Legendary British steeplejack Fred Dibnah knocks down a massive chimney by undermining its base and then retreating to safety just as it collapses. From the BAFTA-winning documentary Steeplejack (1979)

A proper great Briton, should stick him on the fiver.

"Did yer like that?"

Career politics now ruin this country

I met Fred years ago, im from Manchester and i used to be a steeplejack in until i fell down the inside of a chimney in 2009 and broke my back and lost my right leg that job was a graft

still shown on bbc 4 the one demonstrating how to ladder a chimney & scaffold it is awesome

He probably did that for £500 These days it would cost £20m And we wonder why everything costs so much

No messing about with him ..Legend

Immensely watchable was Fred! One of the few characters that made you stop and see what he was up to. There are so few like that these days.

Some laddie was Fred

Watched this at the time as a 9 year old waiting for highlights of a football match to come on. This was a brilliant tv and was a fan of Fred’s till he died.

did anybody used to shout DIBNAH! when knocking stuff over when you was a kid

Did you like that

He was first seen on Look North working as a steeple Jack on I think it was Manchester Town Hall... After that they recognised a Legend and he got on the news more and then TV proper. He had a traction engine as well. Met him at BurtonWood steam rally in the beer tent with my dad. Legend.

True legend there 🫡

Absolute legend. The original bloke's bloke.

Honestly, this show is soo good, Freds a legend.

When men were men

'did ya like that?' @marktheman2010

This guy was one badass mofo

In the days before Health and Safety and hi vis

Good Owd Fred, Old School the best !!!🙏👍👏

Bit of a showman. Being that close didn't change anything!

And he also had to contend with hordes of kids riding Raleigh Choppers, getting in the way

This guy had balls of steel.

all for a frozen chicken and 2 packs of smokes.

Absolutely brilliant, what a character, all his shows were fabulously interesting and he had huge respect for his colleagues and his audience. Wonderful man.

Lots of his shows can be found on YouTube, well worth watching!

A friend of mine was asking me about Fred the other week. Couldn't believe he'd even heard of him. Fred's reach is far and wide. Legend!

No recollection of watching this at the time, but magnificent tv

Champ!!

The best of British. A true gentleman and legend.

Legendary

@dalipolitial Bloody art school dropouts!

DON'T TOUCH THAT !!!!!!

That's wild. The haphazard tire and scrap fire. Burn whatever is around. Safety precautions lacking the enthusiasm of today. Funny little horn. Quite comical when he had to run. I gotta ask this ... It's low res obviously, but what or who is swinging in the upper right?