Last episode of Freds final series on BBC2 now I think - hes off to get an MBE from t’Queen in his steam engine. What a man he was, absolutely brilliant - I hope his sons take good care of all his toys. Rest in peace Fred, one of the good 'uns!
“Do you like that?” 
Fred Dibnah all afternoon
what an amazing life 
one bit that made me laugh was his wife wanted a holiday and he did’nt BUT he struck up a deal with a firm in blackpool they make him a part for his steam engine and he would knock there chimney down
so off they trundles to blackpoo 
and half way through the holiday he’s knocking down this chimney and the wife nd kids are on the beach but not before she’s helped erect the ladders 
If you’ve not seen it you are really missing a good “old school” engineer at work
simon
I missed this afternoons set. He’s brilliant though isn’t he.
A great loss to us all, when he passed away a few months ago. (Or was it weeks?)
ive been a bit busy today and missed it but have seen most of his other tv programes and they were all ways interesting i just with we’d had him at school for history and engineering maybe i would of paid more attention
a great man and will be mist by many people who although never met him will remain touched by his appearances on tv
I always remember him knocking down the chimney from the alder mill where i lived about 25 years ago after it came down the all clear was sounded and everyone ran up to get one of the white bricks that said alder on them me and my mate got one each 
but some [zb] robbed them out of his garden that night 
as an 8 year old i was [zb] gutted 
simon
There was another one who did a similar job, Blaster Bates 
He was an ex army explosive expert who demolished chimneys and buildings.
His after dinner speeches were brilliant
It takes 2 days to get from Chester to Holmes Chapel in a narrowboat. I can do it in 10 minutes in my car
Blaster Bates did a series of comedy tapes as well. They were hilarious.
I come from Bolton, and I must admit, I have heard quite a lot of things about Fred Dibnah that wouldn’t put him on my chrissie card list.
BUT Blaster Bates - I have 4 older brothers, and grew up on his tapes. He still makes me chuckle, now. The kids even know a bit of his work.
mrs5l:
I come from Bolton, and I must admit, I have heard quite a lot of things about Fred Dibnah that wouldn’t put him on my chrissie card list.
The mans dead give him a break please 
Its about showing respect
simon
Sorry you feel like that, Simon, but surely that is a very naive view. Also I didn’t show any ‘disrespect’, I expressed a view, which is what other people did in the thread. I was also very restrained in my wording. Surely both sides are allowed.
The ‘don’t speak ill of the dead’ argument could go on forever, and never reach a conclusion. Let’s agree to let that one go.
A: If you take the ‘Never speak ill of the dead’ to the limit, it means you can never call old Adolf a complete [zb]ing [zb] of a [zb].
B: To come from T’North, and express no interest in Mr Dibnah shows more of a lack a class ‘bout t’ complainant than our Mr Dibnah is-self.
Th’ only Bates I know of is Simon and a young Master of that surname… But Frank Dibnah was a great chap, and highly educational. E’ll be missed by every fallin chimney in the north.
What a character he was, had such a way of explaining things that everyone understood…need more of his kind on the box instead of those who seem to forever be chewing a boiled sweet…but we all know the doors are normally closed to everyday folk unless youve got an ology…
have a nice day
Don’t know who Blaster Bates was but I bet you never saw him stood at the top of a 200 foot chimney without a safety harness like Fred Dibnah.
It was great to see the way he brought all those buildings and chimneys down - the old fashioned way. Knock some bricks out, prop it up with wood and then set fire to it.
I remember watching one of his programmes when a chimney nearly came down on him and he had to run for his life.
Instead of being in shock, he just said, "Did you like that? (With strong Bolton accent)
Summed the bloke up to a tee, I thought.
I’ve never heard of Blaster Bates either. 
I never saw BlasterBates do anything, these where or cassette tapes not video. However, he is/was an ex-demolition expert and he made several very funny recordings of stories of his exploits.