UKC

Been watching a lot of his videos on YouTube .
How this man survived 30-40 years of climbing huge chimneys and other eye watering obstacles ...
Don't know what Health and Safety would say about the below link.?

What a wonderful man Fred was

youtube.com/watch?v=ezX_o0H5FuE&

In reply to andymac:

There's a latin phrase for this. I think it's "Steelicus Sum Testiculatum"

In reply to ThunderCat:

Indeed
Titanium Cojones

In reply to andymac:


A total legend but apparently he was a right tw*t to his wife.
He even said that himself on a documentary he did not long before he died.

Still a legend though.

In reply to Dax H:


Perhaps she was a total pain in the arse?

In reply to Removed User:

No he admitted on film that he was exceptionally misogynistic.
He seemed to have learned the error of his ways by wife No2 though.

In reply to Removed User:

I don’t think he’d have even noticed if she was a pita. He was too busy in his shed. He did try to placate her by naming an engine after her though.

Quite a character, but not a contender for husband of the year.

In reply to Dax H:

Sadly wife no 2 had enough as well. He had made it to wife no 3 by the time he passed away, she was last seen complaining she didn’t get anything in the will as he left it all to his kids.

In reply to andymac:

Fred was really,ever, only married to Steam.

Completely devoted to his hissing old boiler

He stated several times that he was born 100 years too late .i would agree

In reply to andymac:

"I had a couple of pints before climbing this chimney... Makes you more cautious."!

In reply to andymac:

Met someone once who, while agreeing that Fred D was a legend, admitted that conversation could be alarmingly one-sided. No matter what the topic started as, it would frighteningly soon become chimneys... or steam engines... or more steam engines... or chimneys.

At least he knew what he wanted - and went for it. Obviously many such folk aren't the easiest to live with. So was it always.

'Dear Lord, what would they say
did their Catullus walk that way.'

Mick

In reply to marsbar:

I could understand why.
In one of his tv shows he succumbed to his wife's nagging that she wanted a holiday and took the family to Blackpool. The reason then became clear as he'd agreed to take down a small factory chimney for a friend in return for a new flywheel for his traction engine and needed his wife to help him with the job, and surprise surprise the factory was near Blackpool.

In reply to Mick Ward:

Met someone once who, while agreeing that Fred D was a legend, admitted that conversation could be alarmingly one-sided. No matter what the topic started as, it would frighteningly soon become chimneys... or steam engines... or more steam engines... or chimneys.
At least he knew what he wanted - and went for it. Obviously many such folk aren't the easiest to live with. So was it always.

Sounds a bit like many climbers I know...

In reply to gethin_allen:

In one of his tv shows he succumbed to his wife's nagging that she wanted a holiday and took the family to Blackpool. The reason then became clear as he'd agreed to take down a small factory chimney for a friend in return for a new flywheel for his traction engine and needed his wife to help him with the job, and surprise surprise the factory was near Blackpool.

A bit like climbers that accidently take a harness and shoes on a family holiday and then discover that there's climbing in the area.
The worst/best example of this is a mate of mine whose wife had cottoned onto this and searched the bags before setting off. However, he was a devious sod and arranged for his regular climbing partner to take it for him. To make it worse/better, he didn't tell his wife that this person was going to the same place as them as she would have been immediately suspicious.
Imagine everyone's surprise when they all bumped into each other a few days into the holiday. Bloody hell Pete, what on earth are you doing here? ...

In reply to marsbar:

Whilst he was still alive, wife #3 complained to Bank Top Brewery that they had produced a beer - Dibnah's Delight - without Fred's permission, contacting his agent or paying them any royalties.

It's no coincidence that 'Gold Digger' & 'Old Slapper' (complete with caricature pump labels) were produced shortly after and are still brewed today.

https://www.banktopbrewery.com/our-beers

In reply to FactorXXX:


Just what crossed my mind when I was typing!

Mick