Originally published at: How England's most famous steeplejack brought down a chimney without a single explosive (video) | Boing Boing
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I bet he would have come in handy during a castle siege back in the day.
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That’s the kind of post I come here for! Thanks, Mark!
A very elegant solution, and even with that tire fire it was reasonably environmentally responsible.
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The entire series about Fred Dibnah is suprisingly engaging . It is well worth watching or at least playing in the background while you work on your hobby, project etc…
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You don’t need anything. Only a sledgehammer and bit of lunacy, like, and you’re in business.
Indeed.
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This guy is really interesting! I’ve ran across him before… There is a DVD you can get, but it’s whatever the British region is…
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I caught the first bit of this in a post from the BBC on Facebook. His accent is incredible to listen to.
Also great quote:
“I’ve never fell off a big chimmney. You only fall off one of them once.”
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Damn! That’s interesting, impressive, and more than a bit scary.
And like @Medievalist , I looked at those old tires and dubious-looking wood, and thought “This wouldn’t pass today…”
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I posted this a while back but it’s worth another airing…
Now, i’ve done a fair bit of rock climbing but… NO.
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I saw the start of this doc here years ago and didn’t connect. I remember when I was younger I’d see stuff like “Fred Dibnah’s Age of Steam” on the schedule and think it sounded really dull “Oo the fook does eee think ee is?” I probably thought. Now I could listen to that voice talking industrial heritage for hours. Sorry ghost of Fred and my judgy younger self but that is my jam that is.
And @Mindysan33 aside from the very odd Sony you can look up the model of a dvd player and region free hack and Easter egg and get the remote control sequence to make them region 0.
Sony can be dicks though. Computers less easy than standalone a but DVD/BluRays are available on your local freecycle chat or thrift shop.
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Also worth a look are the exploits of BBC Children’s TV presenter
John Noakes who also did a bit of climbing…Up Nelson’s Column
I can’t yet link here, but search on youtube for ‘JOHN NOAKES scaling Nelson’s Column’
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John Noakes must have been crazy - as you say, climbing Nelson’s Column (twice, the first time the camera didn’t work); doing the Cresta Run; setting a free-fall record for a civilian - Mondays and Fridays BBC1 at 17:10.
The original superhero team - Noakes, Purves, Judd and Singleton.
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What a great piece of documentary!
There is something incredibly poignant about that huge structure, a physical manifestation of industrial might, standing lonely in a brown field, and brought down by the very fires it was built originally to serve by venting.
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A bit of white cordon and a honk of the horn - the area is secure. But moments after the collapse, please feel free to come back and frolic!
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Such a great documentary. Cannot reccomend enough.
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Fred Dibnah was every where on tv when i where a lad, such a loss, they just dont make them like they used to. If your not from the uk, and interested in both engineering / steam with a look in to social side of the uk (by inference, thou i suppose that’s easier to read if you are from the uk, under stand are stupid class system innate.) any thing hes in is well worth a watch!
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Liked for the use of “thou”. I tell thee I like it I do.
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The good people at Cinefile Video in LA sell a region-free player.
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This is odd (the DVD regions, I mean). Because thanks to some dinky little islands, the Sun technically still doesn’t set on the British empire.
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