Paul Humphreys rambles on....

Paul Humphreys rambles on....
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Tuesday March 15, 2005

Fred Dibnah Steeplejack

A series on BBC2 started last week and continues tonight. It is the last TV series made by Fred Dibnah before he died. He was a very interesting person with a constant mug of tea to hand. His knowledge of old technology now disgarded by us was awsome. I remember seeing him build a well in his garden. I don't suppose people build wells now and he did it because he wanted to see how they did it years ago and because he could. He spent a lot of his time pulling down old tall chimneys which seems strange to us, given his love of industrial heritage.

This series is all about his journey around the UK on a traction engine he rebuilt. During the journey he also collected his MBE from Buckinghamn house but they would not let him drive the engine along The Mall . It took him twenty odd years to rebuild the engine and he said if he had not talked so much to visitors who came to see him it could have been done a lot quicker. It promises to be an excellent series.

( Mar 15 2005, 12:00:24 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

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