Fred Dibnah

Frederick Fred Dibnah MBE 28 April 1938 6 November 2004 born in Bolton was an English steeplejack and eccentric with a keen interest in mechanical engineering who became a cult television personality Dibnah was born in a country which then relied heavily upon coal to fuel its industry As a child he was fascinated by the steam engines which powered the many textile mills in Bolton but he paid particular attention to chimneys and the men who worked on them He began his working life as a joiner before becoming a steeplejack From age 22 he served for two years in the armed forces as part of his national service Once demobilised he returned to steeplejacking but met with limited success until he was asked to repair Boltons parish church The resulting publicity provided a welcome boost to his business ensuring he was almost never out of work In 1978 while making repairs to Bolton Town Hall Dibnah was filmed by a regional BBC news crew The BBC then commissioned an awardwinning documentary which followed the roughhewn steeplejack as he worked on chimneys interacted with his family and talked about his favourite hobbysteam His Lancastrian manner and gentle selftaught philosophical outlook proved popular with viewers and he featured in a number of television programmes Toward the end of his life the decline of Britains industry was mirrored by a decline in his steeplejacking business and Dibnah increasingly came to rely on afterdinner speaking for his income In 1998 he presented a programme on Britains industrial history and went on to present a number of series largely concerned with theIndustrial Revolution and its mechanical and architectural legacy He died from cancer in November 2004 aged 66 He is survived by his five children from three marriages