Being a 65 year old bricklayer, I'd just like to say those bricks don't just fall off. They take some shifting with only a lump hammer. He was the epitome of Englishness. A truly great and fascinating man. R.I.P. FRED.
I used to knock down walls and reclaim bricks for my pocket money. Some were hard to shift, some were not. Depends on the cement mix. Eight hours of chipping away is hard on the arms. Like sculpting.
I was a scaffolder for years and even when I was at the peek of fitness at twenty one, I couldn't have climbed that chimney as fast. You need a lot of bottle and strength for that job. He was some man.
How does he just climb up that chimney like it's nothing? There's one video where the ladders are pitched BACKWARDS about 5 degrees, 200' up and he scampers up and over them and then this huge concrete lip without even slowing down...and he installed all the ladders himself. He hung that goddamn backwards ladder with no one up there to help him, just his one friend all the way down on the ground. He had to sit over the top of the previous ladder and balance there in the wind while he hammered in the braces for the next ladder, then pull the next one all the way up and start roping it to the wall, THEN climb onto the half-attached, swaying, backwards ladder and hammer in more braces and secure the top with more rope...it doesn't even seem possible! This guy was absolutely amazing.
INSANE!!! He has put up ladders on both sides!! Thats a scary epic extremley dangerous job in itself. Then he has erected all that scafolding, and then he is wacking thousands bricks with a hammer and chisel to slowley demolish something that he loves. That Fred Dibnah was SuperMan. Then to top it off He'd go home and work on restoring traction engines!!! What the hell. All powered by cheese butties. It's unbelivable work and he always got the job done with well deserved sense of pride. He should have been Knighted
Lewis Floyd Henry ,,yes rewarded indeed ! this breed is nearly gone sadly the new generation over Dont work or want to work or in some gang, thing's we're hand made British made :) top man he'd make any one look silly on any building site today
that's not really true we have an 18 year old work with us and he is great he goes to college learning carpentry , all last we we was knocking plaster and lathes out of an old Victorian place and he didn't stop all day and didn't moan once and its a shitty job
How he just climbed up and up those Ladders without any harness is beyond my imagination. Absolute gem... Would loved to have known him. What a tribute he was for this country. I take my hat off to you Mr Fred Dibnah you truly was one of a kind
gary goodman Yes, course he does, 😀 but he IS a great speaker, commentator. Doesn’t lecture/talk down to folk. He’s only showing off his God given talents, not hiding them.
All you boys are forgetting one thing? 100 years before this, some guy had to build that thing and that including keeping it plumb and getting the bricks and mortar up there would have been ONE HELL OF A LOT OF HARD GRAFT. I'd like to see todays builders try that without modern equipment. Fred your a top bloke.
@JCBAirmaster73 Hey up, totally agreed on what you've commented, although I do know from having seen photos of the bigger chimneys being built, that there was usually a team of brick layers building them and usually the teams would consist of around 4 to 7/8 men, but they would also use pulley systems for lifting loads of bricks and buckets of mortar up to the brick layers, so it would save time for the builders from climbing up and down every so often. One thing I remember Fred mentioning in his early chimney fellin videos is that he prefered to demolish the chimneys with the wood props and letting the chimney smoke 1 last time, so as to acknowledge and respect all those that spent all the hard work and effort to build the chimney up, which they would have place a Union Jack at the top when it was done. I can't help wish the days of the big factories and the old school ways were back because there was a demand for there to be a good mentality and work ethic, whilst still being humble and respectable, to a large degree.... something that is hugely missed in modern generations to an extent.
@JCBAirmaster73 sadly all too true pal and it doesn't help that when Britain joined the EU, the men with balls start to be fazed out and the limp wristed Jessies started taking over... Sadly the days of the British Industrial age have gone decades ago and the country is a much worse place for it.
Fred calling himself a lazy man is probably the best joke he ever told! Even when he had a day off he was working at home on a steam engine or building his own small coal mine!
That is because he probably thought he never worked a day in his life. When he was steeplejacking he had no boss, just a job to do that he loved, then he worked on his steam engines which he loved. Where he was lazy was his marriages, women loved him because he was so capable but grew tired when his attention was always else where.
I had the good fortune of a chance meeting with Fred at a castle in Wales. Ive been a fan for years and later visited his home exhibition in Bolton. Very clever but humble man, and always had time to chat. One of lifes nice folk. Sleep tight Fred.
When I was a kid, my dad used to watch Fred on tv and I was bored... now I can appreciate how impressive he was, running up a ladder with no safety gear at those heights. I haven't got the bottle for that. I love watching these videos now.
Right? When your young you think lifes so easy and have little to no appreciation for these fundamental things, glad that we get past that stage (most of us at least)
Absolutely. I've done a fair bit of high work and it changes your decisions. Who a person thinks they are on the ground, is rarely true once they get a swaying distance off the ground. Only inner ear balance then. The balance perceived by being 5ft from the ground is gone
To much is made of him not being scared of heights. Lots of people have absolutely no fear of working at height, it's his building and engineering abilities that are exceptional
The more I watch of this man, the more I find him absolutely fascinating... The concept of taking an enormous chimney down one brick at a time with literally no safely equipment is just incredible. What a LEGEND!!!!
@@ravenclawstudent6012 how else do you think he done it???? He didn’t carry a jackhammer up those ladders….. Like Johnny Cash said….”One piece at a time”….those were the days of real men doing honest hard graft….
This guy is superb. The amount of time it must have taken to build that pulley system and then somehow get himself, the wires, the brake, the levers up a chimney about 200ft tall is just incredible.
That is very true. I just came across this man and the first thing you notice is obviously the hight and the fact that he takes the chimneys down brick by brick. Then you realise all the engineering it takes to build all the things he need to do the job.
I just love the fact he did a job that makes most peoples hands sweat just to watch and yet there was no big headedness or cockyness to him. What a humble hard working guy!
This is just insane. Fred was just one of a kind . To get up that Chimney as fast as that is just just crazy . No Harness safety gear . Balls of steel.And the buckets just amazing. Fred was the man .
I work at height every day, but barely half of what Fred did. There are multiple safety protocols and I have to undergo a lot of training and hold multiple licences to be permitted to do so. Fres just blows my mind. He is astonishing, a man completely devoid of fear. Legend
He treated this as the norm.Northerners are tough creatures and thats why they were crucial in the industrial revolution.Fred was an incredibly clever man but had no ego atall.
All this tosh about northerners being tougher than anyone else and being better than anyone else is beginning to get very boring. Where northerners are different from the rest of the population is in telling people that they are northerners, They then expect the rest of us to treat them as very special when in fact they are no more special than folks from other regions of England.
Marc Law it's got nothing to do with north or south it's about the era there were large scale building projects in the south the London Underground , battersea power station , the Clifton suspension bridge it's about a man having to feed his family and not having a guaranteed cheque for sitting at home watching tele they did what they had to do
mike04535 Well said. I've just moved to Yorkshire and I've never heard so much claptrap about how great they are. Friendly, tough, honest etc. All these accreditations are self awarded. Trying to explain this to them is fun, but the look on their faces is a picture! Unfortunately in most cases I simply don't have the time or the crayons to explain this.
I sit at a desk and work on the phone. Think I’ll think before complaining about certain clients in 2018. Fred was an incredible human being. What an intelligent, hard working man with great skill and enormous courage. Mind blowing.
YT recommended me this. Went to bed at 23.00h, saw this. Then another one. And then another... Went to sleep at about 04h... What a remarkable man, fantastic. Men like him are a dying breed, unfortunately. A very brave man, climbing without safetyharnass. Not possible nowadays...
I've only recently discovered Fred Dibnah and I'm glad I did. He's a legend and hilarious at times. I watched a video where he was erecting scaffolding on a tall chimney and then walked around without safety equipment. It blows my mind how dangerous this could be of a bird flies at you or you get dizzy randomly. I'm 33 and I wanna rewind the damn clock back.
I am sweating the palm of my hands, and am near a heart attack watching him doing this. I get dizzy standing on a three step ladder. I admire deeply what he did for a whole life, andeven surviving this very dangerous job. A very brave man...respect, Fred!!
alan steen iversson youre saying what many of us feel. I was a bricklayer and worked in south Africa Canada and Britain and on some high jobs but I always admired the scaffolders because I couldn't handle heights and learned to switch off and overcome it
I get sweaty palms just looking at the heights he's climbing to. Especially given this is a no-nonsense, old school bloke in the 1970s when nobody gave a toss about health and safety. Much respect to him, what a legend.
They did give a toss, they looked after each other. Now lard arses write and enforce rules to make it SEEM like someone cares, they don't, only care about knowing who pays before/if it happens
Fred took down a chimney in the mill just behind my house. The whole street had to evacuate whilst the chimney was taken down. The chimney fell exactly where he said it would. It was interesting seeing how he prepared the chimney for demolition. I remember that he had a Land-Rover with Dibnah & Son written on the side. Really good hearing a thick Lancashire accent again, makes me feel homesick
I have worked in construction for almost 50 years on all types of scaffolding and best part of it was before safety officers were invented.this man is amazing .am I right in saying he is taking 2 rungs at a time on the way down.must be rushing to the pub.its great that someone has the foresight to get this on tape as this man deserves to be remembered.well done from ireland🇮🇪🇮🇪☘️☘️
@Theangrybinmanshow only ones that I've seen personally are 2 together in poolbeg, Dublin. Can be seen from all of Dublin, they are out of operation now, but can be seen even coming into Dublin on the plane. Painted red and white at the top. Not sure they would be as tall as the one in this video.
Still is a very surreal image of Fred free climbing his ladders. No one would ever do that (or get away with it) at a job these days. Total respect for the man and his life.
There is a certain emotion that this man Fred Brings to my soul. He’s calming and honest, and pleasant to listen too. I could listen to this fellow quite easily.
I came back to watch Fred's videos I had a dream I was with him climbing one of those chimneys the dream was so detailed I was shitting myself and woke up sweating crazy lol Fred is a true legend hands down🙏
I have been a scaffold man for over 25 years and I could have NEVER, even in my (have no fear) youth, climbed that ladder. NO safety harness? UNREAL!!!!! The man must of had icewater running through his veins.
@@MarkJones-kq1oo I was looking for you Mark. I saw you yesterday. Did you see me? What were you doing Mark.? Let me know what you think. Thanks Mark! ☺️
@@MarkJones-kq1oo They make these things called retractables and have for a very long time. The first time you climb a length of ladder you hang one, that's your life line / what you tie off to. And every additional length you move the retractable higher up. When you are are the very top you hang one up there. When moving up / down a ladder your clipped into that. When your working on the scaffold your on a life line. You have 100% tie off by having a pair of lanyards. You must climb the ladder while attached to the retractable. Once your on the scaffold connect to the life line and unhook your lanyard from the lanyard. The only acceptable time by modern safety standards to free climb something without being tied off is when you are doing that first ladder. And even then we have JLG's and Aerial work platforms that you can use to set that all up.
@@MarkJones-kq1oo To ladder, you cretin. Like any sane people would. Thankfully the days of this BS and other stuff like child labour and lead in drinking water are long gone...
A credit to our nation,and a very sadly missed man by all who knew,watched,and met him,true gentleman,antiquarian of renown,victorian,real grafter.God bless the memory of this great man and the legacy he has left us.
I pass that chimney nearly everyday, sometimes stand at the bottom just across the street, look up and remember when Fred took the top off this one, the summer of 82.
A true English working class hero. Not many left, so hats off to the man. Should show this in schools to young lads, they might not see premier league footballers in quite the same way afterwards.
I am a climber, I use dynamic ropes. but this guy doesn't wear anything. my admiration........ big balls of steel. these kinds of men are called legends greetings from Chile
I'm a tree arborist, rock climbing refrigeration technician, model engineering freek. I feel Fred's passion. And... R.I.P ole mate.. Think of you while i work on my lathe and mill, and make model engines. One of a kind. Keep banging those bricks off heavens steeple.
@John Bowkett No Sir, I'm a Capitalist. I have my own business and I employ people. What I dislike is people who point their finger at others blaming them for their failures. What I hate more is people moaning about how bad this country is... People in this country are spoilt they have no idea how good they have it...name me a country better than England?? An I'm a second gen immigrant... Figure that one out!
I remember seeing Fred Dibnah in the early 80s , he is categorically the bravest man in Britain! I’ve served in the Army, Fred takes the biscuit, what a guy.
I've watched everything I could find on Fred but I still can't resist clicking when he shows up again. He's an artist. "Smash your leg in two pieces & you'd feel a bit of a fool." Sad loss. 😢 I wonder if he ever rode the bucket to the top.
When you say wouldn't be allowed today, if you are talking about the smoking there is a video of some modern Scottish steeple jacks up on youtube, and at least one of the guys is sitting on top of the chimney smoking. They are pointing the chimney and they still use the ladders lashed to the side of the chimney, only difference is the safety gear.
@@kalle8836 .Gym strong I call them.Used to work with a load of gym heads that walked around like they they had a roll of carpet under each arm but if they were put on a tough job they would start crying lol.
The lactic acid wouldnt even get me past the first ladder. Biologically I'd freeze up, crumble or go weak cause of fear, he doesn't have this. Pure confidence and zero fear.
As the camera draws back to show Fred against acres of vertical brickwork, I'm reminded of the opening shots of the TV series Red Dwarf, with Dave Lister wielding a paintbrush... :-)
It'd be rather hard to collect that award considering he's been dead for about 15 years. Anyway, he did actually receive and MBE whilst he was still alive...
Politicians are the parasites of the earth think carefully about where you put your x I always said I'd only vote for an honest politician guess what I've still never voted why vote for filthy scummy lazy good for nothing parasites who instil hatred and don't have an honest moral thought amongst them all, whilst people like hard working Fred were taxed to the hilt to pay for their extravagances, anyone who wants to be a politician is only interested in themselves and having an easy work free lifestyle and don't tell me there are some good ones out there if there is why don't they donate their pay to the needy and only work for minimum wage, fat chance, anyhoo rant over as I'm a very easygoing type of person who only gets riled when I see injustices
No health and safety involved No risk assessment in morning No over priced over the top scaffolding Just one man with no nonsense balls getting it done
When I was a kid, the local Blue Circle cement factory had a huge chimney. Next door was a dolomite quarry. One day, some worker got too careless with shot- blasting and the ensuing shockwave promptly trashed half the stack. Took them two years to sort that out. P.s. a whole bunch of steeplejack folk were employed on the 2 year rebuild cos my granddad had good binos and you could clearly see the guys doing what Fred did.
Im a climber from Sweden. Yesterday I had never heard of this guy but after watching videos about him here on UA-cam I must confess that this Fred-guy is my new hero. What a bad ass climbing that thing after a couple of pints. If I would have been born 40 years earlier I would also like to been working as a steeplejack.
I scaffold currently and work at gas plants where they separate smoke stacks, even a 100ft climb of two 50ft ladders is tough, I think the difference is this day and age we carry 40lbs of tools plus fall arrest and this guy is top tier.
He was such a joy to listen too and did such great work that I think he really enjoyed. Along with working on those steam thing ( can’t remember called).
If we had a hundred Fred Dibnahs............we just might get Britain out of the mess we find ourselves in.............I miss watching him.........thank you for the vid
It's funny that I popped by this chimney whilst in Bolton with work. It's the biggest one I could see. Then I went to peek over the fence into his back garden. I think Fred guided me to the chimney I really do. RIP mate.
Fred Dibnah wasn't just an extraordinary man but perhaps the last in a line of extraordinary men - the men who built those chimneys. I am in absolute awe of them all.
The chimneys were built from the inside upwards so that wasn’t too bad for them. They ever gave it a thought about how they would be maintained after they were built. They couldn’t have known that a superman called Fred Dibnah was going to sort it all out.
@@zimmer651 I wonder what sort of platforms and supports they built inside to allow them to work in comparative safety? I can't find any information about it.
Being a 65 year old bricklayer, I'd just like to say those bricks don't just fall off. They take some shifting with only a lump hammer. He was the epitome of Englishness. A truly great and fascinating man. R.I.P. FRED.
I used to knock down walls and reclaim bricks for my pocket money. Some were hard to shift, some were not. Depends on the cement mix. Eight hours of chipping away is hard on the arms. Like sculpting.
Can’t agree more from a 51 year old bricklayer
the blokes an absolute legend and gentlemen great respect👍
I used to knock women out. His ex mrs must have taken a couple of digs.
Imagine Fred's arms though, all that laddering pays off for something lol
I was a scaffolder for years and even when I was at the peek of fitness at twenty one, I couldn't have climbed that chimney as fast. You need a lot of bottle and strength for that job. He was some man.
and a few pints in ye
@@bf3alltheway 🥴🥴🥴
Peek at 21?😂
@@ryancadman7427 soft lad
@@staytrue5307 what you going on about?
How does he just climb up that chimney like it's nothing? There's one video where the ladders are pitched BACKWARDS about 5 degrees, 200' up and he scampers up and over them and then this huge concrete lip without even slowing down...and he installed all the ladders himself. He hung that goddamn backwards ladder with no one up there to help him, just his one friend all the way down on the ground. He had to sit over the top of the previous ladder and balance there in the wind while he hammered in the braces for the next ladder, then pull the next one all the way up and start roping it to the wall, THEN climb onto the half-attached, swaying, backwards ladder and hammer in more braces and secure the top with more rope...it doesn't even seem possible! This guy was absolutely amazing.
I'm a roofer so i work on roofs 5 days a week but i am sitting here watching Fred & my knees have gone weak & iv got vertigo
Dah toughest bloke would never dear follow my grandpa up the dah ladder. I’ll bet my left nut on it
Same here,the man was made of rare stuff.
I hear ya I roofed for 23 years and there's no way I'd do some of the shit this guy did
You puff. I’m a tree surgeon and could do it easily. I’m not impressed at all by Fred
I heard that Death had a near Fred Dibnah experience...
I'll bet it scared the piss right out of im.
I heard Fred Dibnah once looked Chuck Norris in the eyes...and _lived!_
@@RememberTheSlapFilms Chuck Norris nodded and they went for beer.
T-ROY BOI u
@@RememberTheSlapFilms I heard Chuck Norris once looked Fred Dibnah in the eyes...and lived! --- there fixed it for you
INSANE!!! He has put up ladders on both sides!! Thats a scary epic extremley dangerous job in itself. Then he has erected all that scafolding, and then he is wacking thousands bricks with a hammer and chisel to slowley demolish something that he loves. That Fred Dibnah was SuperMan. Then to top it off He'd go home and work on restoring traction engines!!! What the hell. All powered by cheese butties. It's unbelivable work and he always got the job done with well deserved sense of pride. He should have been Knighted
Lewis Floyd Henry ,,yes rewarded indeed ! this breed is nearly gone sadly the new generation over Dont work or want to work or in some gang, thing's we're hand made British made :) top man he'd make any one look silly on any building site today
Paul Jones there's actually great job opportunities working for gangs
that's not really true we have an 18 year old work with us and he is great he goes to college learning carpentry , all last we we was knocking plaster and lathes out of an old Victorian place and he didn't stop all day and didn't moan once and its a shitty job
yep but don't forget he is privileged and women missed out on these jobs...or something
He wasn't knighted but did get an MBE
How he just climbed up and up those Ladders without any harness is beyond my imagination. Absolute gem... Would loved to have known him. What a tribute he was for this country. I take my hat off to you Mr Fred Dibnah you truly was one of a kind
He had the most magnificent climbing techniques. A pleasure to watch and listen too
With a cigarette in his mouth
@@travislindsey1507 and a belly full of beer !
This man is the most humble genius I have ever seen
CHRISTINE WATTS He’s an artist. An artist is someone who can do what I can’t do. That’s Fred. 👍👍
gary goodman Yes, course he does, 😀 but he IS a great speaker, commentator. Doesn’t lecture/talk down to folk. He’s only showing off his God given talents, not hiding them.
He was very articulate and reasoned. He did a difficult job and he explained how he did it and why. Few professionals can do that. RIP.
he wasn't formally educated but he was very well read and knowledgeable. a smart man.
Reminds me of myself a bit.
@@chrisreynolds2410 me too 😂😂
All you boys are forgetting one thing? 100 years before this, some guy had to build that thing and that including keeping it plumb and getting the bricks and mortar up there would have been ONE HELL OF A LOT OF HARD GRAFT. I'd like to see todays builders try that without modern equipment. Fred your a top bloke.
@JCBAirmaster73 It had to be a separate trade with in masonry . I bet of you looked back most were built by the same companies
He climbed that ladder with a smoke.
It was built was the top down they would of walked up and around the scaffolding
@JCBAirmaster73 Hey up, totally agreed on what you've commented, although I do know from having seen photos of the bigger chimneys being built, that there was usually a team of brick layers building them and usually the teams would consist of around 4 to 7/8 men, but they would also use pulley systems for lifting loads of bricks and buckets of mortar up to the brick layers, so it would save time for the builders from climbing up and down every so often.
One thing I remember Fred mentioning in his early chimney fellin videos is that he prefered to demolish the chimneys with the wood props and letting the chimney smoke 1 last time, so as to acknowledge and respect all those that spent all the hard work and effort to build the chimney up, which they would have place a Union Jack at the top when it was done.
I can't help wish the days of the big factories and the old school ways were back because there was a demand for there to be a good mentality and work ethic, whilst still being humble and respectable, to a large degree.... something that is hugely missed in modern generations to an extent.
@JCBAirmaster73 sadly all too true pal and it doesn't help that when Britain joined the EU, the men with balls start to be fazed out and the limp wristed Jessies started taking over... Sadly the days of the British Industrial age have gone decades ago and the country is a much worse place for it.
Fred calling himself a lazy man is probably the best joke he ever told! Even when he had a day off he was working at home on a steam engine or building his own small coal mine!
That is because he probably thought he never worked a day in his life. When he was steeplejacking he had no boss, just a job to do that he loved, then he worked on his steam engines which he loved. Where he was lazy was his marriages, women loved him because he was so capable but grew tired when his attention was always else where.
I had the good fortune of a chance meeting with Fred at a castle in Wales. Ive been a fan for years and later visited his home exhibition in Bolton. Very clever but humble man, and always had time to chat. One of lifes nice folk. Sleep tight Fred.
“ I had a couple of pints before I climbed up “. What an incredible man .!!! We may never see his like again
I bet he enjoyed relieving himself from the top. What a stream that would have been!
I’ve watched these FD films over and over again, he never fails to amaze me!! What a man he was!!!!
When I was a kid, my dad used to watch Fred on tv and I was bored... now I can appreciate how impressive he was, running up a ladder with no safety gear at those heights. I haven't got the bottle for that. I love watching these videos now.
Right? When your young you think lifes so easy and have little to no appreciation for these fundamental things, glad that we get past that stage (most of us at least)
Yeah same except with my grandparents on VHS ,must've been 2000-2003ish , still some of the best memories I have
I've been doing scaffolding all my adult life,(over 30 yrs.) and on my BEST day, I could not have even climbed that ladder. UNREAL man.
Monte Walsh I work on scaffold everyday. I wouldn't climb it either.
Ive climbed cell towers 6 years solid and these days I too am a scaffy. This dude had a huge set on him. Rip
In one year you got 5 years of experience. Must be a hell of a job
99.99999999% of people wouldn't even entertain climbing the ladder let alone putting it and the scaffolding up...utterly mind boggling!
Absolutely. I've done a fair bit of high work and it changes your decisions. Who a person thinks they are on the ground, is rarely true once they get a swaying distance off the ground. Only inner ear balance then. The balance perceived by being 5ft from the ground is gone
To much is made of him not being scared of heights. Lots of people have absolutely no fear of working at height, it's his building and engineering abilities that are exceptional
Anonymous European Driver well that as well obviously
@@AnonymousEuropeanDriver what does he says at the end of the video?
@@AnonymousEuropeanDriver no fear of nights, smarter than average AND the insurance greater than a mule.
Have to say that building the bloody chimney in the first place must have been a hell of a job as well. Fascinating video.
The more I watch of this man, the more I find him absolutely fascinating... The concept of taking an enormous chimney down one brick at a time with literally no safely equipment is just incredible. What a LEGEND!!!!
lol Same here
Lmao he doesn't do that all by hand
@@ravenclawstudent6012 Yer right, sometimes he kicks some in
@@casbrin9373 your wrong. He swings his balls into the bricks like a hammer.
@@ravenclawstudent6012 how else do you think he done it???? He didn’t carry a jackhammer up those ladders….. Like Johnny Cash said….”One piece at a time”….those were the days of real men doing honest hard graft….
This guy is superb. The amount of time it must have taken to build that pulley system and then somehow get himself, the wires, the brake, the levers up a chimney about 200ft tall is just incredible.
I think he could have came down on that pulley too, Much quicker
That is very true. I just came across this man and the first thing you notice is obviously the hight and the fact that he takes the chimneys down brick by brick. Then you realise all the engineering it takes to build all the things he need to do the job.
There is another few video showing exactly how he does it. It’s genius and he is suprisingly quick!
He did talk about the flying buckets system on another episode...& of course, the brake drum control he used was off one of his old Land Rovers...! 😉
This soft spoken bloke is hard as nails ...
I just love the fact he did a job that makes most peoples hands sweat just to watch and yet there was no big headedness or cockyness to him. What a humble hard working guy!
This is just insane. Fred was just one of a kind . To get up that Chimney as fast as that is just just crazy . No Harness safety gear . Balls of steel.And the buckets just amazing. Fred was the man .
I work at height every day, but barely half of what Fred did. There are multiple safety protocols and I have to undergo a lot of training and hold multiple licences to be permitted to do so. Fres just blows my mind. He is astonishing, a man completely devoid of fear. Legend
Do you recommend leather soled shoes on ladders?
That's why america was built so quick they didn't have all the crap they just built it😊
He treated this as the norm.Northerners are tough creatures and thats why they were crucial in the industrial revolution.Fred was an incredibly clever man but had no ego atall.
All this tosh about northerners being tougher than anyone else and being better than anyone else is beginning to get very boring. Where northerners are different from the rest of the population is in telling people that they are northerners, They then expect the rest of us to treat them as very special when in fact they are no more special than folks from other regions of England.
Oh, come on. He was a great guy, but he had plenty of ego.
Marc Law it's got nothing to do with north or south it's about the era there were large scale building projects in the south the London Underground , battersea power station , the Clifton suspension bridge it's about a man having to feed his family and not having a guaranteed cheque for sitting at home watching tele they did what they had to do
mike04535
Well said. I've just moved to Yorkshire and I've never heard so much claptrap about how great they are. Friendly, tough, honest etc. All these accreditations are self awarded. Trying to explain this to them is fun, but the look on their faces is a picture! Unfortunately in most cases I simply don't have the time or the crayons to explain this.
one of my heros also loved his accent they dont make men like fred anymore you just have to look at all these over paid footballers r i p my friend 💖
this was one of the greatest documentarys ever made, a true character was fred
I sit at a desk and work on the phone. Think I’ll think before complaining about certain clients in 2018.
Fred was an incredible human being. What an intelligent, hard working man with great skill and enormous courage. Mind blowing.
As an Irishman I just love this man. Rip fread a through English rose.
What's being Irish got to do with it?
@@Joshua-jj4xn - Because they're all supposed to hate the English?
YT recommended me this. Went to bed at 23.00h, saw this. Then another one. And then another... Went to sleep at about 04h... What a remarkable man, fantastic. Men like him are a dying breed, unfortunately. A very brave man, climbing without safetyharnass. Not possible nowadays...
I've only recently discovered Fred Dibnah and I'm glad I did. He's a legend and hilarious at times. I watched a video where he was erecting scaffolding on a tall chimney and then walked around without safety equipment. It blows my mind how dangerous this could be of a bird flies at you or you get dizzy randomly. I'm 33 and I wanna rewind the damn clock back.
The toughest bloke would dear never follow my grandpa up the dah ladder. I seen him scale 700 feet by hand. A man of balls
I am sweating the palm of my hands, and am near a heart attack watching him doing this. I get dizzy standing on a three step ladder. I admire deeply what he did for a whole life, andeven surviving this very dangerous job. A very brave man...respect, Fred!!
alan steen iversson youre saying what many of us feel. I was a bricklayer and worked in south Africa Canada and Britain and on some high jobs but I always admired the scaffolders because I couldn't handle heights and learned to switch off and overcome it
same
Couple of pints before you go, you'll be fine 😂
You get dizzy 3 feet off the ground? That’s wild
I get sweaty palms just looking at the heights he's climbing to. Especially given this is a no-nonsense, old school bloke in the 1970s when nobody gave a toss about health and safety.
Much respect to him, what a legend.
They did give a toss, they looked after each other.
Now lard arses write and enforce rules to make it SEEM like someone cares, they don't, only care about knowing who pays before/if it happens
Fred took down a chimney in the mill just behind my house. The whole street had to evacuate whilst the chimney was taken down. The chimney fell exactly where he said it would. It was interesting seeing how he prepared the chimney for demolition. I remember that he had a Land-Rover with Dibnah & Son written on the side. Really good hearing a thick Lancashire accent again, makes me feel homesick
I have worked in construction for almost 50 years on all types of scaffolding and best part of it was before safety officers were invented.this man is amazing .am I right in saying he is taking 2 rungs at a time on the way down.must be rushing to the pub.its great that someone has the foresight to get this on tape as this man deserves to be remembered.well done from ireland🇮🇪🇮🇪☘️☘️
@Theangrybinmanshow only ones that I've seen personally are 2 together in poolbeg, Dublin. Can be seen from all of Dublin, they are out of operation now, but can be seen even coming into Dublin on the plane. Painted red and white at the top. Not sure they would be as tall as the one in this video.
@@balfie18 Terrible breach of HandS. He was issued cease and decist notice by the HSE.
´So, you wanna try this bloody job sober?` - best quote ever.
Still is a very surreal image of Fred free climbing his ladders. No one would ever do that (or get away with it) at a job these days.
Total respect for the man and his life.
After a couple of pints as well 😂
He's got some balls for what he's doing.
@@leebeardshall7668 it was just a different mindset mate. Even he said a couple of pints at dinnertime made it easier to climb up lol
There is a certain emotion that this man Fred Brings to my soul. He’s calming and honest, and pleasant to listen too. I could listen to this fellow quite easily.
The rubble bucket is pure genius
I wonder whether he ever thought of using it to get down at the end of the day.
Necessity, the mother of invention...
Absolutely underrated.
@7:99 Wait! He just said he does this because he is basically lazy!
I came back to watch Fred's videos I had a dream I was with him climbing one of those chimneys the dream was so detailed I was shitting myself and woke up sweating crazy lol
Fred is a true legend hands down🙏
Man I forgot how much of a legend Fred was. Respect !
I have been a scaffold man for over 25 years and I could have NEVER, even in my (have no fear) youth, climbed that ladder. NO safety harness? UNREAL!!!!!
The man must of had icewater running through his veins.
How do you trust that length of ladder. One bad rung and your dung
@@MarkJones-kq1oo I was looking for you Mark. I saw you yesterday. Did you see me? What were you doing Mark.? Let me know what you think.
Thanks Mark! ☺️
@@MarkJones-kq1oo They make these things called retractables and have for a very long time. The first time you climb a length of ladder you hang one, that's your life line / what you tie off to. And every additional length you move the retractable higher up. When you are are the very top you hang one up there. When moving up / down a ladder your clipped into that. When your working on the scaffold your on a life line. You have 100% tie off by having a pair of lanyards. You must climb the ladder while attached to the retractable. Once your on the scaffold connect to the life line and unhook your lanyard from the lanyard. The only acceptable time by modern safety standards to free climb something without being tied off is when you are doing that first ladder. And even then we have JLG's and Aerial work platforms that you can use to set that all up.
@@MarkJones-kq1oo To ladder, you cretin. Like any sane people would. Thankfully the days of this BS and other stuff like child labour and lead in drinking water are long gone...
@@BType13X2 tell me something I don't already know can you .I was a supervisor and safety man for last 25yrs .jeezez tonight behave yourself ...
It’s great seeing someone like Fred knock it down, but kudos to those blokes who built the chimney as well
Fred was absolutely amazing, no fear, I’m sweating just watching him climb those ladders with no harness. Incredibly strong too
A credit to our nation,and a very sadly missed man by all who knew,watched,and met him,true gentleman,antiquarian of renown,victorian,real grafter.God bless the memory of this great man and the legacy he has left us.
How did this great man die. I hope it wasn't by falling or stuff
@@majidhussain3235 he fell
@@ravenclawstudent6012 lol.
@@majidhussain3235 he died of cancer
@@majidhussain3235 he fell victim to bowel Cancer
I pass that chimney nearly everyday, sometimes stand at the bottom just across the street, look up and remember when Fred took the top off this one, the summer of 82.
Fred was a skilled man. Honest and genuine also...RIP Fred..The world was a better place with you around..
A true English working class hero. Not many left, so hats off to the man. Should show this in schools to young lads, they might not see premier league footballers in quite the same way afterwards.
A true gem love this footage
Fair point. A great deal of hero worship is grotesquely misplaced.
Footballers 🙄
I never realised that a rubble moving contraption flying up and down a chimney stack could be so charming to watch.
I am a climber, I use dynamic ropes. but this guy doesn't wear anything. my admiration........ big balls of steel.
these kinds of men are called legends
greetings from Chile
I'm a tree arborist, rock climbing refrigeration technician, model engineering freek.
I feel Fred's passion.
And... R.I.P ole mate..
Think of you while i work on my lathe and mill, and make model engines.
One of a kind.
Keep banging those bricks off heavens steeple.
Men like Fred built our nation and sadly its men unlike Fred who will destroy it. Rip Fred.
slavery and colonialism more like
@John Bowkett No Sir, I'm a Capitalist. I have my own business and I employ people. What I dislike is people who point their finger at others blaming them for their failures. What I hate more is people moaning about how bad this country is... People in this country are spoilt they have no idea how good they have it...name me a country better than England?? An I'm a second gen immigrant... Figure that one out!
@John Bowkett 👍
The politicians have opened the doors to the world to come and enjoy the hard work of men like Fred. . .
@noxxi knox most of the manufacturing has gone China
The scaffold around that chimney is a beautiful sight a masterpiece
That double-bucket is aces.
I remember seeing Fred Dibnah in the early 80s , he is categorically the bravest man in Britain! I’ve served in the Army, Fred takes the biscuit, what a guy.
I've watched everything I could find on Fred but I still can't resist clicking when he shows up again.
He's an artist. "Smash your leg in two pieces & you'd feel a bit of a fool." Sad loss. 😢
I wonder if he ever rode the bucket to the top.
Some man for 1 man. So strong physically and mentally. And such a smart and interesting man. God rest him.
What a truly amazing and fantastic video!!! Fred Dibnah was the very definition of a living legend!
No idea why this came up on my UA-cam page, but I’m glad he did. I’m a Welsh sparky and come across so many fellas like this dude, brilliant
Proper man. If only we had people like him in Britain today. Its people like Fred who made Britain great.
Make Merica great again, buddy we cut from the same turd, just different assholes. MURICA!
They dont make them like Fred anymore...What an amazing man...
So sad to see those grand old structures being demolished. What a legend is our Fred
Agree. They were built in the nineteenth century. How is it allowed.?. Surely they are grade listed buildings.
That man had big balls to climb that chimney that fast and with that much confidence. A true Great British Man.
Him smoking on the way to the top pretty much "cements" his badassary.
And with a couple of pints in him!
When you say wouldn't be allowed today, if you are talking about the smoking there is a video of some modern Scottish steeple jacks up on youtube, and at least one of the guys is sitting on top of the chimney smoking. They are pointing the chimney and they still use the ladders lashed to the side of the chimney, only difference is the safety gear.
TheoBrixtonTheKid Best comment here!
Ryan Wilson Smoking is cool when Fred is climbing a 300 foot ladder and intakes more nicotine than oxygen and doesn't bat an eye .
Pure Legend. What a man, i used to love watching him on TV.
must have had arms like a jackhammer imagine climbing that, spending all day with a hammer and chisel, then having to climb back down.
People worked then, nowdays people go to gyms and still dont get real muscles
Think he even came back down for his sandwiches at brew time or went to pub.
@@walt-sh7ju He used to sink a skinfull and then go back up. Serious breach of health and safety procedure.
@@kalle8836 .Gym strong I call them.Used to work with a load of gym heads that walked around like they they had a roll of carpet under each arm but if they were put on a tough job they would start crying lol.
The lactic acid wouldnt even get me past the first ladder. Biologically I'd freeze up, crumble or go weak cause of fear, he doesn't have this. Pure confidence and zero fear.
Mesmerising, terrifying & awe inspiring all at the same time. Good to see Fred living on via YT.
As the camera draws back to show Fred against acres of vertical brickwork, I'm reminded of the opening shots of the TV series Red Dwarf, with Dave Lister wielding a paintbrush... :-)
A strong and brave wee man.
So glad i discovered Fred. He’s the only Fred I’ve ever liked. Amazing
The man had balls of steel.
it has to have been bricks!
@@konsul2006 My vote is wrought iron inside brick ballsack.
Whose here after Scott brown direct u here?
Iam, but ive watched freds stuff since i was a kid, hes a uk legend
Aye!
Cheers from Manila, Philippines.
@@Skittledikk amazing guy. Can't believe he could get the ladders and scale the chimneys! 😬
had to see this after Scott brown and his chimney video. Hello from Oklahoma
lmao - me - this man is a champion - there's no way i would get up those strictures like he did - insane
Nick clegg got a queens award this year and Fred got nowt....there’s something wrong.freds worth 1000 cleggs
It'd be rather hard to collect that award considering he's been dead for about 15 years. Anyway, he did actually receive and MBE whilst he was still alive...
Welcome to the human farm. Normal people are slaves to the elite.
Politicians are the parasites of the earth think carefully about where you put your x I always said I'd only vote for an honest politician guess what I've still never voted why vote for filthy scummy lazy good for nothing parasites who instil hatred and don't have an honest moral thought amongst them all, whilst people like hard working Fred were taxed to the hilt to pay for their extravagances, anyone who wants to be a politician is only interested in themselves and having an easy work free lifestyle and don't tell me there are some good ones out there if there is why don't they donate their pay to the needy and only work for minimum wage, fat chance, anyhoo rant over as I'm a very easygoing type of person who only gets riled when I see injustices
That's a severe underestimate Jeremy.
Don't even mention Fred in the same sentence as that soft, (take it up the arse) prick.
No health and safety involved
No risk assessment in morning
No over priced over the top scaffolding
Just one man with no nonsense balls getting it done
The bucket and brake system is brilliant.
This man went about life correctly .
When I was a kid, the local Blue Circle cement factory had a huge chimney. Next door was a dolomite quarry. One day, some worker got too careless with shot- blasting and the ensuing shockwave promptly trashed half the stack. Took them two years to sort that out.
P.s. a whole bunch of steeplejack folk were employed on the 2 year rebuild cos my granddad had good binos and you could clearly see the guys doing what Fred did.
I wish the BBC would show those early Fred documentaries again. I remember my astonishment when the first one aired.
You could hear a metallic sound when Fred walked past ,,balls of steel mate
What a unique, wonderful man. We could use more like him, we are not worthy.
"Makes you cough & splutter worse than Capstan Full Strength" lol..
Just incredible to watch, the patience, the guts, the man, I salute 👏 🙌 you Fred.
Im a climber from Sweden. Yesterday I had never heard of this guy but after watching videos about him here on UA-cam I must confess that this Fred-guy is my new hero. What a bad ass climbing that thing after a couple of pints.
If I would have been born 40 years earlier I would also like to been working as a steeplejack.
Would you climb up that ladder?
@@Somchai007 Yeah. Absolutely.
@@grimlund Wow. It's amazing the power of the mind. I'd be a nervous wreck..
How the heck did he climb that ladder to the top???? What a brave man. A hero. Sadly missed.
After he put it and and then built the scaffold......
I scaffold currently and work at gas plants where they separate smoke stacks, even a 100ft climb of two 50ft ladders is tough, I think the difference is this day and age we carry 40lbs of tools plus fall arrest and this guy is top tier.
I love these videos, the first two minutes is just getting up there, more than I could accomplish
He was such a joy to listen too and did such great work that I think he really enjoyed. Along with working on those steam thing ( can’t remember called).
If we had a hundred Fred Dibnahs............we just might get Britain out of the mess we find ourselves in.............I miss watching him.........thank you for the vid
Two words: fucking legend!!
The Silver Dubber two words: Fucking Hell!?
One word would have been sufficient; *legend*
The Silver Dubber
Iron workers aint got shit on bro
It's funny that I popped by this chimney whilst in Bolton with work. It's the biggest one I could see. Then I went to peek over the fence into his back garden. I think Fred guided me to the chimney I really do. RIP mate.
i did high rise window cleaning for some time , your a better man than i am Fred
What a fantastic and hardworking man ,he puts to shame some of the lazy beggers of today he should have been knighted
2:12 'some of you wanna try this bloody job sober'
This is still one of the greatest videos ever captured and uploaded onto UA-cam.
Fred Dibnah wasn't just an extraordinary man but perhaps the last in a line of extraordinary men - the men who built those chimneys. I am in absolute awe of them all.
The chimneys were built from the inside upwards so that wasn’t too bad for them. They ever gave it a thought about how they would be maintained after they were built. They couldn’t have known that a superman called Fred Dibnah was going to sort it all out.
@@zimmer651 I wonder what sort of platforms and supports they built inside to allow them to work in comparative safety? I can't find any information about it.
What a great guy, and so clever. I would have loved to have met him.
A few beers down the pub then back to work for Fred !
Could listen to you all day ! Paul.
That winch line bucket contraption is blood brilliant. You won't find men like this any more these days. Respect.
These modern extreme athletes or extreme sports guys have nothing on this guy.
I'm guessing Fred didn't worry about someone stealing his hammer and chisel during the night.
Hey I do like that
@Daniel Thompson I'm guessing that not many people would climb up. But yeah no respect I agree.
I wouldn't go up there if he left a million pounds
Probably not 🤣🤣🤣
@@ashtea23 I would not go up there for all the gold and money in the world