Legend from my childhood. Some of the things they got those presenters doing in those days was crazy. Proper hero. Get down Shep
Always came across as a sound, dedicated lad.. Remember when he joined Blue Peter, feeling the years kicking in now.. RIP bonny lad..
Saw the film of him climbing a ladder up Nelson's column (no smut please). Proper stomach churning - no harness and at the top the angle was more the 180 degrees. Respect. I was nearly chucking up watching it.
Always prepared to throw himself into the nitty gritty, I'm sure he would have put his head into a vice just to show it could be done to a point.. Couldn't keep that fukkin dog down though but a proper childhood memory..
Apparently later in life after Blue Peter he did raise concerns that he was underpaid, under insured and over worked. But during his time with the show he threw himself head first (sometimes literally !) into the escapades they arranged for him. That clip of him climbing Nelson's Column in his flares, with no safety harness, reminds me of those early Fred Dibnah episodes where he'd be climbing up the side of a chimney stack or Cathedral with a wooden ladder lashed to the sides, no safety equipment, often having to climb under over hangs where the angle of the ladders were gut wrenchingly dangerous.
And wearing loon pants too, Noakes in my eyes always went the full monty on the programme, a proper swashbuckling, dog-loving dare devil who as a kid was a true hero. Dibnah to me was the ultimate warrior, I used to think seeing him climb chimeney's that he just didn't give a **** about life and death. A true mans man, would have loved to share a beer with him..
Used to love hearing Dibnah's broad Lancashire accent 200ft up a rickety old ladder, in awe of somebody's masonry skills or brickwork. He'd be hanging off a ladder going (read in a thick Lancashire accent) 'Look at that there stonework on top o that spire there, you know, some chap were up here 200 years ago, with a hammer and chisel like, you know, working away, on his own like, with just birds and elements to keep him company. Flipping marvelous that'
Was great TV, admiring cementing skills in a 60mph wind seemed to suit the lad though, not your normal stuff but for him it was like a stroll to the shops.. He loved a beer or 10 did Fred, a mechanical genius too, add to that the old Victorian way he used to drop a chimney stack to precision and bear in mind he had a few near misses of been under them, then he was what we could call a true die hard Englishman, an institute for remembrance..
I love in that video I posted, him talking about climbing up a chimney after a couple of pints, fag in his gob, talking about what you do when you need a piss at the top of a chimney. He was telling a story of the time he was pissing into a cement bucket, then chucked it over the side. When he got back down, there was a bright red Alfa Romeo sports car splattered with piss/cement splats
Great times and great days.. Nice to smile tonight my friend and cheers for the memories.. Great cup win btw, a brilliant performance..
Fred did, so why the **** shouldn't we.. I'm a Sunderland fan, last time I got carried away I didn't want to come back..
Cheers fella. Just been watching Fred Dibnah videos for the last hour and half. Some great stuff in there. Love those chimney demolition jobs with the props and fire at the base. Dibnah was a national treasure, they don't make them like that anymore .... Thanks for the congrats, chuffed to bits with the win. There's a few who want to knock it, but **** em'. We've won a trophy and if football isn't about winning trophies then I don't know what the **** is
Have a great night my man, great to swap memories and if you see a steam train again, think Fred.. He was one in a million, Lancashire and proud..
