0:00:10 > 0:00:12Me great interest in the mechanics of the past
0:00:12 > 0:00:17stems from when I were like our Jack, when I were quite a small boy
0:00:17 > 0:00:21going along the canal from Bolton to Bury and seeing
0:00:21 > 0:00:25the remains of all the old coal mines and cotton mill engine houses.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Some of 'em were actually still working, so it made it even more interesting.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35That's really why I've created all this lot here in me back garden.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40It's a vain attempt to hang on to childhood memories, I suppose.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07Fred's garden was unique. It was all assembled from scrap
0:01:07 > 0:01:09and the cast-offs from old mills and factories,
0:01:09 > 0:01:16but it was probably the finest working example of a steam-powered engineering workshop in the country.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22But more than anything it was Fred's playground,
0:01:22 > 0:01:27a place where he breathed life back into rusty old machinery and steam engines.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29FANFARE
0:01:29 > 0:01:32And when he went to Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE,
0:01:32 > 0:01:38he'd got no doubts about why it had been awarded to him.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I can hardly write but I can do things you know.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44I'm a mechanic. I'm a backstreet mechanic.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50Aberdeen University gave me an honorary degree in backstreet mechanicing
0:01:50 > 0:01:56and now Birmingham University have given me a degree in backstreet mechanicing so it'll do for me, that.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58And now you've been honoured by the Queen?
0:01:58 > 0:02:01Oh, aye, yeah, got an MBE as well, yeah.
0:02:01 > 0:02:03All engineers are backstreet mechanics
0:02:03 > 0:02:05to a greater or lesser extent.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07We all like tinkering about with...
0:02:07 > 0:02:09We're a practical profession.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13it's nothing to be ashamed of, to be a backstreet mechanic,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16it's something to celebrate. He's a very good mechanic
0:02:16 > 0:02:18and an excellent engineer.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23You go to so many museums that appear to be dead, nothing happens.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26I mean, lots of them try their best
0:02:26 > 0:02:28and actually do manufacture bits of things
0:02:28 > 0:02:32but this lot here, it all works full bore
0:02:32 > 0:02:35and you could drill a two-and-a-half inch hole through an iron bar
0:02:35 > 0:02:39or you can forge a big lump of iron two inches square
0:02:39 > 0:02:42or saw a piece of stone in half four foot thick.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45So I don't think I've done so bad out of the junk
0:02:45 > 0:02:49that would all have gone into the scrap yards but for me.
0:02:49 > 0:02:52Fred's machines, of course, he didn't pay a lot for them
0:02:52 > 0:02:56because they were always archaic, not wanted, belt-driven,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58but it were ideal.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00It suited his steam engine,
0:03:00 > 0:03:03which, as you've seen, it drove to ever corner of the yard.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07Nearly every nut and bolt in all of this place, I know where it come from -
0:03:07 > 0:03:13every piece of shafting and every wheel and every boiler and every spanner, nearly,
0:03:13 > 0:03:17and it sort of grows because once you've gotten established,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21people ring up and say, "Do you want a bucket full of big spanners
0:03:21 > 0:03:24"that are quite obsolete and nobody wants any more?"
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Yeah, he had drilling machines
0:03:31 > 0:03:34and he built a machine for cutting
0:03:34 > 0:03:37with a diamond wheel for cutting stone
0:03:37 > 0:03:40that were round the back of one of his sheds.
0:03:40 > 0:03:41Oh, he could do anything.
0:03:41 > 0:03:47As we know, he were wonderful with metal or stone or wood, incredible.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51Gravestone quality.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55One of his favourite pastimes
0:03:55 > 0:03:58was to journey down to a local scrap yard and he'd be a devil, actually.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04He'd be rooting round through all kinds of boxes and skips
0:04:04 > 0:04:07He'd be rooting round through all kinds of boxes and skips searching out little bits of brass and copper,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11little bits of offcuts. I went with him once or twice
0:04:11 > 0:04:14and the people who own the scrap yard obviously thought a lot of Fred
0:04:14 > 0:04:18because they never charged him, or if they did it were coppers
0:04:18 > 0:04:21for these odds and sods and bits of leftovers.
0:04:21 > 0:04:23You don't want paying, do you?
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Do you ever pay, Fred? Is there a fee?
0:04:25 > 0:04:30I think the garden was Fred, in essence, who he was.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33More than the engines, actually,
0:04:33 > 0:04:37because those things in the garden have been gleaned over many years
0:04:37 > 0:04:39and just basically bits of scrap,
0:04:39 > 0:04:42but then they came into Fred's capable hands
0:04:42 > 0:04:44and he breathed life into them again
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and turned them into something special,
0:04:46 > 0:04:49which meant a lot to him, of course, with his skills.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54I find them hiding in damp, wet corners of disused spinning mills.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57And every time we were away from home,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59Fred was very anxious to get back
0:04:59 > 0:05:02because he always had another project on the go.
0:05:02 > 0:05:04So they meant the world to him, really,
0:05:04 > 0:05:06and it was like having a new baby, in a way.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09If anybody had come down to the garden and say to Fred,
0:05:09 > 0:05:12"Oh, we've got a milling machine or radial arm drill
0:05:12 > 0:05:15"and its going to get smashed up. Can you rescue it?"
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Fred would come indoors and moan to me and say something like,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22"Well, oh, I've no room for it, but I'm not having it smashed up."
0:05:22 > 0:05:25So we'd have all these things outside that would accumulate.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Certainly before my time,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30he'd been building up the garden collection
0:05:30 > 0:05:33for many, many years, hadn't he?
0:05:33 > 0:05:36That's Fred, in essence, that garden, who he was.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41I think the biggest influence is his love of steam.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48And his interest in how it can be used
0:05:48 > 0:05:53to power large-scale machines.
0:05:53 > 0:05:55That's what influenced everything that he did.
0:05:55 > 0:05:59It would be very easy for him to power his workshop with electricity,
0:05:59 > 0:06:03but he chose to build a great big enormous boiler,
0:06:03 > 0:06:07great big enormous flywheels and drive his machines from that.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11It probably took him something like three hours to fire up his workshop,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14which he could have done with the flick of a switch.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17So I think steam was the big driver in his life.
0:06:20 > 0:06:21I recognised straightaway
0:06:21 > 0:06:24there was something unusual about this chap.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26I had examined many restored old boilers and engines and bits and pieces like that
0:06:26 > 0:06:31I had examined many restored old boilers and engines and bits and pieces like that
0:06:31 > 0:06:37and when I came to meet Fred, I realised that he was an extremely thorough person.
0:06:37 > 0:06:40The preparation of the boiler was beautiful
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and the repairs he carried out were excellent.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45So I was quite impressed with him straightaway.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47I thought it was quite amazing
0:06:47 > 0:06:51that from an ordinary garden, he'd been able to build this workshop.
0:06:51 > 0:06:57I was most impressed with all the machined tools he assembled there
0:06:57 > 0:07:02and the structure to drive them which were made out of telegraph poles,
0:07:02 > 0:07:08which would bring about many problems with shaft alignment on such a scanty structure,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11but he made a rigid job of it and it worked perfectly.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17I'm very fortunate having all this antique obsolete machinery
0:07:17 > 0:07:20that still works very well, you know.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22I could make most of the parts.
0:07:22 > 0:07:24I mean, this thing behind me,
0:07:24 > 0:07:27even though it don't look it, it's almost new.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29There's only part of the boiler original,
0:07:29 > 0:07:34the new rims on the wheels, the new solid tyres,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37the cylinder block which, of course, is in the other shed
0:07:37 > 0:07:40is almost brand new.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46All new sides and new end covers and new piston rods and new valve rods.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48It was quite difficult at times.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51Fred would come in and he always had some project going
0:07:51 > 0:07:55and machinery would be going in the background all day
0:07:55 > 0:07:57and we always had a problem with that,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00or rather I had a problem because I'd be stuck in the office
0:08:00 > 0:08:02trying to work and make telephone calls,
0:08:02 > 0:08:05and Fred was just like a small boy outside, really,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07playing with his machines.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11When I first came here, Fred had maybe two or three helpers each day,
0:08:11 > 0:08:16but later on, as time progressed and more work was done on the engine,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20he amassed a kind of band of helpers
0:08:20 > 0:08:23who were only too willing to come down every day
0:08:23 > 0:08:25to which I referred to as Dad's Army.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29They were all men of a certain age with flat caps like Fred
0:08:29 > 0:08:33and they were great use and they turned out to be really good friends of Fred's
0:08:33 > 0:08:37but difficult from a wife's point of view because you're the odd one out.
0:08:37 > 0:08:42You're the one that's complaining if they're making too much noise, like a mother figure,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45like small boys outside wanting to play with their toys
0:08:45 > 0:08:48and they just wanted to carry on regardless.
0:08:49 > 0:08:53Fred would approach a project which possibly he'd never had
0:08:53 > 0:08:56any experience of before and just throw his self into it, in a sense.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59He might be making a part for one of the traction engines
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and really he didn't have the special engineering skills
0:09:02 > 0:09:04but he would dig out an old book
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and read in general how you went about the job
0:09:07 > 0:09:09and then make a start.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12If he made a mess of it, he'd just start again.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13He just wouldn't give up.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16This is going to be more difficult than you think.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19Some of the items he made for his traction engine took absolutely ages
0:09:19 > 0:09:24and went through various stages of attempts and disastrous attempts,
0:09:24 > 0:09:26got there eventually.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29I mean, I did speak to an engineer once
0:09:29 > 0:09:32who saw some of the work that Fred had carried out
0:09:32 > 0:09:34on his latest traction engine on the boiler
0:09:34 > 0:09:38and this man couldn't believe that Fred had actually fashioned
0:09:38 > 0:09:41this particular part of the boiler by hand.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43Pretty level, innit?
0:09:43 > 0:09:50He just wouldn't believe us and Fred told him how he'd achieved the job.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52He was still sceptical at the end,
0:09:52 > 0:09:57yet we knew that Fred had actually fashioned this part by hand
0:09:57 > 0:09:58over a long period.
0:09:58 > 0:10:03So really he was admired as regards the way he would tackle any job
0:10:03 > 0:10:06and would never think, "I've not done it before so I can't do it."
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Go and have a try cos if we over-bend it,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12it takes a bit of straightening out, yeah.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14A backstreet mechanic, yeah.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17I mean, there's good backstreet mechanics
0:10:17 > 0:10:19and there's bad backstreet mechanics.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23I think it's fair if he called himself that,
0:10:23 > 0:10:25he was probably playing himself down
0:10:25 > 0:10:28because Fred could turn his hands and do it.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32There's a lot of people that'll talk about it but can't do it
0:10:32 > 0:10:35and there's them that don't talk about it but can do it.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40And Fred didn't just do it on his own engines.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43The only steam engines that you can find today
0:10:43 > 0:10:45are the ones that have been restored
0:10:45 > 0:10:47and are running like in places like this.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52This is in Caernarfon in North Wales
0:10:52 > 0:10:56and it's one of the first attempts at renovating a steam engine I had.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59I'm quite pleased with the result.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02It's rather strange how I got the job, you know.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08First of all I got an inquiry from Mr Wakeford who were the architect here on the site
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and he said, "We've got a chimney in North Wales,"
0:11:11 > 0:11:12and I said "Where's that?"
0:11:12 > 0:11:15He said, "Caernarfon." I said "How big is it?"
0:11:15 > 0:11:18thinking it would be something that we could make some money out of
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and he said, "It's about 60 feet high."
0:11:21 > 0:11:24I said, "Well, it's not really big enough
0:11:24 > 0:11:28"to travel all the way from Bolton to Caernarfon for a chimney 60 feet high."
0:11:28 > 0:11:31And then he said, "But we've got a steam engine as well,"
0:11:31 > 0:11:33which put a different light on the matter.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35When I came, you couldn't see the chimney for ivy.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39It were rather reminiscent of a Cornish tin mine job, you know.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44The man in charge, he said, "Give us a price for taking the ivy off
0:11:44 > 0:11:47"and a price for looking at it and a price for doing it up,"
0:11:47 > 0:11:53and cut a long story short, we did all of that and we got the job of renovating the chimney.
0:11:53 > 0:11:56Then one day, it came on raining
0:11:56 > 0:11:59and I sent me man for the key for the engine house
0:11:59 > 0:12:02and we got in the engine house and looked at it
0:12:02 > 0:12:04and sort of sorry, sorry state
0:12:04 > 0:12:08and it had been vandalised and all the brass bits had gone.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10Or I THOUGHT they'd gone.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13What must have happened is the vandal must have got disturbed
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and left it all behind and run
0:12:15 > 0:12:19and then somebody else had collected it all up and put it in a box.
0:12:19 > 0:12:21I found that next door,
0:12:21 > 0:12:26but once I'd secured the contracts, I took it all back home to Bolton
0:12:26 > 0:12:31and we took a shaving off here and then I shined the crank up here.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34I don't really know how I did that now
0:12:34 > 0:12:36because the state it were in were like corrugated iron.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40He was very proud of his skills, the machines that he could run,
0:12:40 > 0:12:43the parts that he could make, building his steam engines.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46He made all the parts himself.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49These are skills that are somewhat undervalued in our society today
0:12:49 > 0:12:52and Fred tried to bring them to the fore.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Now I'm making square washers.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57He believed that engineering was not about the theory,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59but about the practical application.
0:12:59 > 0:13:05There's nothing wrong with that for a hole in a piece of iron, is there?
0:13:05 > 0:13:08He were an absolutely superb man whether working on a lathe,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11whether he were drilling holes through a pin through a bolt,
0:13:11 > 0:13:16whether he tightened bolts up, all the bolts had to go in, in the right order.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Everything had to be painted,
0:13:18 > 0:13:23but prior to that they'd be greased, there'd be a nut to tighten down
0:13:23 > 0:13:26so all the flats on the nut were all equal at the front.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Considering that he was mainly self-taught
0:13:29 > 0:13:33and there wasn't a workshop machine that Fred couldn't operate,
0:13:33 > 0:13:35it's unbelievable the skills he had, really.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39I know that from people who taught at technical colleges
0:13:39 > 0:13:43or other engineers who came on site and saw evidence of Fred's work.
0:13:43 > 0:13:45They were always enthusiastic
0:13:45 > 0:13:50and full of praise for the level of skill that he showed
0:13:50 > 0:13:55and the finish that he achieved with items that he'd made,
0:13:55 > 0:13:57from the pithead gear 30 foot high
0:13:57 > 0:14:02right down to making his own sort of individual nuts and bolts for the traction engine.
0:14:02 > 0:14:07Nearly everything big like crank throws and all of that
0:14:07 > 0:14:10were all either done on a planing machine,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12which worked very similar to this,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16or a shaper like this.
0:14:16 > 0:14:22Basically, it's a plane, the tool takes a shaving off the top.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27Forging would come from underneath the steam hammer
0:14:27 > 0:14:30and have ended up bolted down to this bed
0:14:30 > 0:14:34and the tool ridden across it with a lot of force,
0:14:34 > 0:14:39shavings flying everywhere and this is only a toy one, really.
0:14:39 > 0:14:44In terms of the appreciation of making things out of metal
0:14:44 > 0:14:48and making things work, he was very good at that.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50There are some special skills involved
0:14:50 > 0:14:54in getting old machines going and putting together
0:14:54 > 0:14:59the remainder of old machines to try and make them go again
0:14:59 > 0:15:04and that was something that he developed a whole range of skills.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08Traction engines and locomotives in the Victorian times
0:15:08 > 0:15:10were nearly always built in sheds like this
0:15:10 > 0:15:14but actually a bit bigger, maybe eight or nine times as long,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18but the machinery were all very similar to this.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Nothing were impossible,
0:15:21 > 0:15:25like nowadays a man wouldn't be allowed to play about with something like this,
0:15:25 > 0:15:28he might hurt himself, but they had nothing,
0:15:28 > 0:15:34a very inventive time where they lifted things up
0:15:34 > 0:15:39and got things about and everything they made were much over-engineered
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and always very big and very heavy.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47Even as late as the 1880s, you know, they still had this type of gear
0:15:47 > 0:15:50and they had big overhead cranes
0:15:50 > 0:15:53but if you study the old photographs carefully,
0:15:53 > 0:15:55you'll see there's lots of chain blocks
0:15:55 > 0:15:59and little arms sticking out of walls
0:15:59 > 0:16:01with a feeble little set of chain blocks on
0:16:01 > 0:16:03to mess about with weights like this.
0:16:03 > 0:16:06Well, he was a self-taught mechanical engineer
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and I think he connected with a lot of people,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13a lot of people who've ever tinkered with a car or a motorbike.
0:16:13 > 0:16:18He also, I think, connected with that interesting craftsmanship and skills.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23We find that increasing numbers of people also want to connect
0:16:23 > 0:16:25with craftsmanship and skills.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29I think he was very good at bringing across the enthusiasm
0:16:29 > 0:16:33and interest for making things work, solving practical problems
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and I think that was very much his legacy.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40This is a Marshall. Yeah.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44It's got the usual Marshall ailments, hasn't it, on them radiuses there.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47I wonder why Marshalls always crack there?
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Those others do an' all on the throw plate, don't they?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Fowlers are perfect. Yeah, well. Never crack nor nothing, a Fowler.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56What one have you seen cracked on a throw plate?
0:16:56 > 0:16:58When you think about Fowlers, Leeds,
0:16:58 > 0:17:02there were more traction engine builders or loco builders in Leeds
0:17:02 > 0:17:05than any other bloody city in the land, you know.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Dozens of 'em, weren't there, you know.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Early days before any of our men.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Lots of local builders, you know,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16built a few for them men up North East, you know.
0:17:16 > 0:17:20All that employment, weren't there? Now there's nowt left at all, is there, you know.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23Nothing. What do we do now? Yeah. Shopkeepers.
0:17:23 > 0:17:31In his programmes, either Fred knew these people because he was involved with the people,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33he'd found out people who could flange a plate
0:17:33 > 0:17:37or rivet something that perhaps Fred couldn't do
0:17:37 > 0:17:42and along the way these companies that were probably once huge,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46great big companies employing thousands of people,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48have dwindled down to just one and two now
0:17:48 > 0:17:53because this sort of work isn't widely used.
0:17:53 > 0:17:54Everything's gone smaller
0:17:54 > 0:18:00onto silicone chips and printed circuits and things
0:18:00 > 0:18:02instead of rivets and nuts and bolts
0:18:02 > 0:18:07but Fred found these people and, yeah, Fred found them interesting
0:18:07 > 0:18:09and then the TV found them interesting
0:18:09 > 0:18:13cos people don't realise that it's all still happening around you.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18Yeah, this is the differential wheel off the back end of me tractor
0:18:18 > 0:18:22and this ring here is a brand new 'un
0:18:22 > 0:18:27and all as I'm doing is just drilling the bolt holes to bolt it on the centre.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35He could communicate, anybody could understand him
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and he could put it over in a way so that everybody...
0:18:39 > 0:18:41He didn't talk down to anybody,
0:18:41 > 0:18:45he didn't explain things in too much detail,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49but he could put things across so that everybody could understand.
0:18:49 > 0:18:55Al the machinery in the 1870s and 1880 and 1890s
0:18:55 > 0:18:57would all be very, very similar to this,
0:18:57 > 0:19:02apart from the gearing would have been exposed, maybe.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06They all relied on cow's bellies, you know, leather belts.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Nearly all locomotives and traction engines
0:19:08 > 0:19:12have all been made by belt-driven machinery.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15I mean, no fancy CNC tackle, you know.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19Quite dangerous as well, you know.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23I should imagine they had their fair share of disasters.
0:19:23 > 0:19:28Now everything's got guards on and you've got to wear goggles and all that, like.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31I think really we're breeding a nation of men
0:19:31 > 0:19:37who aren't what they used to be, that's my interpretation of it.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42They have to go to health studios to keep in good order, like.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45As you see, this is fully automatic,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48it's doing a grand job.
0:19:48 > 0:19:50There's only one difference between this
0:19:50 > 0:19:54and the most modern state-of-the-art thing that we've got now -
0:19:54 > 0:19:56the modern one goes a bit faster.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02The latest bit is the gearing that I've just done.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05I made the blanks but I didn't put the teeth on.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08I've not got a gear-cutting machine.
0:20:08 > 0:20:12Nearly all the work on his engines was done in this workshop,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15but there were a few jobs that were too big to be done here,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18so for these he went to a local engineering company.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Yeah, when I think back, when I got it all them years ago
0:20:24 > 0:20:28and teeth were like that on every wheel,
0:20:28 > 0:20:32you could tell how many thousands of miles it must have done.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35They're really sharp, aren't they? Aye.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40They must have lost three-eighths of an inch off each side that's worn away.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44Many people just didn't know that there were forges still operating.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46They didn't know that rivets were being made
0:20:46 > 0:20:50or imperial nuts and bolts or just all manner of bits and pieces.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54The fact that there are traditional boiler makers still operating in the country
0:20:54 > 0:20:58where steam engines can be repaired to the traditional manner.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02Fred just showed people what was in that shed on the industrial estate
0:21:02 > 0:21:04that was making all that noise and racket.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08He showed people how we came to be where we are.
0:21:08 > 0:21:13He showed that engineering was something not to be hidden away
0:21:13 > 0:21:14and something to be proud of.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17I think Fred's a really good role model.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23One of my personal things about engineering is that we don't market it in the way that we should.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25We don't market it as a fun profession.
0:21:25 > 0:21:32Stay there. We market it to youngsters as being worthy, an earnest profession, worthwhile.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35Now, if you're a young rebel of 15,
0:21:35 > 0:21:38then I don't think you're that interested in worthy and earnest,
0:21:38 > 0:21:41you're interested in fun and reward
0:21:41 > 0:21:44and so I think Fred is always seen as quite a role model
0:21:44 > 0:21:46because of his natural enthusiasm
0:21:46 > 0:21:51and the way he talks about engineering things and the toys that he owns.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53I think mechanic is not the correct word,
0:21:53 > 0:21:57he was probably a backstreet engineer and by that he meant
0:21:57 > 0:22:02he'd possibly no formal training in engineering but it was something which he'd picked up and read.
0:22:02 > 0:22:05He was very accomplished in a lot of things that he did.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08He tried no end of things and on the programmes.
0:22:08 > 0:22:13If he was offered the chance of having a go, Fred would always have a go.
0:22:13 > 0:22:17He was, you know, interested in having a play.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25Perfect. He was a lot of a perfectionist, I tell you.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27He'd put a rivet in
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and if it weren't quite right,
0:22:31 > 0:22:38it was "drill it and get it out" and they take some drilling and getting out, I can tell you!
0:22:38 > 0:22:42You know, if you did something wrong,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44he wouldn't start shouting and bawling about it,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47he'd just say "No, that'll not do,"
0:22:47 > 0:22:49and you had to do it again, you know.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54So you quickly learnt only to do it once and do it right.
0:23:00 > 0:23:02Getting better.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05Oh, aye, many a time we put a rivet in,
0:23:05 > 0:23:08"Ah, that's gone a bit wonky, that," he'd say,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10"No, do next one, we'll come back to that."
0:23:10 > 0:23:13And we'd put another one in, "Ah, that's better."
0:23:13 > 0:23:15We'd do three or four more perhaps
0:23:15 > 0:23:20and then he'd come, "Look at that one. Look at it! Come around here and look at it from here!
0:23:20 > 0:23:23"Look, it's down a bit. Drill it out," he'd say, you know.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26"Let's drill it out," and out it would have to come
0:23:26 > 0:23:27and we'd put another in
0:23:27 > 0:23:32and that was just because when you're manipulating your air-operated hammer,
0:23:32 > 0:23:35rivet had gone a little bit one-sided, he'd done it himself,
0:23:35 > 0:23:38but he wasn't satisfied with it so out it had to come.
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Now, nobody else would have done that.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44My favourite thing, Fred's contribution to the knowledge of things,
0:23:44 > 0:23:48was watching him demonstrating in his workshop how you riveted,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50how you created arches, those sort of things,
0:23:50 > 0:23:53the practical elements of the Industrial Revolution,
0:23:53 > 0:23:56to see things come alive that you've only read about.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59One example was when he was corking on a boiler years and years ago,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03but for me always wondering what this sort of mystical process was.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07It was great to see somebody doing it in action and that he was doing it in his back garden,
0:24:07 > 0:24:13probably something that would be the envy of many grown-up boys, was something quite special.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16There were nothing in between the plates,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19maybe a coat of red lead or summat like that.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22Just the rivets alone wouldn't make it waterproof,
0:24:22 > 0:24:27so all the edges of the seams had all got to be caught with this, a contraption like this.
0:24:27 > 0:24:33In shipyards, they all must have been quite deaf and mad with the noise.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36LOUD RATTLING
0:24:36 > 0:24:42You can imagine 500 or 600 blokes in the hull of a ship all with one of these.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47It must have been like bedlam, but any rivets that weren't quite finished off,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51you could go around the edges with a corking hammer
0:24:51 > 0:24:56and swell the metal up so that the water didn't come in.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Fred used to compare his work with what he had seen
0:25:00 > 0:25:06on something old and interesting and he had an ability to say to himself,
0:25:06 > 0:25:10"That's not good enough, I can do better than that and I'm gonna do it again."
0:25:10 > 0:25:12That is, in fact, what he did.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15The boiler on this was actually the third boiler.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18He actually had two attempts at making it,
0:25:18 > 0:25:19which he was not happy with
0:25:19 > 0:25:25and the boiler barrel is the third one, so he knew himself he could do better.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29And he would ask me things about riveting and about corking
0:25:29 > 0:25:32and the peculiarities of flanging, for example,
0:25:32 > 0:25:38and this were much used later on by Fred when he did his steam tractoring in recent years.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Now then, Fred! By gum, that's a lovely surprise. How you doing?
0:25:42 > 0:25:44Just let me welcome you with this job.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55Paul, can your turn your machine off, mate?
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Have you met my old mate Fred? This is Paul. I've never met Paul before.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04He's a boiler fitter. He's 50 years of age and our apprentice.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07Aye, very good. He's the oldest apprentice in Great Britain.
0:26:07 > 0:26:10He's a good lad. You enjoying it, your new apprenticeship?
0:26:10 > 0:26:12Oh, aye, learning all sorts.
0:26:12 > 0:26:16Yeah, well, it's very interesting, isn't it, mending things like this,
0:26:16 > 0:26:19you know. There's not many people get chance to do it.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23There's not a lot left of this one, is there? It's not as bad as some we've had.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27All the grooving back down here, we've already started building it up with weld.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Back round here an' all.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34'He were an observer, so if he had that particular interest,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38'he'd look about him, from a railway bridge
0:26:38 > 0:26:42'through to a riveted structure through to a Lancashire boiler'
0:26:42 > 0:26:47and with reading about it, and studying it for his self,
0:26:47 > 0:26:49then he had a hands-on approach
0:26:49 > 0:26:53of experimenting with putting rivets in himself in his yard.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58He eventually over the years developed his own method
0:26:58 > 0:27:03of carrying out boiler work to absolute superb, 100%,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06but there was nothing wrong whatsoever with the craftsmanship
0:27:06 > 0:27:08that Fred put into his boilermaking expertise.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13Are you going to show me you new boiler in your new Aga? Oh, we've got to show you that.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17We'll go have a brew in there without a doubt, yeah. Aye, you'll like this, Fred.
0:27:17 > 0:27:201882 Lancashire boiler.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22See you later then. Aye, see you later.
0:27:27 > 0:27:29See you've done it then.
0:27:29 > 0:27:31Magic. Yeah.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Good replacement for the Aga, that, I think, innit?
0:27:34 > 0:27:40Well, it's the biggest and most unique kitchen radiator in Great Britain, so I'm informed, anyway.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45We took it out of a mill down in Staffordshire,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49but I were very pleased to get this cos it's a very rare Lancashire-made.
0:27:49 > 0:27:54Yeah. 1882 and it's William Bland, you know.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56Never heard of them but... No, neither had I.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58Only five mile down road.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01I've kept abreast of your activities on it
0:28:01 > 0:28:05and lots of people have these wonderful ideas,
0:28:05 > 0:28:08but they never come to nowt, but this has, hasn't it?
0:28:08 > 0:28:09Oh, yeah, it's come to fruition.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13It's complete with repairs and everything. Quite wonderful, eh?
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Yeah. Is the bread good when you've done it?
0:28:15 > 0:28:19It's good bread. Talking about bread, want a piece of oat bread?
0:28:19 > 0:28:22Aye, thank you, aye. Watch you don't gam your teeth in. I most likely will!
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Aye, looks splendid, doesn't it?
0:28:29 > 0:28:31A pot of tea there for you and all, Fred.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35Yeah, have you put plenty sugar in? Aye, there's plenty of sugar in.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Some would say you're sweet enough though!
0:28:49 > 0:28:52Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006
0:28:52 > 0:28:55E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk