Fred Dibnah – steeplejack, steam enthusiast, television presenter - Fred was many things to many people but you’d be hard pushed to find anyone who didn’t admire his commitment and dedication to Britain’s industrial heritage and his passion to tell everybody who cared to listen how things were built and how they worked.
Fred Dibnah was a well established television personality long before The View From The North had any dealings with him. Through the wonderful films of Don Haworth chronicling Fred’s life as steeplejack and steam enthusiast and his marital ups and downs, he had become what many people described as a “national treasure”. By 1997, though, when David Hall first met Fred, his television career along with his steeplejacking was in decline. But with Fred’s wealth of knowledge on engineering and industrial history and his passion and enthusiasm for the subject, he seemed a natural choice as presenter for a new industrial history series David was developing. Fred Dibnah’s Industrial Age was commissioned in 1998 and Fred changed from being documentary subject to documentary presenter.
From 1998 until his death in 2004, The View From The North made forty programmes with Fred. Over this period of time he became much more than a presenter of our programmes; he was a good friend who we would see throughout the year, not just when we were filming.
Fred Dibnah in the press.....
“ This series has the feel of having slipped fully formed, through a gap in time when pointing a camera at something interesting counted as good television. Oddly, it still does.”
The Guardian
“An accessible guide to architecture”
The Daily Telegraph
“a joy to watch”
Daily Record
“Best Heritage Series”
Daily Express
“a poignant tribute to the Lancashire legend”
Manchester Evening News
“an unpretentious introduction to industrial archaeology”
Sunday Times
“Fred and his mates enjoyed themselves so much that only the stoniest of hearts won’t have found their enthusiasm infectious.”
The Telegraph
“ a fitting tribute to a man driven by a splendid obsession”
The Times
“The wonderful thing is that Dibnah’s programme is as old Fashioned and traditional as the skills he demonstrates”
Evening Standard
“Thoroughly enjoyable.”
The Guardian
“New heights of know-how”
Daily Mail
“Dibnah’s affectionate series, without minimising the hardships and dangers of heavy industry, is a poignant tribute to the communities that grew up around it.”
The Mail on Sunday
“Straightforward yet splendidly idiosyncratic, this series is like its presenter. It is a treat.”
Radio Times
“The wonderful thing is that Dibnah’s programme is as old Fashioned and traditional as the skills he demonstrates”
Evening Standard
“the funniest 15 seconds of the week”
The Times
“Best profile”
The Times
“the programme reveals its charm offering insights into the way men can communicate with each other through oily rags and heavy engineering”
