Fred Dibnah

The book I read to research this post was Fred by David Hall which is an excellent biography of Fred Dibnah which I bought from a local secondhand bookstore. Fred Dibnah died a few years ago but was an institution in Britain where he appeared in television programmes like Fred Dibnah Steeplejack & Fred Dibnah's World of Steam to name a few. His programmes were a celebration of the skills that defined Britain in the Industrial Revolution. He himself learnt many of these skills, most famously steeplejacking & pointing brickwork on chimneys. He taught himself the art of demolition & collected many stories which often featured in his television programmes. He fully restored a steam roller, even building a complete boiler because the insurance company weren't satisfied with the restored one. I remember him saying in one of his programmes that on steam trains it would be easy for the boiler to become warped due to the extreme working temperatures were it not for the thick rivets that keep its shape. He built a fully working artificial coal mine in his back garden in Bolton, complete with bricked 100 feet face & steam powered winding machinery. Unlike the museums where the winding machine is normally slowed down, his winding machine was authentic. He was born in Bolton in 1938 & wasn't greatly academic but did 3 years in art school. He liked drawing things like steam engines. I really enjoyed reading this story and it keeps your interest throughout.