The late Fred Dibnah, although unknown to most South Africans, was a household name in Britain. He was a true English eccentric who had a passion for all sorts of machinery powered by steam and he spent much of his life studying their construction and history.
He was a man born out of his time, as by the time he started work in the 1950’s, steam power in industry was being superseded by newer technology in the form of electric powered machines.
Born and bred in Bolton, Lancashire, he grew up in the industrial heartland of Britain, where all around him could be seen the “dark satanic mills” of the William Blake poem “Jerusalem” (later to become the hymn/anthem of the “Last Night at the Proms”, at the Royal Albert Hall).
His chosen profession was to be a steeplejack whereby he would climb up church steeples and mill chimneys in order to make repairs. Over time his expertise extended to the demolition of redundant chimneys and all told he felled ninety (90) chimneys, notably without the use of explosives. His method was to drill out courses of bricks at the base of the chimney, however not all at once but a bit at a time, then replacing the bricks with large timber packs before drilling out more bricks. When he had drilled and packed (on the side which the chimney was to fall) he would then set fire to the timbers, which would burn away, causing the chimney to fall...
