1982: FRED DIBNAH Scales BURY Church SPIRE | Look North West | BBC Archive

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Reporter and Cameraman if he was also climbing had balls of platinum and steel alloy!

[@delsydsoftware]

I will always stop everything to watch a Fred Dibnah video :)

[@matthewnaylor4412]

I Come from Bury and know the parish church well, Fred is a hero of mine and a legend in Lancashire but christ that reporter had some balls 👍

[@douglasharley2440]

fred's a pro, but damn that reporter deserves *serious* props for going up there!😱

[@lauraclark1520]

I agree. Bloody brave fella.

[@ls6882]

Fred the legend ❤

[@andybils6141]

They don’t make journalists like that anymore

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Good point, Fred was very experienced working at great heights but the journalist deserves double praise for bravery, Fred gets a Star 💫 anyway.

[@shrinewitch]

Course they do. They report on front lines in all the wars we're doing in the middle east these days 😂

[@jbradbury2]

thank god, I found him a bit big headed.

[@vrrrrrr-uwu]

he’s got balls i’ll give him that

[@CadillacJak]

Thats no joke

[@TheUnitedView79]

Sweaty palms watching any video of Fred climbing… “anything goes wrong it’s half a day out wi the undertaker”

[@cornbeef]

It's still standing to this day. I have to adjust the churches clock every now and again to make sure it's (roughly) right

[@JohnLees-b1q]

Fred legend

[@Alan_GA]

Absolutely, a northen legend

[@eedobee]

Fred Dibnah, what a champ. Any video he’s in is garunteed to give me vertigo.

[@zsrqpooha]

Pinacle of man we may never reach again

[@mr.invisible3123]

Man born with titanium balls Real reality star ... Nothing scripted

[@johnathanryan2117]

Fair play to the journo. Makes you wonder how many Fred just slapped up the top of spires without having Donald check the alignement. Cracking fellas, sadly missed

[@robinofilfracombe712]

Heart in mouth watching this. Safety last, not first. No fear bravery from a great man!

[@dnel83]

Climbs a steeple like a mountain goat. Cigarette hanging out his mouth. Must be Fred.

[@xanselmox]

RIP Fred, balls of steel.

[@sammemrys8195]

Happened decades ago and I was still nervous for them.😉

[@RolandoRatas]

I held my breath when Fred did this: 3:30 Also that news reporter Alistair Macdonald following Fred up there, he's a braver man than me.

[@giulioluzzardi7632]

Have faith in Fred.

[@CrystalShip8899]

​@@giulioluzzardi7632No disrespect to Fred but if Alistair lost his footing( especially with them flares he had on) and fell there is bugger all Fred could do about it. He is Fred Dibnah not Clark Kent.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

today they tell us smokers have short breaths, fred dibnah disproved them with a marlboro in his mouth climbing 50m up the ladder😂😂

[@ChorizoCentauri]

This man is a legend in his own right.

[@foxylady88ful]

Fearless. How brave

[@Skankhunt42-gg6vf]

Fred needs to go down in history as the man of men

[@kaitlyn__L]

Oh aye!

[@PlanetImo]

Cor. Astounding!

[@Crimespeaksuk]

From my town Fred was

[@RaceDayReplay]

I'm getting wobbly legs just watching

[@normanedwards7220]

I once tried to clean my guttering out , .....easy , ....only about 20 foot up , I got up there no problem , and looked down .....I FROZE....I was gripping the ladder that hard my knuckles hurt , my brain was telling my feet to move to the next rung down , my legs would not work , I was terrified, some one came up behind me and moved my feet down one at a time , . I know it doesn't make sense but I could not move ,😢

[@yemalad1.]

No chance of a TV channel or insurance company signing off on a journalist doing this these days!

[@matthewwiddows6319]

Imagine the paperwork today, luckily for the modern bbc, dont think they have anyone today that could get up there anyway so not an issue!!! Respect for the journalist going up there.

[@adamh7588]

The great Fred Dibnah

[@Dogen2012]

Hearing the opening line from the reporter “Right, said Fred” made me wonder if that’s where Right Said Fred got their name.

[@tonythetyger99]

Most churches run East West so aligning the weather vane should be easy but looking at google maps that one's a bit off (looks like the weather vane is still there anyway!)

[@foxylady88ful]

Going back down. ... oooo weeee

[@westyham1]

Loved watching Fred on TV

[@stephenc6648]

Why don't we see the camera operator? There would have to be someone already at the top to film Fred and the reporter arrive but we don't see anyone else in the shots from ground level. Also, would a BBC regional programme have been able to spare two cameramen for an item like this? Presumably this means they did the climb twice, once to be filmed from below and again so that they could be filmed at the top. Terrifying either way.

[@michaelturner4457]

"CUT!!" we didn't get the shot, you got to climb it a third time, "Take 2...and ACTION!"

[@MrZarewna]

It's as tedious as you imagine. They had to shoot it twice. Probably they did it so that the cameraman was filming them climbing and putting the spire on, then the cameraman would climb up and journalist and Dibnah climbed a little bit down so they were out of shot/frame and after that they could do the scene where they climb up and so on.

[@stephenc6648]

@@MrZarewna Peter Duncan cleaning the clock tower of Big Ben popped up in my recommendations yesterday. On that they did acknowledge the existence of the cameraman and showed the film camera being passed to him when he was dangling precariously.

[@BrodieVickers-tk9sd]

Definitely couldn't do that job😄

[@davidandrews8963]

ABSOLUTELY FEARLESS Fred Dibnah should have a statue in every town in the country Imagine the wet wipes who are in charge of health and safety nowadays ? They'd piss themselves in sheer panick IF Fred was doing this today Well he wouldn't be able to get life insurance that's a dead cert I was born in 1968 during the non pc era The 70s were grim for some but my parents had a little grocers shop and as a kid life was fun These old films of Fred doing his thing take your breath away The danger of the job cannot be underestimated These archive films are works of art And I'm also really glad his beautiful house is now safe and no one is going to alter it or demolish it Because I do believe for a time things were uncertain REST IN PEACE FRED A MAVERICK AND A TRUE LEGEND ♥️🍺🚬

[@TheLambLive]

I daresay they could have taken a compass up with them. 😂

[@douglasharley2440]

it might be affected by all the iron nearby.

[@clarsach29]

Take a compass with you up to the top next time?

[@Murf-cz1iv]

How they put the scaffolding up

[@xgreenjacket]

There’s other videos where he shows how on here if you search for them

[@CadillacJak]

Idk how they get the ladders up there

[@darryllharden9141]

I remembered in 1998 he came on his Steam Engine,Betsy from Bolton to switch on The Christmas Lights ceremony in Radcliffe Town Centre and said in the end "Is that it?... There's nothing there!." Leaving him a bit disappointed to say the least.

[@NormaStitz-w1f]

A legend.

[@SkillBuilder]

I was told off by the Health and Safety guy for climbing a ladder holding the sides (stiles) rather than the rungs. He said "If your foot slips you will never hold yourself by gripping the sides. Ever since that time I have climbed holding the rungs but here Fred is saying "Hold the sides not the rungs"

[@HeelsandSandals]

I also was taught to hold the rungs of a ladder for the same reason, and It's stuck with me all my working life.

[@johnbull1986]

Probably did that because I guess its quicker climbing up holding the sides.

[@michaelturner4457]

It was same on British Telecom lineman climbing courses, always hold the rungs with at least one hand, and never the sides.

[@HeelsandSandals]

​@@michaelturner4457I was told it by a fireman.

[@jamess1817]

I was told to hold the rungs too. However looking at his hands he sort of slides them up the sides, so maybe that's something. On a building site the rungs can get very dirty and slippery for a hand grip.

[@cremins]

Don't make them like they used to.

[@homesteadireland7473]

How the hell did Fred used to drag his bollocks up them ladders !

[@william474]

Why did he said not to grab the rungs of the ladder?

[@ChillToMusic87]

Why didn't Fred take the compass up with him 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@Marcia_Toms]

Fred Dibnah was a one off for sure.

[@alfiejackalfiejack5040]

This might be a daft question, but why didn't they take a compass up with them?

[@karimkamel4295]

how the hell does he get all that scaffolding down

[@joeymcloughlin6123]

How’s he got all that up there how’s he gettin dwn in red 🤣😂🤣

[@lovemussb1940]

Why did Donald not give Fred the compass to take up with him ? 😂

[@pipins3616]

Why did he not take the compass up 😂😂

[@1951GL]

Typical Fred. Canon Reg Smith was a local character too.

[@retrorter89]

I worked for massive company a few years ago and a bulb went out in a projector suspended from the ceiling in the board room, I grabbed a spare and jumped onto the *massive* solid wooden boardroom table, hewn from solid oak it was, to change it... The Health and Safety guy came running in and shouted at me to get off the table immediately and he told me he would organise to get the table moved and a step ladder organised to change the bulb.....honestly I kid you not I had to point out that a solid table with good footing was infinitely safer than any step ladder as I left..........that's whats wrong with this country now, far too many jobsworths without an ounce of common sense taking things to the nth degree Anyways those guys had nerves of steel

[@Skankhunt42-gg6vf]

The good old days without hse

[@ZaynneThaWook]

What is hse?

[@pauls8456]

Looks easy…………..;)

[@JONACAN]

Sod all that for a game of soldiers

[@ande100]

No rigging!? No harness!? Eeeeeh...,😏

[@fidelcatsro6948]

120 safety violations in view of todays safety requirement standard, he could be arrested for attempted suicide if he did this today😂

[@FlibDokky]

Dibnah is pure clickbait

[@jaymac7203]

?

[@Fernweh1965]

Indeed, the usual safety nay-sayers will be warming up their keyboards as we speak

[@fidelcatsro6948]

true, cant resist clicking on his videos

[@danielnoye223]

'You like that?'

[@jhickman4735]

Reckless, one slip of the foot and its lights out.

[@SH66667]

H&S Ruined this country and its characters

[@2511dhall]

Quite a lot of workers died before H&S, there is a memorial at Birmingham Cathedral Square and I would rather have H&S than nothing.

[@holgerandersengrn3457]

Puha, nor for me🙄

[@benledford2273]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah