his eventful life. The Octagon is proud to stage this world premiere; a tribute to a man who will never be forgotten in his home town, and whose inspirational legacy lives on.

Interesting stuff in light of the recently announced (but as yet unconfirmed) Fred Dibnah Movie.

(source & source)

Updated: Just discovered that Aelish has got a blog with details of the development of the play: check it out. And for a sneak preview of the play here’s her story-arc.

Click for big

Full details:

Local filmmaker Nicholas Wilding teams up with Fred Dibnah’s widow Sheila later this year to stage a special tribute night to the famous Bolton steeplejack.

Nicholas, son of the late Lady Pilkington, formed a close friendship with Fred after overcoming his own fear of heights to record some of Fred’s daredevil exploits atop mill chimneys across northern England.

Fred Dibnah Night – on Saturday 9 October at the Theatre Royal – also includes Sheila’s memories of the man who became a household name with a series of BBC documentaries in the 1970s and 80s.

Nicholas, President of the Friends of the Theatre Royal, was the only cameraman to record Fred at the top of the chimneys he repaired. The tribute night will include excerpts from his documentary footage – linked by the often hilarious memories of Fred he shares with Sheila.

Tickets for the show are available now, at the Theatre Royal Box Office, priced £12 or £10 for concessions. Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30pm start on Saturday 9 October. (source)

You can also book tickets directly from the Theatre Royal’s web site.

(side note: of all the photographs of Fred they could have used why did they use one with the big man looking soo glum)

West Cumbria Vintage Club is holding a talk, Life with Steeplejack Fred, with Sheila Dibnah at Whitehaven Golf Club on March 20 at 7pm. The event also includes a hot buffet and a raffle. For tickets contact Jim Bennett on 01946 832790.

Links: Whitehaven Golf Club – www.fredtalks.co.uk

(text removed 9th December – see below)

It’s a shame that Sheila, due to current legal arrangements, can’t give her backing help when it needs it most. Edit: Sheila has clarified from the comments section, once planning permission has been granted she will be able to give the Heritage Centre her full and active assistance.

(image removed 9th December – see below)

Update #1 9th December: A comment has just been left by Jonathon Wild, who I gather is webmaster of Sheila Dibnah’s FredTalks.co.uk site, objecting to the text I quoted and screenshot I posted for the above news piece.

As requested by Mr Wild I have removed both the text and image that was causing concern, leaving just my own words and observations. I have also added clarification to my own observations.

Please follow the link at the top of this page to read the words that I’ve been requested remove. In case these words should change, which they no doubt will as legal situations change, please refer to this cached version of the page (dead link) from November 2009 courtesy of Google.

Update #2 14 December: Title corrected after clarification by Sheila Dibnah in the comments section.

Update #3 June 2010: Sheila Dibnah’s site now reads:

Sheila is simply delighted with the sterling work that Leon and Jan have done to ‘Fred’s World’ – and even more delighted that Fred’s Dream has come true with the Fred Dibnah Heritage Centre now open for business!

Sheila has given her full support and blessing and shall be doing what she can to promote her late husband’s name and ‘world’.

The cap is the one worn by the famous steeplejack on his wedding day to his third wife, Sheila, in September 1998.

The TV celebrity bought three new caps that year. But, according to Sheila, he chose this one for his big day.

Sheila said: “I had no problem with him wearing a cap for our wedding but I did insist he bought a nice, clean, new one!

The cap has been donated to Stockport’s Hat Works museum on long-term loan by Fred’s stepson Nathan.

The cap became a favourite for Fred, who died in November 2004, and he went on to wear it whenever he was booked for after-dinner speaking.

He also wore it at steam rallies but as the cap deteriorated, and the wear and tear began to show, it was relegated to only being worn in his workshop at home.

Debbie Smith, from the museum, said: “The cap’s six good years with Fred are clearly evident from its condition and it makes for a fascinating exhibit, one in which you get a strong sense and feeling for its owner.”

The cap is displayed with a signed photograph of Fred and a script of “Fred Dibnah’s Age of Steam”, donated by Sheila.

Donation can still be made to the Fred Didnah Appeal Fund, which is raising money for a lasting memorial next to the Hick Hargreaves steam engine in Oxford Street, Bolton town centre.

The appeal stands at £30,000.

Send donations to: The Fred Dibnah Appeal, Lloyds TSB, Hotel Street, Bolton, or to any Lloyds TSBbranch in the Bolton area.

(source Thursday, 26 October 2006)

The ales were hit and miss, in my opinion, the best being Flat Cap – a hoppy, golden beer with hints of orange in the taste.

Someone standing at the bar told me that the beer had originally been called Fred’s Cap after chimney toppling flat-cap wearer Fred Dibnah.

Apparently the widow Dibnah heard about the brew and contacted the brewery asking for royalties, prompting them to rename the beer and pay for new pump clips and advertising.

However, there is no truth to the rumour that revenge was a motive in naming their next two ales Gold Digger and Old Slapper.

I’ve seen “Fred’s Cap Ale” labels appearing on eBay ever so often, the above story would make them real collectors items.

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Fred’s last will and testament, made just three weeks before his death on November 6, 2004, ensures his most loved possessions should go to his sons Jack and Roger and his daughters Jayne, Caroline and Lorna.

To his boys, he left his beloved Aveling and Porter steam tractor, Aveling and Porter 1910 steam roller and distinctive road menders’ hut.

His sons shared his passion for industrial heritage and even paid their last respects to their unique father by driving the vehicles in his funeral procession through the streets of Bolton.

His daughter Lorna gets his 1750 James Butler (Bolton) grandfather clock and his sons Jack and Roger get his collection of vehicle oil lamps, drawings done by Fred and his library on steam engines.

The sons are also willed the contents of his yard and workshop at his home in Radcliffe Road on the understanding that the executors of the will allow people to visit the yard while the property remains in Fred’s estate.

Everything else, including all property, income and future royalties from his television productions and books are to divided equally between the five children, being held in trust until they reach the age of 18.

Frederick Travis Dibnah appointed his friends William Richards, Alan Davies and Alf Molyneux as executors of his will and the £1,042,845 fortune he left.

Nowhere in the will is there any mention of his widow, Sheila Dibnah who claims he was distracted towards the end of his life when he cut her out of the will.

The former Blackpool showgirl was his third wife, marrying him in 1998 and has vowed to get a share of his estate by launching a legal bid to have the will overturned. Her solicitors will launch a reasonable provision claim.

(source Tuesday, 13 February 2007)

Sheila Dibnah has been left nothing from the celebrity steeplejack’s reported £1 million estate.

Details of his last wishes were revealed to members of his family this week – with everything reportedly divided between his five children.

Mrs Dibnah last night vowed to contest the settlement and has launched a legal bid to have it overturned.

She said: “It was not a completely unexpected announcement. In the last year of Fred’s life he was a very poorly man. His mind was extremely distracted towards the end and I bear that in mind and I hold it close to my thoughts.

“I would hate for his memory to be besmirched by the will and people thinking he has acted selfishly. He was a kind man who was well loved and should be respected for who he was.

“I have solicitors on the case and have launched a reasonable provision claim. In this country it is the right of the wife to be left at least something in a will.

Fred Dibnah was Britain’s unlikeliest superstar. The portly Boltonian was never without his trademark flat cap or waistcoat and made his name through his antics as a steeplejack and undying passion for steam engines.

His personal life was as diverse as the man himself. He spotted his first wife Alison when she was 13 and he was working on her dad’s roof. They next met when she was 19 and started going out. Impatient to marry, they eloped to Gretna Green to tie the knot. The couple were married for 18 years and had three daughters, but it all ended in an acrimonious divorce and unwelcome headlines.

He met and married Sue, 20 years his junior, and they went on to have two sons before this union also ended in divorce. In 1998, he married glamorous Sheila Grundy, with whom he spent six happy years.

Fred was made an MBE in the 2004 New Year’s Honours list for his services to heritage and broadcasting. He always recognised that steeplejacking was dangerous: “One mistake up here, and it’s half a day out with the undertaker” was his cryptic assessment.

The TV personality was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2001 and given just 12 months to live. But he fought the illness with his typical northern grit and eventually lost his battle in November 2005 Specific details of what has been left in his will are expected to be made available next week. Mr Dibnah’s estate is understood to include his house in The Haulgh and his countless steam engines and engine paraphernalia.

Members of Fred’s family were last night remaining tight-lipped about the publication of his will, which also leaves nothing to Nathan, Mrs Dibnah’s son.

(source Saturday, 10 February 2007)

The burglary at the house, in Radcliffe Road, Bolton, was discovered last Saturday.

Burglars smashed through a back window to gain entry into the house, while Fred’s widow, Shelia, was out collecting money for the Fred Dibnah memorial fund.

Items taken included brass and copper pieces collected by Fred over the years.

The thieves tipped out drawers, ransacked the three bedrooms upstairs and tore through the living room and dining room in their search for items to steal.

Clothes were strewn across the floor and the burglars went into the loft and also ransacked that.

Mrs Dibnah, who is still grieving, today spoke of her shock and disgust that someone could target the home of her much-loved husband.

She said: “There is never a good time for a burglary, but so near to Christmas.

“Last year, Christmas was upsetting without Fred and now this. I am in shock, I am so upset. It is just devastating.”

Mrs Dibnah appealed for anyone with information to contact the police. She said: “Fred was like a magpie and collected everything. I am still trying to find out exactly what was taken, but I have so far compiled a comprehensive list.

“It looks like they have gone for the old things like brass boiler plaques and copper plates.

“These things together are not worth an awful lot but with the name of Fred attached to them, they can fetch a lot more.

“So please, if anybody is approached by someone selling items like this, who they claimed belonged to Fred, please contact the police.”

Mrs Dibnah said security at the house would be stepped up following the break-in.

She said: “My family and I are at the house all the time, but we will certainly spending money to make the house more secure to deter other heartless, evil people.

“Fred was a much-loved character – this burglary has upset a lot of people.

“We want to keep these things to share with everyone.

“There is talk of turning the house into a heritage centre.”

Fred died two years ago and a campaign is under way to establish a lasting tribute to the man who won the hearts of people across the country.

A police spokesman said: “It is believed a number of antique items were stolen during the burglary, which occurred after the offender or offenders smashed windows in the house.”

(source Saturday, 23 December 2006)

Fans have been queueing up to get their hands on the first in a series of four ceramic figurines and teapots depicting the legendary Bolton steeplejack.

The limited edition sold out in hours.

The eight-inch earthenware figures have been designed by Lorna Bailey, a ceramic artist from Stoke-on-Trent, with a percentage of the profits going to the Fred Dibnah Memorial Fund Appeal.

Lorna’s father, Lionel, a life-long fan of Fred’s approached his widow Sheila with the idea for the collection.

The first figurine, entitled, “Did you like that?”, shows Fred dressed in his working gear, holding a hooter.

Mr Bailey, who works for his daughter’s company, Lorna Bailey Art Ware, said: “It took three weeks to come up with the prototype – going from the original sketches to the finished product. We made 100 limited edition figures, costing £65 each, and they sold out almost immediately. We’ll be releasing the second figure in the collection next week showing Fred with a pint pot in one hand and an oil can in the other.

“That will be followed with two teapots – the first showing Fred pushing a chimney over – with the spout as the chimney and the handle as a ladder and the second, with Fred on a steam engine.” The company are also manufacturing the figures for general sale, with a slight variation in colour.

Sheila Dibnah said: “Lorna worked off some photos of Fred and I’m really happy with the final result. We are handing £25 from the sale of each figure to the appeal and the first batch has already raised £2,500.

The Fred Dibnah Appeal is being run by the Bolton Civic Trust in conjunction with The Bolton News and aims to raise enough money to build a memorial to Fred in the town. So far the appeal has raised more than £33,000. For more information about the collection visit www.lorna-bailey.co.uk or telephone 01782 837341.

(source Monday, 27 November 2006)