7 ms·

Fred Dibnah shows how to erect a chimney scaffold at 200 feet (1982) [video]

95 points by stevekemp 1y ago

n1b0m 1y ago
He once survived a near-fatal fall. In 1997, Dibnah was almost killed when a 2,500-ton concrete chimney on Canvey Island collapsed prematurely. He tripped while running from the falling structure, but luckily, the chimney corrected itself and fell in the opposite direction
- stevekemp 1y ago
  His wikipedia page is worth reading for that, and other details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah Definitely one of a kind.
- alangibson 1y ago
  Chimneys feared him
- gorgoiler 1y ago
  Oddly, the Dibnah near-death experience I most remember giving me the willies was when he dropped his cap in a puddle just after scratching his bonce. Having wrung his cap out he put it straight back on. The water had a dead pigeon in it though and so he ended up catching a virus which started spreading through his head via the cap and the cut. It got quite serious out of nowhere.
  - AlecSchueler 1y ago
    How do you not notice a dead pigeon in your cap?
    - gorgoiler 1y ago
      Here’s the tale, told by the man himself: https://www.tiktok.com/@uandyesterday/video/7349637646760561952 https://www.tiktok.com/@uandyesterday/video/7349637646760561...
trebligdivad 1y ago
Fred Dibnah videos are my goto for showing people heavy local English accents; it's rare you hear one that heavy any more, but they can be local down to only a few miles.
- tomfanning 1y ago
  > it's rare you hear one that heavy any more With respect, this is nonsense.
  - trebligdivad 1y ago
    Huh ok, I'm curious where; I don't live that far from Bolton, and can't remember hearing anything that thick in many years. (Last time was actually near Liverpool).
scandox 1y ago
This one makes my palms sweaty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg And it's just a ladder really.
- marginalia_nu 1y ago
  > The U.S had the space programme, the U.K had Fred Dibnah and an infinite supply of ladders. Had some funny comments that video.
- Tsiklon 1y ago
  I like how he describes the mood or feeling of the chimneys he’s climbed. Villainous or friendly.
nickdothutton 1y ago
A man out of his time somehow. I enjoyed his shows as a boy.
philo23 1y ago
I don't know why Fred keeps getting posted to HN, but I love it. and I'm glad more people get to see his work. Something that might not be immediately obvious from this clip is that all the sound effects you're hearing of the planks bouncing and scraping off the bricks, the iron dogs being hammered into the brickwork or wind blowing etc, is all recreated and recorded after the fact in some BBC sound studio. There's no sound guy up there with a boom mic or even a lapel mic recording, yet all the sound effects are perfectly audible. Even the ones around the other side of the chimney. If they didn't dub them in afterwards the video recording from the ground level would be quite boring! Though there are a couple of other recordings of Fred with a one-man camera crew up at the top once he's got the platform fully setup. Besides, I suspect if he was mic'd up there'd be quite a bit more swearing than you'd be able to get away with on the BBC!
- huflungdung 1y ago
  [dead]
- card_zero 1y ago
  He was a tinkerer, I guess it still counts as hacking when it's traction engines. I vaguely remember him getting in legal trouble for digging a coal mine in his garden.
dr_dshiv 1y ago
Worth watching to the end if you want a great sensation of vertigo.
ClarkMarx 1y ago
As someone who grew up in a family of Steeplejacks (my father was third generation), I am always amazed and delighted by the amount of attention Dibnah got in his day in the UK and continues to get today via the internet. Here in the states, people would always just look at me like I had two heads when I told them what the family business was. This is interesting and not at all how we would rig a smokestack (as we call them). I worked for the company in the early 90s but we were using rigging that was built by the company in the 60s or earlier. In relation to how we did it his solution seems to me to be overly complicated and perhaps a bit more dicey than what we were doing. I can write something up if anyone is interested in how we did it.
- nocoiner 1y ago
  Yes, please. I’d really like to read that.
- mauvehaus 1y ago
  Count me interested! I've spent more time on scaffolding and a roof ladder this summer than I hoped I'd ever do in my life, and i don't think you'd get me on any of Fred Dibnah's ladders at gunpoint. I still find it fascinating to see how it's done by people who've made it their trade.
- trial3 1y ago
  if i may ask a question that betrays my lack of knowledge: why is it that permanent or semi-permanent ladders were not be affixed to some of the steeples? is it mostly aesthetics, or is it also a wear / durability concern? i also suppose the ladder only gives you access to one portion of the chimney, and you may need to access enough different sections that the most effective method is to set up a ladder exactly where you need it while work is done?
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - afandian 1y ago
    I would guess there was no stainless or galvanisation available in the era they were built. I wouldn’t trust permanently installed ladders that were completely exposed to the elements! Unlike the bigger iron structures, ladders have quite a high surface area/ volume ratio. I wouldn’t climb up Fred’s ladders in a million years, but at least there was a quality feedback loop!
jmchambers 1y ago
I grew up a short walk from where he lived, in Bolton, and you'd often see him setting up all the gear, solo, at the base of one of the local chimneys. We'd pull over on our bikes and shout "Is it coming down Fred?". He never failed to stroll over and have a chat about what he was doing. A genuinely nice chap.
- Ylpertnodi 1y ago
  I lived real close to Fred's house for a while. Loved it. Bolton was way cool back then.
onion2k 1y ago
Impressive as Dibnah absolutely is, give a thought to cameraman who climbed that chimney with a 1980s film camera to record the footage from the top. :)
outofmyshed 1y ago
If you want to understand the UK, Dibnah is where to start. I named my cat after him.
mrlonglong 1y ago
I think H&S would have thrown fits about the lack of safety equipment if he still did any of that nowadays. The good old days, not so much. Men often died doing this sort of work and still do to a lesser degree.
yosser 1y ago
I used to live just down the road from Fred Dibnah's house when I was in my early 20's. It was quite an interesting old building with a fairly steeply sloping garden that led down to an old workshop packed with steam engines and similar mechanical bric a brac. Despite the layout you could easily see down to the bottom of the garden from the pavement as you passed by. I had a sort of standing joke where I would wind my girlfriend up by pointing out that it was Fred Dibnah's place every time we walked past. I did this perhaps a little too often. One day, she had had enough and told me in a very loud voice that 'she couldn't give a shit if it was Fred Dibnah's house'. That's when I saw his startled face peering up from behind a traction engine. Sorry Fred. I hope you can forgive me from that big old chimney in the sky.
Fairburn 1y ago
Very much enjoyed that. Thanks
afandian 1y ago
BCM Steeplejacks has great write ups and pictures of the jobs they do. Lots of modern equipment, but at the end of the day it’s still very high up and they rely on the strength of their own hands. https://steeplejacks.scot/lots-of-jobs-and-pictures/ https://steeplejacks.scot/lots-of-jobs-and-pictures/
2ICofafireteam 1y ago
I used to show a clip to new helpers/labourers of Fred taking down a chimney one brick at a time because it beautifully showed what a person can do if they just get at it and keep at it.

95 points by stevekemp 1y ago

He once survived a near-fatal fall. In 1997, Dibnah was almost killed when a 2,500-ton concrete chimney on Canvey Island collapsed prematurely. He tripped while running from the falling structure, but luckily, the chimney corrected itself and fell in the opposite direction

stevekemp 1y ago
His wikipedia page is worth reading for that, and other details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dibnah Definitely one of a kind.
alangibson 1y ago
Chimneys feared him
gorgoiler 1y ago
Oddly, the Dibnah near-death experience I most remember giving me the willies was when he dropped his cap in a puddle just after scratching his bonce. Having wrung his cap out he put it straight back on. The water had a dead pigeon in it though and so he ended up catching a virus which started spreading through his head via the cap and the cut. It got quite serious out of nowhere.
- AlecSchueler 1y ago
  How do you not notice a dead pigeon in your cap?
  - gorgoiler 1y ago
    Here’s the tale, told by the man himself: https://www.tiktok.com/@uandyesterday/video/7349637646760561952 https://www.tiktok.com/@uandyesterday/video/7349637646760561...

trebligdivad 1y ago

Fred Dibnah videos are my goto for showing people heavy local English accents; it's rare you hear one that heavy any more, but they can be local down to only a few miles.

tomfanning 1y ago
> it's rare you hear one that heavy any more With respect, this is nonsense.
- trebligdivad 1y ago
  Huh ok, I'm curious where; I don't live that far from Bolton, and can't remember hearing anything that thick in many years. (Last time was actually near Liverpool).

scandox 1y ago

This one makes my palms sweaty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R3-YwDZrzg And it's just a ladder really.

marginalia_nu 1y ago
> The U.S had the space programme, the U.K had Fred Dibnah and an infinite supply of ladders. Had some funny comments that video.
Tsiklon 1y ago
I like how he describes the mood or feeling of the chimneys he’s climbed. Villainous or friendly.

nickdothutton 1y ago

A man out of his time somehow. I enjoyed his shows as a boy.

philo23 1y ago

I don't know why Fred keeps getting posted to HN, but I love it. and I'm glad more people get to see his work. Something that might not be immediately obvious from this clip is that all the sound effects you're hearing of the planks bouncing and scraping off the bricks, the iron dogs being hammered into the brickwork or wind blowing etc, is all recreated and recorded after the fact in some BBC sound studio. There's no sound guy up there with a boom mic or even a lapel mic recording, yet all the sound effects are perfectly audible. Even the ones around the other side of the chimney. If they didn't dub them in afterwards the video recording from the ground level would be quite boring! Though there are a couple of other recordings of Fred with a one-man camera crew up at the top once he's got the platform fully setup. Besides, I suspect if he was mic'd up there'd be quite a bit more swearing than you'd be able to get away with on the BBC!

huflungdung 1y ago
[dead]
card_zero 1y ago
He was a tinkerer, I guess it still counts as hacking when it's traction engines. I vaguely remember him getting in legal trouble for digging a coal mine in his garden.

dr_dshiv 1y ago

Worth watching to the end if you want a great sensation of vertigo.

ClarkMarx 1y ago

As someone who grew up in a family of Steeplejacks (my father was third generation), I am always amazed and delighted by the amount of attention Dibnah got in his day in the UK and continues to get today via the internet. Here in the states, people would always just look at me like I had two heads when I told them what the family business was. This is interesting and not at all how we would rig a smokestack (as we call them). I worked for the company in the early 90s but we were using rigging that was built by the company in the 60s or earlier. In relation to how we did it his solution seems to me to be overly complicated and perhaps a bit more dicey than what we were doing. I can write something up if anyone is interested in how we did it.

nocoiner 1y ago
Yes, please. I’d really like to read that.
mauvehaus 1y ago
Count me interested! I've spent more time on scaffolding and a roof ladder this summer than I hoped I'd ever do in my life, and i don't think you'd get me on any of Fred Dibnah's ladders at gunpoint. I still find it fascinating to see how it's done by people who've made it their trade.
trial3 1y ago
if i may ask a question that betrays my lack of knowledge: why is it that permanent or semi-permanent ladders were not be affixed to some of the steeples? is it mostly aesthetics, or is it also a wear / durability concern? i also suppose the ladder only gives you access to one portion of the chimney, and you may need to access enough different sections that the most effective method is to set up a ladder exactly where you need it while work is done?
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- afandian 1y ago
  I would guess there was no stainless or galvanisation available in the era they were built. I wouldn’t trust permanently installed ladders that were completely exposed to the elements! Unlike the bigger iron structures, ladders have quite a high surface area/ volume ratio. I wouldn’t climb up Fred’s ladders in a million years, but at least there was a quality feedback loop!

jmchambers 1y ago

I grew up a short walk from where he lived, in Bolton, and you'd often see him setting up all the gear, solo, at the base of one of the local chimneys. We'd pull over on our bikes and shout "Is it coming down Fred?". He never failed to stroll over and have a chat about what he was doing. A genuinely nice chap.

Ylpertnodi 1y ago
I lived real close to Fred's house for a while. Loved it. Bolton was way cool back then.

onion2k 1y ago

Impressive as Dibnah absolutely is, give a thought to cameraman who climbed that chimney with a 1980s film camera to record the footage from the top. :)

outofmyshed 1y ago

If you want to understand the UK, Dibnah is where to start. I named my cat after him.

mrlonglong 1y ago

I think H&S would have thrown fits about the lack of safety equipment if he still did any of that nowadays. The good old days, not so much. Men often died doing this sort of work and still do to a lesser degree.

yosser 1y ago

I used to live just down the road from Fred Dibnah's house when I was in my early 20's. It was quite an interesting old building with a fairly steeply sloping garden that led down to an old workshop packed with steam engines and similar mechanical bric a brac. Despite the layout you could easily see down to the bottom of the garden from the pavement as you passed by. I had a sort of standing joke where I would wind my girlfriend up by pointing out that it was Fred Dibnah's place every time we walked past. I did this perhaps a little too often. One day, she had had enough and told me in a very loud voice that 'she couldn't give a shit if it was Fred Dibnah's house'. That's when I saw his startled face peering up from behind a traction engine. Sorry Fred. I hope you can forgive me from that big old chimney in the sky.

Fairburn 1y ago

Very much enjoyed that. Thanks

afandian 1y ago

BCM Steeplejacks has great write ups and pictures of the jobs they do. Lots of modern equipment, but at the end of the day it’s still very high up and they rely on the strength of their own hands. https://steeplejacks.scot/lots-of-jobs-and-pictures/ https://steeplejacks.scot/lots-of-jobs-and-pictures/

2ICofafireteam 1y ago

I used to show a clip to new helpers/labourers of Fred taking down a chimney one brick at a time because it beautifully showed what a person can do if they just get at it and keep at it.