Fred Dibnah (1938 – 2004)
Born in Bolton, Lancashire, was an English steeplejack, engineer and eccentric who became a television personality, a cult figure and, latterly, a national institution.
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"Anybody who destroys anything made of stone should be prosecuted. It is not all beautiful, but it took a man all day to make one stone."
"The modern world stinks."
"Steam engines don't answer back. You can belt them with a hammer and they say nowt."
"We've become a nation of con men, living by selling double glazing to each other."
"Height gives you a wonderful feeling of grandeur. You're the king of the castle up here."
"Steeplejacking's a bit of a spasmodic job, so you can play with your steam engine instead. It's a bit like being very rich."
"I have a wash more now than I used to y'know... I have a shower everynight."
"That's Bolton's biggest chimney that... and I climbed it for a ten bob wager. Never did get the ten bob though."
"I've never fell off a big chimney. You'd only fall off one of them once."
"A man who says he feels no fear is either a fool or a liar."
"I set out as a steeplejack in my youth to preserve chimneys. I've finished by knocking most of them down."
"The thing is nowadays, you'll have 20 men working, yet 60 men telling them 'You can't do that, you ain't got a tin hat on'".
"I realise that steam engines aren't everyone's cup of tea. But they're what made England great."
"It's a funny thing this celebrity. If you don't wave back you're a miserable bugger, if you do wave back you're a big-headed bugger. I don't know."
"I'm just a bum who climbs chimneys."
Fred also previously received two honorary doctorates ..... They were both given by the relevant engineering faculties, but Fred always told people that they were for "back street mechanicing".
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