American Reacts to Fred Dibnah How to Erect a Chimney Scaffold

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In this video I react to Fred Dibnah erecting a chimney scaffold. This was amazing to watch. Fred was a steeplejack from Lancashire, England and he looked at his chimney staging as a form of art. After watching this I understand why he felt this way.
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[@christopherbarnett6098]

We will always be proud of Fred. A true Englishman. Sound as a pound. What a gent he was. Peace out.

[@jamesmackenzie9837]

makes me proud of my heritage mate

[@christopherbarnett6098]

@@jamesmackenzie9837 ain't that the truth? Peace out.

[@borntoclimb7116]

So true

[@bernardcromarty485]

I'm even more proud to be able to say I knew him (and Donald), having lived only 200 yards from him for many years. I even paid my ground rent to Donald!

[@dannygray-mi3xn]

When men were men

[@petermizon4344]

WHEN FRED WAS BORN THEY FORGOT TO GIVE HIM NERVES

[@asseyez-vous6492]

He had nerves, however, people from Lancashire aren’t mollycoddled (well, they never used to be) and you were told to just get on with it. No sympathy came from parents back then.

[@d.sherlock5359]

Yes. He erects the ladders himself. There’s a video on how he did it. On chimneys that needed scaffolding, he’d have to set 2 sets of ladders; one each side so he could set the scaffolding. You can see the second ladder on some shots in this video.

[@pauldootson7889]

He had to erect the ladders each time as they couldnt leave the ladders up as clowns like my dad and his friends would try climbing them when they fell out the pub at half 11 my dad always told the story that he got to the top his friends say he did about 50 foot crapped his pants and hurriedly climbed down dont know if it was a ladder fred had put up but it made for a good story

[@GB-vn1tf]

@Paul Dootson the ladder would stay till the end of the job, they'd fence off the bottom to stop people climbing up. It takes a long time putting up a ladder, to take it down again would be the end of the day.

[@Kiss_My_Art]

Fred is what we call here in England ......'A National Treasure '

[@PhilH919]

Fred does erect the ladders. There is a great video of him explaining the procedure. Very interesting and a little frightening.

[@steddie4514]

A "little"?

[@colingoode3702]

I'd say VERY frightening. Today's Heath & Safety brigade would have had a seizure if they had been around when Fred was plying his trade. No safety harnesses, no method statements & no risk assessments etc etc. The only risk assessment Fred made was making sure he didn't have a "half day out with the undertaker". Fantastic bloke & so unassuming. A man's man if ever there was one.

[@grindelston5968]

Classic British understatement

[@alangarde2928]

I am quite capable of falling off a swing at near ground level, let alone a bosuns chair a couple of hundred feet up. A legend.

[@hatjodelka]

Fred Dibnah was an absolute legend. He was into old steam traction engines too.

[@villainousreport9600]

Yes indeed, Fred going on summer holidays or to steam fairs with his traction engine is some of my best TV memories. I was fascinated with him and steam engines in general.

[@johnlewis9158]

The very fact that Fred was by no means a young man make this and the other such projects he undertook even more impressive

[@mariafletcher6603]

Hello. Fred dibnah was one in a million. That what kept him alive so long. He just loved life. The steam tractors was my favourite. used to wait in anticipation till the next show. May he's soul rest in eternal peace 🕊️💐 from UK 🇬🇧👍👍 an old cockney gal

[@hatjodelka]

​@@mariafletcher6603 Well, in the scheme of things, 66 is not that old at all. On the other hand he packed a lot into that 66 years.

[@daloki349]

Yes, he does indeed erect his own ladders. There are two videos where he explains how to ladder a chimney. It is rally fascinating to watch.

[@corringhamdepot4434]

A Bosun's Chair (or boatswain's chair) is how they transfer people between ships at sea in the navy. Fire a rope across between the ships. Then hang a Bosun's Chair from the rope. So you can pull across a person sitting on the chair. Or they would lower a sailor over the side of the ship on a Bosun's chair to touch up the paint.

[@GB-vn1tf]

Wasn't it for the bosun to sit up the mast, hence its name? I'm sure it may have been used for ship to ship transferring, but that's a secondary use.

[@233Deadman]

Not just touch up paint, they might have a sailor hanging over the side on one to effect some repairs while at sea.

[@nige4287]

R.I.P Fred Dibnah you was a legend, I used to watch him when I was a child.

[@dbnpej]

Fred did put the ladder up, there's another video somewhere showing the methodology. All really clever stuff and part of the Steeplejack's art!

[@g0fvt]

Fred was highly intelligent, a fascinating man in general. In one of his videos he voiced that he felt that he was born 100 years too late. The chimneys were generally built using internal scaffolding, hence no ladders as part of the structure. Do a search and you will find video of him laddering a chimney. The TV show scared me nearly 50 years ago as a teenager and still does now.

[@Cameron655]

I'm conflicted here. Was he born a century too late, or was he born a century too early? We could do with him here right now, and for the future. Love the guy.

[@christineirving4491pluviophile]

Yes, Fred did indeed erect the ladders, there are videos out there showing how he did it.

[@seanmc1351]

Wondered if you get to this one, you tube has seemed to bring this legend back to life good one mate

[@lextex3280]

Yes Fred erects the ladders himself, there is a video that shows how he does it. He is not strapped into the bosons chair, Fred never used safety equipment (harnesses etc). The most modern thing Fred owned was his Land Rover. His true love was traction engines (steam engines), which he built in his back garden, and all the equipment he used to make things was steam powered. Fred Dibnah was a legend. The only person to come close to being like Fred is an X-TT racer by the name of Guy Martin. Guy Martin is another legend who has a few world records, and is well worth watching.

[@asseyez-vous6492]

Guy Martin has a huge ego and is full of his attention seeking self, imo. Therefore, he is absolutely nothing like Mr. Dibnah.

[@tonyhirons5445]

Fred knocked down a brick chimney at factory where I worked in the eighties. I walked past as I was on my way home for lunch and he had chiselled out a section at the base over six feet across. The bricks were about 8 or 10 deep. The gap was supported with sections of telegraph poles about 4 feet high. The next Sunday morning I was walking to my mum and dad's house for dinner with my wife and kids and we turned a corner in the street exactly at the moment the chimney fell. A great plume of smoke rising into the sky. It was surreal. A wonderful bloke, born a hundred years too late and died thirty years too soon. Greatly missed by a lot of people.🇬🇧

[@Dave-kw7jq]

Fred was a one off he was a friend of my Dad .. As a child I remember going to his house and while my Dad was chatting to Fred's wife she said he'll be up in a minute ..I didn't realise that the "well" wall I was sitting on was actually a pit shaft Fred was digging and almost crapped myself when he popped up and said ""awreet lad ow art doin"

[@sharonmartin4036]

Hi. We were always told that he did it all himself, ladders too. I call that HUGE self confidence. The seat he is on at the top is called a bosun's chair and relates to the rigging on old sailing ships.

[@primalengland]

Fred lived in my town of Bolton. When he died he had built and dug a working mineshaft and pit head gear. I’ve watched him drop chimneys in Bolton with fire loads of times. He drove us all mad with his steam engines clogging up the roads. My ex wife worked in a bank where his niece banked. She said he was a grumpy old bugger. When this generation is gone our definition of hero will be pathetic by association. Yes, there are videos on KZbin of him erecting ladders. It’s mind numbingly scary.

[@geekexmachina]

Fred had remarked in another video that when the old chimneys were designed an built like a number of big structures the engineers didnt think about the need for maintenance because nobody had built that sort of thing before, also they were built with the scaffold on the inside. S maintenance would consist of weather damage often, for example repointing the brickwork where the mortar ha degraded, sometimes replacing bricks that have been damaged, sometimes if there has been damage from subsidence, or wind some parts will need strengthening. Another Thing is inspecting the chimney for the above and to make sure its still safe. The ladders go up on both sides usually for each job they are taken down and the holes filled afterwards to prevent kids and idiots climbing and killing themselves, Also wooden ladders will eventually perish if left up a long time.

[@markjones127]

Fred also had a steam traction engine (basically a steam train for the road) so my Dad loved him as he was a train driver and started out on steam trains, my Dad was a Fireman for 7 years before becoming a driver (a Fireman on the railway shovels coal onto the fire in the engine) so he was strong as an ox, his party trick was shaking a persons hand and crushing it, he could crush the hand of a man twice his size (my Dad was only 5'6"), men like Fred and my Dad are the last bastions of the industrial age, you should watch some Guy Martin, he's basically the modern day Fred, he makes some very interesting shows and also has balls of steel! (he's an ex Isle of Man TT racer).

[@grindelston5968]

Can't be doing with guy martin Trys too hard to be a character

[@SeeDaRipper...]

@@grindelston5968 Nah, that's genuinely him. He's just eccentric and passionate.

[@vaudevillian7]

@@grindelston5968 he really doesn’t at all, that’s just how he is

[@markjones127]

@@grindelston5968 He's the exact opposite, he doesn't try at all, he's one of the most genuine celebs around

[@ianworley8169]

My dad was a fireman on steam trains too, before going on to work in a steel factory. I've never known any man who could shovel or dig like Dad. I remember being in my 20s and having to clear a ton or two of builder's rubble left behind after work at my first house. That rubble hardly moved in months, with my futile efforts. It baked hard in the sun like concrete. Eventually Dad, in his 60s came around and shovelled that rubble pile into a skip in an hour or two, with me on a wheel barrow. With four hefty sons, Dad could crush anybody's hand. Those railwaymen obviously had some things in common.

[@rikmoran3963]

Having watched these videos many times, being amazed by Fred every time, I often spare a thought for his assistant Donald. I don't know how long I could be stood, close to the chimney, looking up at Fred without getting a bad neckache. The fact he does it pretty much all day, every day, is astounding.

[@SeeDaRipper...]

And the fear of a bit of debris falling off and killing him stone cold dead.

[@stevewest4994]

@@SeeDaRipper... Yes, imagine if Fred dropped his hammer, or a dog, or one of those steel poles!

[@steddie4514]

Bloody hell, that's what I'd call hard graft! 😨 Love the typically northern matter fact dark humour 😆

[@markwolstenholme3354]

This chimney is at the waste disposal site in Bolton, North West England. It's still there but is now also a recycling plant and electricity generating plant. The chimney is smoking as I'm typing this.

[@grindelston5968]

It's still there ? That's good to know. I'd imagine anything fred built or fixed will still be in good condition tbh

[@johnvissenga328]

As I said after your last reaction to Fred, He was special, very very special. If you get watching any of the marvellous little films he narrated on the history of engineering in so many forms and on historic buildings, you will suddenly realise you are falling down a rabbit hole ........R.I.P. Fred

[@comedywriter8408]

He erected both ladders, there is lots of footage on KZbin of Fred, on as a steeplejack, and his passion for steam engines. He was an incredible character, and an incredibly brave man.

[@vivsalittlebitcrafty4854]

What amazed me the most is the fact that Fred never had an accident...a fall...sometimes I used to 'watch' an entire programme with my eyes closed😅

[@ritapitt8273]

Amazing man...makes my feet hurt just watching this!

[@insidiousbeatz48]

He did put the ladders up too. Video called laddering a chimney fred

[@amandag5072]

That first shot of him climbing up the ladder makes me queasy! Heights make me weak at the knees (not in a good way) and dizzy. Fred was crazy and brave to do what he did.

[@jonsage300574]

Fred is a legend and such a character. Glad that after 44years he is educating folk.

[@paulinejackson8105]

RIP Fred your a legend

[@angelawalker8615]

He had his own series which was great, he also did some talk over programs, a truly fearless man. Everyone in UK knew of him, a Legend. He put the ladder up, it's called Laddering and there is a video. I think it was bladder cancer. There was no health and Safety like today.

[@patrickbriscall7934]

I think probably Fred represents the end of a long era and tradition of steeplejacking. There are many tall cathedrals, temples and other structures around the world that were built centuries ago. I’m sure they used skills like his way back when, and set the foundation for Fred’s amazing techniques, skill and confidence.

[@cousindave1]

"Wind is every steeplejack's enemy". I can tell you this... if I was up there, there'd be a lot of wind coming out of me!

[@pembrokeshiresspark]

He’s amazing, you can’t get a roofer out to fix a tile on your roof when it’s windy but Fred is going up a big chimney

[@davidclark3603]

He was an amazing photographer too. His black and white photographs are amazing. They really capture moments and life you wouldn't expect.

[@danzx6rr]

Spent many a time watching Fred as a kid on TV he's a definite British hero and had balls of steel going up them ladders!

[@serifini2469]

Loved Fred's throw away comment that the top of the stack would be swaying by 2 or 3 inches. That man was an absolute legend.

[@rowlandclark1015]

This guy was a real man. As well as a really skilled steeple worker. He not only put up the ladder, but also made the platform to work from. There won’t be another person such as him in any future posts

[@seanbarker4610]

He had incredible upper body strength!

[@richardwaters4795]

Fred used no harnesses he was so so unique.

[@grsymes]

He has a video of putting up the ladder. Chimneys usually don't have ladders up permanently installed, someone might climb up.

[@grimreaper-qh2zn]

Really nice guy. I met him a few times. All he wanted to do was work on his steam engines, so he worked in his Steeplejack Business to make enough to support his steam engines. A bosun's chair (or boatswain's chair) is a device used to suspend a person from a rope to perform work aloft.[1] Originally just a short plank or swath of heavy canvas, many modern bosun's chairs incorporate safety devices similar to those found in rock climbing harnesses such as safety clips and additional lines. In addition to the maritime applications they were developed for, bosun's chairs are also used for working at height in various maintenance industries. In commercial window cleaning, the term bosun's chair describes devices suspended from rope and equipped with seatboards, such as descent-only controlled descent apparatuses (CDAs).[2]

[@Bill_Dingsite]

Well I was cleaning the house and had to stop and watch this. Reaching up to dust the top of the door frames is high enough for me lol. Fred was a one off !

[@chrisjones2224]

There is a Japanese word Ikigai, it roughly translates as doing something you love (work) and what the World needs, as with most concepts ideas its simple, and also promotes the idea of giving 100% focus and attention to the job you are doing, no matter how boring. If you do there isn't room in your head for negative thoughts or what you would rather be doing, or what you will be doing after work,, all of which make the day seem longer than it is. Fred and many other old timers practised their own version of ikigai, doing every job, as perfectly as they could, gave them a sense of pride, achievement and importance. The thing about all those people and padt generations, that sense of pride and importance was enough for them, they didn't feel the need to share it, boast about it, they just did their job, made them happy, they went home, and didn't worry, or batch about the Mill owner having a new car or a bigger house etc

[@shaggybaggums]

There are videos about him laddering a chimney, most people see them before this one. Like all of his stuff, it's an interesting watch. His way of doing things is from an age where something needed doing, so people figured out a way to do it. Then it was done because it had to be, and in a lot off trades unfortunately that means accidents.

[@Mike-gz4xz]

I used to watch him on Tv in the 70,s there was a series running at the time , and yeah iv seen him put up the ladders, he hammers in wooden wedges in the brick work to attach ladder to , Talk about no fear holly crap .He was quite a character ,He had total belief and trust in his skills and ability ,amazing guy .

[@billxx188]

I've become addicted to watching videos about Fred Dibnah. You should see his videos about the steam roller he restored. His engineering and drawing skills are insane.

[@orkneyancestor2059]

No handrails, making it more amazing and frightening.Not many like Fred Dibnah.There is a video showing Fred putting up the ladder on a chimney.

[@PHDarren]

He puts the ladders up too, there's a video of how he does it, also he's done it on two side of this chimney so that he can put the scaffold up around it.

[@sarahclapp505]

70's, 80's health and safety Hahahaha

[@Marshmish]

If you look at the video you'll notice not one but two ladders. Fred has to erect both of these in order to scaffold it out at the top!

[@Clittleton1337]

Fred Dibnah, what a legend. Check out "Fred Dibnah Laddering a Chimney (2 parts)" for how he gets the ladders up. Also I think you may enjoy the other method he uses for felling chimneys, most notably the "gobbing out and pit-propping" method, hopefully just the name is enough to pique your interest hehe. (Fred Dibnahs' Made in Britain/The Fred Dibnah Story, series' may be interesting for you, as something to check out to get the bigger picture of his life and how awesome he was, not only as a steeplejack)

[@tanyajones8982]

I've been watching the repeats of Fred's steam train shows on TV

[@MrNifts]

Watched this so many times and it still makes my A hole twitch like a Rabbits nose

[@C.CUMM1NGS]

You should watch him actually putting the ladder up, that ladder is not permanent he puts the ladder up and takes it back down for each job. The bosun's chair or (boatswain's chair) is a navy term from the age of sail, where the Bosun (boatswain) which is an officers rank was in charge of the ships rigging, although they would not normally use the chair themselves they would send deckhands up in it. Another thing to think about Fred was only semi retired at 60, can you imagine how fit and strong he had to be at 60 to be moving them boards about at the top of a chimney using just one arm.

[@borntoclimb7116]

His videos are legendary and those old chimneys are great. Love it to climb it.

[@PhilH919]

Much of his work, in addition to taking down chimney's, was maintaining chimney's. Pointing up the brickwork etc. Particularly at the top. Crumbling bricks falling for that height would obviously be a problem. As I understand it, he would spend weeks at a time on one job.

[@michaelloach9461]

Fred was a bit of a hero to me. No faffing about, get the job done & maybe have a pint at lunchtime! He appreciated how things were put together & if you get the time, look at where he lived & his workshop. Anyway, I'm off to smelt some aluminium, no seriously, I am...All the best.......

[@astonmartin8706]

Sadly Fred died of bladder cancer which he had whilst filming his last series . The last one being where he took his traction engine around the U.K. and ended up getting his MBE from the Queen in July 2004. After the series was completed , for much of the time filming he was in pain , he then ( I believe) quietly submitted himself into a local hospice and died in November 2004. Fred was one of life’s eccentrics , was extremely knowledgeable about the industrial revolution and of everything and anything to do with buildings , their construction ( and demolition ) and anything to do with steam engines. Passing at the age of 66 , he was old school and knew how to describe things that even anybody from a 10 year old to an 80 year old person would understand. He’s sorely missed by the British public but we have a great legacy and wealth of informative television programmes that he made for us all to enjoy .

[@GB-vn1tf]

Sadly there's many people that throw mud at him because, apparently, he wasn't so nice to his wife.

[@astonmartin8706]

@@GB-vn1tf Fred was a workaholic and didn’t think much of holidays unlike his first wife who wanted to go on them . A holiday to Blackpool ended up as a working holiday felling a chimney whilst his wife and children were on the beach . I think with Fred , any wife had to contend with his eccentricities and like it and lump it as they say . We were privy to their separation in the first series . We didn’t see much of his second wife preferring to stay in the shadows .But we did see more of his third wife up until the end.

[@GB-vn1tf]

@Aston Martin indeed. Personally I remember him for his working life, his personal life isn't for me to care about really.

[@astonmartin8706]

@@GB-vn1tf then why mention about his wife then? . Did you think I wasn’t going to react or respond ?

[@JMNL07]

This is such a great video, thank you for introducing us to this awesome humble man.

[@trevorashworth7307]

Fred was a true legend. Enjoy G.B. when you come across the pond, Best wishes.

[@robertsnare1411]

I think one of the remarkable things about these films, is that when he’s walking around the staging, there’s someone up there with him lugging around a big TV camera! 😳

[@MrALANwolf]

One of the best blokes going, lived found the corner from me he his a legend.

[@dillinger61]

The video on laddering a chimney part 2 shows how he does it, mind blowing!

[@martinmarsola6477]

A great constructive maneuver on his part. Amazing. R. I. P. Fred Fibnah.😊

[@llamedosr7843]

I'm really enjoying Americans reactions to Fred. He would be pleased as well

[@madyottoyotto3055]

React to Fred's last chimney to see how he demolishes them without explosives Very ingenious and on the ball

[@DEANSHEET]

There are many videos about Fred.. You can see one showing how he fits each ladder from bottom to top. Amazing man.

[@PeterDay81]

The first uses of the bosun's chair come from sailing. On a ship, the bosun (or boatswain) is the officer in charge of the deck crew. In the bosun's duty, they have to manage and maintain the rigging, and this means sending men aloft to work on the sails and up on the mast.

[@davidorf3921]

Just to clarify, the bosun's chair Fred is using is not a harness, it's basically a wooden swing but its secured with ropes on each side up to a yoke above him and from there a single rope, you will see at some points he hooks his leg around the boards so he can lean back a bit, lean back too far and you slip off the chair and then, as Fred would have said, it would be half a day out with the undertaker

[@stuartbeck8111]

Fred installed the ladders himself as metal/iron ladder steps would rust and rot over the hundred years or so from being made to the maintenance of the chimney, so many more things out there with Fred in, hundreds of things on you tube, some are really cool some a little scary but all are informative about the industrial revolution etc, mining, the canals, slate quarrying, steam engines that pump water out of mines to stop flooding, locomotives (trains) his personal favourites, traction engines, especially the one he built himself, with help from his friends of course, there's just so much out there about him, they've even turned his cottage into a museum, left just as it was,

[@Turn1t0ff]

One of my uncles was a steeplejack. When work dried up, he went to work in huge storage and distribution hubs. Working as maintenance in a computerised, automated storage facility as a picking crane maintenance specialist: 12 levels high, 10 levels deep. He said about having to be certified and having to wear abseiling/climbing harnesses etc, it made him soft. He pined for the days before the stringent Health & Safety "nonsense".

[@paulchollerton]

A legend of a man in every sense of the word. They simply dont make men like fred anymore. Rip fred🙏

[@davidshattock9522]

Yes he ladders it too ,built in a different time..the chisel used to get a fixing is called a raw tool

[@dystop2766]

Greetings from Bolton, Dibnah's hometown. There's a big statue of him still in the town centre here. He's legendary around here.

[@alisonboydell7143]

A true craft man. Respect.

[@goose300183]

He also demolished chimneys by another method - what that involves is cutting part of the wall away at ground level, and putting temporary props where the bricks were. The props are actually wooden railway sleepers (railroad ties in American English? not sure). He does that around about a third of the circumference of the chimney. Then - builds up a big pile of wood, tyres, garden waste, logs, (anything that can burn) onto the propped areas. Covers all that material in diesel, sets fire to it, and the fire eventually burns away the railway sleepers, and the chimney falls, hopefully in the intended direction! Glad you are finding out more about your British heritage, you are doing it in the best way - actually observing the way British people think, speak and work! Cheers!

[@Badgersj]

Thank you for your respect for a true craftsman.

[@andymcbride3478]

Yes, he did erect the ladders himself. I believe there’s a video of him showing how he does it on YT. Good luck with your channel and journey mate 👍🏽

[@SECRETORDEROFTHEKNIGHTSTEMPLAR]

You could offer me a million pounds and I'd never go up there never mind putting up scaffold and a walkway??? Nope🤪

[@rachelhainey8454]

I live I. Fred's hometown and he was deffo a character, we also have a statue of him in our town, nerves of steel he had

[@TheMrbazooka]

To Answer your question on whether he ladders the chimneys, yes, yes he does Haha he has a video on that as well. The man is fascinating! God Rest His Epic soul

[@cazzyuk8939]

Without a safety rope and while smoking a cigarette! There is no way I could be up that high and balancing on 2 boards - that's what the phrase 'frozen in fear' was invented for.

[@mikejohn2307]

Yes there is a great video showing him putting the ladder up from scratch. He hasn't got a harness up there. The Bosun's Chair is just a plank of wood he is sitting on. When he does maintenance he puts the ladders up again.

[@edwardecl]

Forget even putting that up, how many people would climb that and walk all around the scaffolding and come back down... If I even got up there I would probably cry and be too shit scared to climb over that board to get back down on the ladder.

[@paulkitching1623]

Fred would it the ladders up himself Steve. You can see that in the video ‘laddering a chimney’.

[@rerenaissance7487]

You're due a treat with the "how to ladder a chimney" videos...

[@paulhawker4653]

Fred was a real man and a true gent. You should check out his videos of him demolishing chimneys where he replaced the bricks at the bottom with wood to prop it up and then burned it. It’s an art form really

[@peterward5723]

Fred was always interesting , educational and above all fearless. A true British hero. Looks like he could be famous in North America by your comments. You must watch the whole series including the one on his hobbies and life style.

[@misterpwood]

The ladders weren't prefixed. There's a video somewhere of how Fred put the ladders up actually.

[@PHDarren]

Bosun's Chair, it's a nautical term. They were used for working on a ship at sea, painting the hull, dangling somewhere to do something.

[@14sgdpg82]

yes he also has a video on how to erect the ladder they are tied in with dogs ( a metal wedge with a hook on the end ) you make a hole with hammer and chisel and bang a wedge of wood into the hole and bang the wedge into the wood which will expand and become a solid hooking point , then you put your pulley on pull up ladder and tie on and repeat till you at the top , as Fred says the higher you get the holes tend to get deeper i think its a thing called fear

[@meditation16161]

Yes, he installed all his own ladders with rope. The guy was a nutcase genius. He used to hammer wooden pegs in the mortar in between the brickwork and metal pin hooks, which the ladders rested on and he used rope to secure the ladder. there is an actual episode in which he shows how he tied the ladders on

[@jerbil9353]

I grew up in his hometown (Bolton, near Manchester, North-West England, one of the centres of the Industrial Revolution's beginnings) He was a local legend, his garden was full of working steam machinery. And his name is pronounced Dib-nuh, not naah.

[@adypendlebury6430]

You need to watch some more of Fred's videos then watch his funeral to see how much he was loved and respected......it will blow your mind

[@Cameron655]

"Bosun" is a corruption of "boatswain", i.e., someone who'd climb the masts of a sailing ship and run out the rigging. The chair is a support for you as you do this. (I mean, if you fall out, well, the crew's a man down, and you're probably a thousand miles out in the ocean, so it's not like you can call the nearest temp agency.) Aside: Years ago my youngest was learning about ships at school: history, diagrams, trips, all that. I was walking her to school and I pointed out a crow's nest in a tree on the way, and I could literally see the light bulb popping over her head. Lovely moment. 😍

[@andysim232]

A legend from a different world

[@casp11]

Yep he has to put up the ladders as well 😯 what a legend 🇬🇧.

[@stevepreston3151]

Fred was so hard working and talented you need to look at his career which was filmed by our BBC to see his other passion engineering and steam locomotives, its nice to see a young American and the look on you’re face when you watch him working on the ladders.😊