Obituary-Fred Dibnah.

[wonwinglo]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/3988667.stm

I am sure that there are many of us here who followed the Fred Dibnah series over the years on television,this loveable larger than life charaacter sadly lost his fight against cancer and died peacefully over the weekend.

His final television series where he drives a traction engine around Britain, will be shown next year on television and will serve as a fitting tribute to a wonderful personality who just loved the age of steam,he will be sadly missed by many and has left a legacy of knowledge and steam renovations behind for us to remember him by.

I sincerely hope that someone has the foresight to preserve that unique garden complete with its own mineshaft.

[John]

I used to do telesales, yes the annoying people that ring you up in the middle of Corrie, and I rang Fred Dibnah not realizing it was him, he wasn't ex-directory, he wasn't interested in what I was selling, but I couldn't get him off the phone, god that guy could talk.

R.I.P. Fred

[Guest]

oh no , i didn`t realise that he ha died.

a very strong personality with lots of character and had his own `charm` . that will be sadly missed from tv.

Chris

[wonwinglo]

I used to do telesales, yes the annoying people that ring you up in the middle of Corrie, and I rang Fred Dibnah not realizing it was him, he wasn't ex-directory, he wasn't interested in what I was selling, but I couldn't get him off the phone, god that guy could talk.R.I.P. Fred

*** I was just thinking this morning of his unusual humour and belt and braces approach to engineering,the bit where he fired the arrow across a river to determine the height from his workshops to the ground for the planning people ! demolishing a chimney single handed chucking the bricks down the middle,going on holiday with his first wife and in the pouring rain climbing a small factory wall to do some repairs,all in exchange for some work on his traction engine ! telling a vicar that his church was crumbling away and would cost mega bucks jokingly to fix,driving a huge taction engine to Eastnor castle after he had rebuilt it taking bits to his workshop bit by bit,arranging water ( and pub) stops for his annual traction engine pilgrimages afield and as always prepared to chat to people on the way,this guy was the epitomy of English eccentricity and born in the wrong time slot,great memories of a back yard genius and enthusiast for steam power.

[Guest]

I heard the news after enjoying one of his programs on cable the other day. was a bit of a shock.

[Guest]

I don't have a TV, but did have some years ago and enjoyed anything and everything Fred showed us.

It's a shame that such guys lives seem often to be cut short.

I was very sorry to hear that he is no longer with us.