A Legend, (if a little scary).

Dale.

Dale.

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Dale.
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We've all been struck down with The Lurgy (yes, the C one) here at Powell Towers, which as we haven't been able to go out anywhere, has resulted in looking for ways to pass some time.

I've been looking at Youtube, mainly for photography (and music) purposes, the usual suspects, Thomas Heaton, Fototripper, Duade Paton etc etc.

I did stumble accross some Fred Dibnah videos though and I remember my parents used to watch his series' back in the day. Back then, I would just give the tele a glance, I wasn't really interested. Having watched a few this last few days though, it struck me what a legend he became and what a thoroughly pleasant chap he seemed to be. He was also an engineering genius, keeping it simple but effective.

I did find some of the videos uncomfortable viewing and I've now added a new phobia to my list (currently spiders, cows, caves ;)) and now heights.

Intriquing, captivating and uncomfortable viewing at times, I found myself squirming quite often.

....and those overhangs.........no way. :runaway:

View: https://youtu.be/3R3-YwDZrzg
 
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That became hard to watch towards the end, even knowing he would be ok. Nerves of steel. What a character,
 
lindsay said:
That became hard to watch towards the end, even knowing he would be ok. Nerves of steel. What a character,
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When he said "you could ride a bike around 'ere" on that top ledge. :oops: :$
 
You probably can. IF your name's Danny MacAskill!!!
 
No safety harnesses in those days either :oops: :$
Those ladders that angled away from the chimney at the ledges must have been awkward getting onto for the way down....
 
I've always liked watching Fred Dibnah. I have a couple of books on him.

Climbing telegraph poles was as I high as I got.:)
 
elf'nsafeT didn't exist then - we just gawped at his skills
 
I don't like heights, and watching him at work made my testicles retract somewhere up near my kidneys!

He had nerves of steel that's for sure.
 
For sure he was in many ways he was one of a kind.

His engineering projects I think I read took over his life.....and IIRC affected his marriage (of over 40 years)?
 
Box Brownie said:
His engineering projects I think I read took over his life.....and IIRC affected his marriage (of over 40 years)?
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Yes, he was obsessed with steam, traction engines in particular and it was apparently a reason for his marriage failing.

There are videos on YT as well of his steam engine restorations, it's fascinating stuff.
 
Had to switch it off at the overhang, been a scardey cat at anything over 2ft all my life, that was gut churning.
 
Dangermouse said:
been a scardey cat at anything over 2ft all my life,
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I had no problem with heights for most of my life.

That changed one holiday in the Tyrol, about ten years ago. We visited the Zillergrund dam, which is an impressive bit of engineering. All was going well until I leaned over the parapet of the road at the top of the dam, to get a shot down the dry side. A very short time later, I found myself lying on the tarmac with my worried wife and some passers-by assuming I'd had a heart attack.

Since then, I've had to think very carefully when climbing ladders and so on, which is a damned nuisance!

Zillergrund dam Austria R1_01866.JPG
 
AndrewFlannigan said:
I had no problem with heights for most of my life.

That changed one holiday in the Tyrol, about ten years ago. We visited the Zillergrund dam, which is an impressive bit of engineering. All was going well until I leaned over the parapet of the road at the top of the dam, to get a shot down the dry side. A very short time later, I found myself lying on the tarmac with my worried wife and some passers-by assuming I'd had a heart attack.

Since then, I've had to think very carefully when climbing ladders and so on, which is a damned nuisance!

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They wouldn't be assuming if it was me LOL honestly I have been in aircraft and helicopters, but if I stand 2 rungs up a ladder I am terrified
 
Dangermouse said:
They wouldn't be assuming if it was me LOL honestly I have been in aircraft and helicopters, but if I stand 2 rungs up a ladder I am terrified
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What is it with ladders? 4 rungs for me.

I'm not too bad with heights in reality, I can stand on a tall building no problem, as long as there are safety barriers. No way could I climb those ladders in the video though and that overhang, that's just stomach churning.

We quite often visit Elan Valley in Wales for our family holiday. There are huge, Victorian dams there and also one built in 1950. You can drive along the top of 2 of them. The highest is 183 ( I think) feet and I can stand on top of that, look over and I'm fine. It's the very same dam Richard Hammond 'drove' a Landrover up a number of years ago, Claerwern Dam.

I've been up Blackpool Tower, that was challenging, the first level near the top was fine but then the gridded floor parts and the final , open stairwell climb to the top were too much for me. I was glad to get back on the lift.

It's odd, some things throw me regarding heights, others don't. 37,000 feet on a plane, looking out of the window is no problem.
 
Fred had a small ish mine shaft in his garden- as you do:)
Have a couple of his books and his favourite church spire was the Marble Church at Bodelwyddan- just down the road from us
 
Dale. said:
What is it with ladders? 4 rungs for me.

I'm not too bad with heights in reality, I can stand on a tall building no problem, as long as there are safety barriers. No way could I climb those ladders in the video though and that overhang, that's just stomach churning.

We quite often visit Elan Valley in Wales for our family holiday. There are huge, Victorian dams there and also one built in 1950. You can drive along the top of 2 of them. The highest is 183 ( I think) feet and I can stand on top of that, look over and I'm fine. It's the very same dam Richard Hammond 'drove' a Landrover up a number of years ago, Claerwern Dam.

I've been up Blackpool Tower, that was challenging, the first level near the top was fine but then the gridded floor parts and the final , open stairwell climb to the top were too much for me. I was glad to get back on the lift.

It's odd, some things throw me regarding heights, others don't. 37,000 feet on a plane, looking out of the window is no problem.
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Not just ladders for me, honestly I cant stand on a chair to change a bulb its that bad, luckily we have low ceilings
 
I was about to say you lot are wusses........but my OH is very high places phobic, so I should not be so critical;)

PS I have my limits that have maybe been coloured by getting older but I used to climb in my youth and knew of at least two contemporaries who died while climbing ~ height needs to be taken seriously!!?
 
When I worked ‘down pit’ at odd weekends I would be required to work in the shaft, even with a safety harness and two locating points seeing the wee dot of light at the bottom made my stomach churn, never were jobs pushed on so quick.
 
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Like Dale, I'm fine as long as there are barriers. Having said that, if the barrier is more cosmetic than effective, I'll get back to about 2m away from the edge which is my "safe" distance (I reckon if I pass out 2m away from an edge, I won't fall over it!!!) Not too bad with ladders, although I prefer to stay less than about 4m off the ground.
 
I used to be fine with ladders but about when I was 68, I was at the top of my 30 ft ladder adjusting the TV Antenna holding a mobile phone. My son was below looking at the signal level on my computer. As I was right at the Apex and the very top of the ladder, the only thing I could hold on to was the antenna pole which I did not feel was that secure. This was the first time that I felt insecure on a ladder. My wife then told me the story of a man living not far away who kept insisting he was fine on a ladder despite being 70. He slipped and fell and in now in a wheel chair for life. I was persuaded and donated my ladder to a relative to use in his business. If you keep the ladder, you will be tempted to use it. A couple of years later, the roof antenna crashed to the ground on a windy day. Having retired from ladder duties has not really been a problem. The Window Cleaner cleared out the gutters for a relatively small fee.

Dave
 
A few years ago, my dad (who is now 99 years old!) got his ladders out and did some work on his roof. On earlier occasions I remember him 'walking' the ladder along the side of his house so he could reach further along.
 
I don't like heights but . . .

I had a client who gave me a lot of work photographing work in progress for them on various building sites. The one job that I'll never forget was as a power station, photographing the inside of a massive cooling tower, and I was told that the reason that I had to be there on that particular day was that the safety officer wasn't there.

There were a series of ordinary aluminium ladders seured to the side, when one ended another started alongside it, with a very small overlap. It was terrifying, partly because I had my heavy RZ67 round my neck and a couple of lenses in my pockets. I managed OK and did a very slow, thorough job becasue I was dreading the return trip DOWN the ladder, but eventually had to get on with it. On that slow, scary climb down a worker went up, very rapidly, and when he got to me he didn't even slow down. Terrifying!
 
Many years ago my neighbour lost a ridge tile. I say lost, it fell in the garden.
I offered to cement it back on for him!
Out came my ladder, up on the roof, I dropped a rope down to a bucket with cement and the cleaned ridge tile Inside.
Job done in 20 minutes!
I didn’t appreciate how big a ridge tile is!
 
As a 25 year old surveyor, I got the job of checking that "all" work was done to a satisfactory standard and that the amount of work charged for, was actually done. After climbing a triple extension ladder, transferring to a roof ladder and then reaching the chimney stack, I set about checking, noting and measuring. I had to reach out and stepped onto a blue slate. The chimney mortar joints had been "raked out" and my foot slipped on the loose sand. I started to slide down the roof, rolling onto my back with my legs spread out, to try to slow my progress towards the guttering. Unfortunately, the fine dust and sand made an excellent lubricant and my velocity remained steady, unlike my heart rate! Both my heels hit the 6" by 4" timber gutter at the same time and progress downwards was halted (thankfully)! I then had to make my way back, with my rear end on the slates, along this old timber gutter in a crab-like fashion, towards the roof ladder. Once there, I still had to turn over onto the roof ladder, before transferring onto the triple extension ladder. Wooden ladders always "bowed" and the triples were no exception. This phenomenon was exacerbated by my shaking and pounding heart, arms, legs and lungs! I eventually arrived back on terra firma. Anyone who works at height, now have my total respect! Believe it or not, my tape and notebook were already on the ground to greet me. I left my pencil on the roof, along with my bravado!
 
Dale. said:
I was like 'please don't do a handstand'. :runaway:

View: https://youtu.be/zER0-wj9-gM
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There's a bunch of these guys filming themselves climbing crazy heights and performing 'stunts' - there's a guy from the UK, there was a docu about him, his mother was terrified every morning he went out - he was breaking into building sites to climb cranes and do this type of insanely stupid stuff before the builders arrived - often had to leg it as the cops arrived

Now the likes of Fred, who had no choice, it was their job and there was no other way at the time to repair those old chimneys ... he's admirable, those guys are just idiots. I remember reading about some deaths that occured from similar guys losing their grip and falling multiple stories ... and for what?

This guy was doing it for money, no money is worth a life IMO:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hseUkzgw4ug
 
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Cagey75 said:
There's a bunch of these guys filming themselves climbing crazy heights and performing 'stunts' - there's a guy from the UK, there was a docu about him, his mother was terrified every morning he went out - he was breaking into building sites to climb cranes and do this type of insanely stupid stuff before the builders arrived - often had to leg it as the cops arrived

Now the likes of Fred, who had no choice, it was their job and there was no other way at the time to repair those old chimneys ... he's admirable, those guys are just idiots. I remember reading about some deaths that occured from similar guys losing their grip and falling multiple stories ... and for what?

This guy was doing it for money, no money is worth a life IMO:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hseUkzg
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I’d struggle with it even if I was paid (like Fred) and not something I’d do for fun, or YouTube likes.
 
Dale. said:
I’d struggle with it even if I was paid (like Fred) and not something I’d do for fun, or YouTube likes.
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Same, terrified of heights, can't even get past rung 4 on a ladder without trembling! I get that these guys have no fear, but they're dancing with death, like you say, mostly for likes
 
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