0:00:02 > 0:00:06I were born in a row of terraced houses, something similar to Coronation Street,
0:00:06 > 0:00:11all clustered together, and as a little lad, from the back bedroom window,
0:00:11 > 0:00:15I could look down an alleyway and up above a long back street,
0:00:15 > 0:00:22and see the signal box on the mainline from Manchester to go through Bolton,
0:00:22 > 0:00:27and at two o'clock in the morning - be magnificent on a moonlit night -
0:00:27 > 0:00:32and you could hear the whistle blowing as it were approaching Bolton, the locomotive,
0:00:32 > 0:00:34and it would bash across end of this ginnel
0:00:34 > 0:00:40with the firehole door open and a big shaft of fire in t'sky
0:00:40 > 0:00:44and you could see, like, two characters on the footplate, you know, crouched in position,
0:00:44 > 0:00:50and, you know, that's really what inspired me and got me interested in steam engines.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52WHISTLE BLOWS
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Fred Dibnah had a passion for steam-powered engines and machinery,
0:01:17 > 0:01:23and he spent a large part of his life restoring them and driving them around.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It's a passion that has helped us to see just how important
0:01:26 > 0:01:28steam power was in our history.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Fred's passion for steam was something
0:01:33 > 0:01:37which absolutely oozed out of his personality.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42The idea of solid, shiny machines
0:01:42 > 0:01:46with brass surfaces and polished steel is something that,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51if you have the bug for that, is something that stays with you forever.
0:01:51 > 0:01:57But Fred had a particular way of getting that over to people,
0:01:57 > 0:02:00which was particularly good for television as well.
0:02:01 > 0:02:06Fred's interest went back to the time when he was a small boy.
0:02:06 > 0:02:11I were almost born in the engine shed, you know, it were only a slight detour on my way home from school,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15to go to the engine sheds on Crescent Road,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and the vision has never left me, you know,
0:02:18 > 0:02:24there'd be row upon row of steam locomotives all getting steam up, and nearly dark in t'winter,
0:02:24 > 0:02:30you know, all the smoke and all t'windows seemed to be yellow in t'corners,
0:02:30 > 0:02:37in all the little offices and everything, and that wonderful smell, you know...
0:02:37 > 0:02:40and fog and coal, black oil everywhere.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42To me, it were quite romantic...
0:02:42 > 0:02:47I suppose it would have been to the modern day environmentalist - a terrible place!
0:02:47 > 0:02:52But I enjoyed it.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55There's a lot of enthusiasm now for the steam railways.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00It's a touch of when it's all gone, you know, everybody wants one, I think, but there's summat about
0:03:00 > 0:03:04a steam locomotive and when it's steamed up,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07it sort of comes to life and it smells nice
0:03:07 > 0:03:10and all of that, you know, the sulphur in the smoke,
0:03:10 > 0:03:15you know, something that nobody, I don't think, can really explain.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Can I come on board? FRED LAUGHS
0:03:21 > 0:03:24There's more room on here than the last one they had me on, eh?!
0:03:49 > 0:03:52WHISTLE SOUNDS
0:03:52 > 0:03:5530 miles an hour -
0:03:55 > 0:03:57beautiful. Casey Jones!
0:04:03 > 0:04:06To me, looking at a railway line now,
0:04:06 > 0:04:11going in and out of a big city, or out in t'country,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16and all them stanchions and electric wires, they're all really terribly unsightly,
0:04:16 > 0:04:22you know, as against two beautiful silver streaks along...in the fields
0:04:22 > 0:04:25and just post and rail fences along each side,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and the odd signal sticking up - it looked a lot more...
0:04:28 > 0:04:32picturesque then and more beautiful than what it is now.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34To me, now it's a hell of a mess, you know.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39I'm sure there could have been a better way than electricity - it's just cheap and convenient
0:04:39 > 0:04:42and, of course, doesn't cost as much as steam engines.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46Before Fred was on the scene, railway programmes on TV,
0:04:46 > 0:04:51steam railway programmes were seen as being very much the thing to
0:04:51 > 0:04:58be put on in the late hours and Fred brought it into the living rooms of millions - it was very good indeed.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03This locomotive behind me is a Sterling 060, that means it's got
0:05:03 > 0:05:08six driving wheels and the actual crank axle is the middle one.
0:05:08 > 0:05:13And then of course the whole six are connected up with these outside connecting rods.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It were made in 1895.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20I mean, you've got to say something for them men who made these, lasted all them years
0:05:20 > 0:05:24with maybe a few overhauls, but it's a great thing
0:05:24 > 0:05:28and, of course, they lasted forever, and they were maids of all work.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31When they first were envisaged, they didn't have a cab.
0:05:31 > 0:05:36I think I'll go and see if I can hitch a lift back to the station at the other end.
0:05:36 > 0:05:43- How old's this one, Tony?- This was built in 1895 at Ashford in Kent. - Yeah, yeah.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Did it have much done to the boiler?
0:05:49 > 0:05:54I think it was a bit of a pet for the apprentices...always doing test cases and what have you.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Yeah, yeah, mending it, like.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00- So all the plates are nice and thick and are in good condition. - Yeah, they are.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Right so you've got a good 'un.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07When you see Fred riding on a steam locomotive,
0:06:07 > 0:06:11you're suddenly aware of how much fun it is for him
0:06:11 > 0:06:16and you want to experience it too. It's much more fun than reading.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20And when he went to somewhere like the Bluebell Line
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and showed us the people there who keep these things running,
0:06:24 > 0:06:29then he makes us appreciate not just our future technology, things that are being produced today,
0:06:29 > 0:06:35but also the real intricacy and specialisms that people had in the past,
0:06:35 > 0:06:38and I think that it's very important - that he gives us
0:06:38 > 0:06:45a sense through his own excitement and pleasure - he makes us enjoy it as well.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48I enjoyed that.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51This locomotive behind me, Fenchurch,
0:06:51 > 0:06:56is what's known as a Terrier, which was a very small locomotive
0:06:56 > 0:07:01and very popular in the southern counties and on the rural,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04like...little lines, you know.
0:07:04 > 0:07:09Designed by Mr Stroudley in the 1870s, and they made quite a lot -
0:07:09 > 0:07:12got lots of interesting features about it.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Like the exhaust could be converted from going up the funnel
0:07:16 > 0:07:21or diverting into the water tanks which of course pre-heats the water
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and saves a bit of water that would normally condense in the atmosphere.
0:07:25 > 0:07:33I mean, considering it were made in 1872 and it's still here, it's quite a credit to Mr Stroudley.
0:07:33 > 0:07:39I think I'll go and see Clive now, who's going to give me a few lessons in how to drive it.
0:07:39 > 0:07:40WHISTLE BLOWS
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Bit rash on the regulator.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47- Keep it ticking over.- Yeah.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49And then you can accelerate a little bit more.
0:07:53 > 0:07:57- Agghhh!- It is heavy, isn't it?
0:07:57 > 0:07:59It's vicious, that, innit?
0:07:59 > 0:08:07Fred was held in very great regard and a lot of us in the railway preservation movement
0:08:07 > 0:08:09are not good at blowing our own trumpets -
0:08:09 > 0:08:13we do what we do, we do it fairly quietly and we bumble along merrily.
0:08:13 > 0:08:19What Fred did was to celebrate the world of steam and steam railway in particular,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21and the fact that he wasn't afraid to get on
0:08:21 > 0:08:25and have a go himself and enjoy himself...
0:08:25 > 0:08:29was a fantastic thing and people loved the fact that he was there,
0:08:29 > 0:08:35his sense of fun, and that he was flying the flag for Britain's steam heritage.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41Are you right, dear?
0:08:41 > 0:08:43I think Fred's contribution to
0:08:43 > 0:08:47the standing of engineering history has been enormous.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50You like my lady fireman, eh?
0:08:51 > 0:08:55There is this terrible cultural block, almost, that only people
0:08:55 > 0:09:00who wear rigger boots and anoraks and are slightly socially-challenged like steam engines.
0:09:00 > 0:09:05- Is this connected to t'other one? - Yep.- So we're OK.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09This awful word, the "railway buff" or "steam buff", Fred wasn't that,
0:09:09 > 0:09:15you had to respect him, he was a working man, he had oily overalls
0:09:15 > 0:09:20and as I say, he didn't just look at the subject out of context as an obsessive collector,
0:09:20 > 0:09:24he saw it as part of a whole world that he liked,
0:09:24 > 0:09:29whether it was chimneys or well built buildings, stone, cobbles,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32the whole thing, he swept it all up
0:09:32 > 0:09:39and so he made that contextualisation of engineering history accessible.
0:09:39 > 0:09:43The industrialisation of the great cities
0:09:43 > 0:09:48put a terrible strain on the antiquated water and sewage systems.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52Many new reservoirs were built, and of course, to pump water to them,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56many steam pumping stations had to be built.
0:09:56 > 0:10:01This is one of the more ornate - Papplewick, built in 1884...
0:10:02 > 0:10:09..pumped water to the city of Nottingham all the way through till 1969.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15These are the six Lancashire boilers that made the steam to drive the pumping engine.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19They were made in Manchester by W & J Galloway.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25Mr Galloway improved the Lancashire boiler by inserting vertical water tubes
0:10:25 > 0:10:30at the end of the fire tubes which greatly increased the steaming capabilities,
0:10:30 > 0:10:37and down here, they used to burn five tons of coal a day on three of them, the other three were on standby.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40They always did things like that at waterworks, just in case,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43and the pressure's getting a bit low now,
0:10:43 > 0:10:47so I think I'll do a bit of stoking up and get Jeff to give me a lift
0:10:47 > 0:10:51and then we can go and play with the steam engines round the corner.
0:10:51 > 0:10:58- Come on, Jeff.- I've done one side, Fred, so if you fire this side... - Right!
0:11:10 > 0:11:15When the engines of the building were finished, they were well under budget.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20With all the money they had left over, they did these wonderful embellishments,
0:11:20 > 0:11:22like the stained-glass windows
0:11:22 > 0:11:26and the terracotta bits outside, and the fish and the birds.
0:11:26 > 0:11:31It's rather sad really, that the general public never saw any of this, you know,
0:11:31 > 0:11:37only the waterworks' superintendents and maybe some of the operatives,
0:11:37 > 0:11:43but it really shows you how proud the Victorians were of their engineering achievements.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50Fred shows his love of the Victorian age a great deal through his appreciation of what he could see.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54I mean, he looked at pumping engines being a thing of great beauty, for example -
0:11:54 > 0:11:59the water supply at Papplewick, down at Nottingham, and Ryhope up here in Sunderland.
0:11:59 > 0:12:04You see a modern electric pump doesn't hold the same appeal -
0:12:04 > 0:12:08look at some of those engines lasting 150 years, and they're still here.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11How many of our electric pumps are going to be here in ten?
0:12:11 > 0:12:16These great beams, of course, transfer the power from the piston rod
0:12:16 > 0:12:20to the pump rods down the well or the shaft
0:12:20 > 0:12:23and of course, they weigh 13 tonnes each.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28Have you ever wondered how they got them up here? There were no fancy cranes in them days.
0:12:28 > 0:12:34There's lots of lovely old-fashioned pictures exist with great piles of great baulks of timber
0:12:34 > 0:12:39and they're, basically, jacking up the beam as the engine room came up,
0:12:39 > 0:12:43then they just slide them in over the top of the central beam that they pivot on,
0:12:43 > 0:12:49the eye bolts in the ceiling really are only for lifting bits and pieces up,
0:12:49 > 0:12:55just to replace things like bearings, or, you know, cotters and things of that nature.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Steam was Fred's thing entirely, whether it was our steam boat here,
0:12:59 > 0:13:04which he was very keen on or the Newcomen engine or other developments, or anywhere.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07I don't think he could pass a chimney - his first interest,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10without thinking, "That's generating some steam!"
0:13:10 > 0:13:15and then explaining to people what that steam was all about,
0:13:15 > 0:13:19whether he was driving his road engine or watching a stationary engine.
0:13:19 > 0:13:22I mean, steam was in his blood, if you can have such a thing.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28For his last series, he travelled the country and gave us a real understanding of
0:13:28 > 0:13:31the practicalities of driving these engines.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35It's a brand new fusible plug.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38It depends how many times you do it.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43Like you can get away with a few dos, like, with no water over the top,
0:13:43 > 0:13:48but one day it'll have you and that's it, you've got an ashpan off,
0:13:48 > 0:13:52fire bars out, black as hell, you know, terrible thing.
0:13:52 > 0:13:57And it's always circumstances, you know like, all along the flat, no hydrants,
0:13:57 > 0:14:03then you come suddenly over the crest of a hill, bloody great hole,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05you know, and the water disappears.
0:14:06 > 0:14:11He was the common man in the street that had made good.
0:14:12 > 0:14:19And people respected him because of his knowledge, his hands-on approach to everything.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23He didn't talk about it, it wasn't that he was an armchair engineer,
0:14:23 > 0:14:25who he'd read about it in the Victorian books,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28he went out there and did it, he was really a man out of his time
0:14:28 > 0:14:32because he had all these skills at his fingertips.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36We've always been regarded as eccentric, wanting to play with dirty mechanical things,
0:14:36 > 0:14:42but that's the way we're made and I think Fred's enthusiasm
0:14:42 > 0:14:44and interest made people understand
0:14:44 > 0:14:49that it was something that anybody could do and be interested in.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53Well pressure's dropping now, which means we need some more fire,
0:14:53 > 0:14:55and fire down here...
0:14:55 > 0:14:58And he always enjoyed meeting the next generation of enthusiasts.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03It's their interest that will keep the steam preservation movement alive.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07So...stop the engine,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09then we can open the firehole door...
0:15:10 > 0:15:12..and put some coal in.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- Now, does it look as though it needs some?- Yeah.
0:15:14 > 0:15:20Right next to you there's a shovel, got some coal on there already. Would you like to lift that around?
0:15:23 > 0:15:27That's it. That will help build the fire up.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34Right in... That's about the right place. Just have a look.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37Look...yeah!
0:15:39 > 0:15:44Now we should be able to make some more steam now. Ahh, here's Fred.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46- Did you get all that, young Edward?- Yeah.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51I see you managed all right, doesn't matter what you do, as long as you don't lose the shovel.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55Now then, John, how many of these young chaps have you got on your trust?
0:15:55 > 0:15:59- Well, at the moment we've got about four or five regulars.- Yeah.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04- And there are one or two who appear now and again as the whim takes them.- I know what you mean.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07- About four or five are regular. - That's very good, really.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09It's the future of our preservation movement.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14- Oh, it is without a shadow of a doubt yeah.- And we have to bring them on.
0:16:14 > 0:16:18- Yeah. He's got the right sort of cap for it, hasn't he?- Well, he insisted on that.
0:16:18 > 0:16:23I noticed in your shed you've got lots of projects afloat...you don't mind if I go and have a look around?
0:16:23 > 0:16:28- No, there's one or two things going on. I'll see you later.- I'll buzz off into the shed.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38- What are you doing here, then?- Well, we've just re-tubed the boiler and then we're having...
0:16:38 > 0:16:45to expand the tubes, obviously make them watertight to stop any water coming out into the smoke box here.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47Yeah I've done that myself, its hard work, isn't it?
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- What's next stage, do you fill it up with water? - Give it its pressure test.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Yeah, yeah that's very good, yeah, and if it passes,
0:16:55 > 0:16:59boiler inspector'll give you a certificate and you can light a fire in it then,
0:16:59 > 0:17:06and then he'll come down and see it blowing off and then you can set off to a steam engine rally somewhere
0:17:06 > 0:17:09and that's a good day that when that happens.
0:17:09 > 0:17:12You do the bar with the grease gun,
0:17:12 > 0:17:15because the it goes through the firebox, it gets very hot,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18and it needs plenty of grease in there, so it doesn't seize up.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24If you want to do that one, I'll lubricate the chain and then we'll go for a trundle down the road.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Phil, what've you got this young man doing here?
0:17:28 > 0:17:31- He's being trained in the lubrication of the engine, Fred.- Oh.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34This is an important part of the engine,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38because the bar goes through the firebox and gets very hot.
0:17:38 > 0:17:40Different metals expanding at different rates,
0:17:40 > 0:17:45so you've got to make sure that there's plenty of grease to keep it running smoothly.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48- Yeah. And this is Neil, is it? - This is Neil, yeah.
0:17:48 > 0:17:49- A trainee?- Absolutely, yeah.
0:17:49 > 0:17:54- A trainee steam man!- One of our fine young ones.- You've got some glasses like mine.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57- Well, are you taking me for a ride on it?- You bet your life.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00- Let's pack the stuff away. - Come on, young Neil.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02I'll get up first.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03Put your grease gun away.
0:18:05 > 0:18:07ENGINE CHUGS
0:18:10 > 0:18:14- Do you want to blow the whistle? - Yeah. TOOT! TOOT!
0:18:14 > 0:18:16HEAVY TRUNDLING
0:18:23 > 0:18:28As well as road rollers, steam also used to provide the power for fairgrounds...
0:18:28 > 0:18:31MERRY-GO-ROUND MUSIC
0:18:37 > 0:18:40And Fred was always inspired by these showmen's engines.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46He did actually go the fairground in the early 1940s during the war,
0:18:46 > 0:18:49with his mum and dad, which I think was Moor Lane in Bolton,
0:18:49 > 0:18:57and he did see the end of the fairground engines making the electricity for the fairground.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03One of the first rides I ever had on a traction engine were on one of these, you know?
0:19:03 > 0:19:07I'm gonna ask the driver if I can steer it down the road with him. I think he'll let me.
0:19:07 > 0:19:12- Are you all right, Chris?- Yeah. - Right, mate, I'm coming.
0:19:14 > 0:19:15Right...
0:19:23 > 0:19:26ENGINE CHUFFS
0:19:40 > 0:19:45I knew a man who bought a fairground engine
0:19:45 > 0:19:48and I often asked to play with the thing, but I wanted one of my own,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50like you want your own toy, don't you?
0:19:50 > 0:19:54So about 30-odd years ago I bought a steamroller.
0:19:54 > 0:19:58I think I were ripped off, I paid £175 for it,
0:19:58 > 0:20:04you could buy a steamroller about that time for about £60, you know, just beat the scrap man.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09Anyway, time went by, and this steamroller were an incredible wreck.
0:20:09 > 0:20:13I remember when that first came and he parked it in t'front street,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17in front of t'house and believe me you've never seen owt like it.
0:20:17 > 0:20:23It were scrap iron. You wouldn't even...you wouldn't have give him £5 for it.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28So painstakingly, over a period of 30 years and two divorces,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31which took a long time...
0:20:31 > 0:20:35I slowly but surely made a new 'un.
0:20:57 > 0:21:01Excellent, in a word. I couldn't fault it.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06He'd taken meticulous care with the restoration of this engine.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11There was nothing about it that I could criticise at all.
0:21:11 > 0:21:15I've looked at many restored engines and boilers and so on,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17and I can honestly say this is the best I've ever seen.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38Fred raised the awareness of steam to a very great height,
0:21:38 > 0:21:42the steam engine world was a very close-knit world,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46everybody knew what was going on in the world amongst themselves,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50but nobody else did, and Fred appeared on television with his steamroller
0:21:50 > 0:21:54and it boosted everybody's interest in steam,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57they went to steam rallies, mainly to see Fred Dibnah...
0:21:59 > 0:22:04..but he wasn't at all the steam rallies, and it created a great deal of interest
0:22:04 > 0:22:08in both road-going steam engines, rail steam engines
0:22:08 > 0:22:10and industrial steam engines.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17Quick!
0:22:22 > 0:22:27- FRED LAUGHS - Hooray! - Bet you enjoyed that.
0:22:27 > 0:22:30- Hang on.- That's called running away. - Wait a minute.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35Right, we're all right now.
0:22:36 > 0:22:40It was difficult at times, but I really took it on board,
0:22:40 > 0:22:45because when I came here, I could see how passionate Fred was about his engines
0:22:45 > 0:22:47and indeed everything in the garden,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52and really that's who Fred was - his engines and his workshop.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I never saw anything as being in competition with me
0:22:57 > 0:23:01and my place in Fred's life, the two things were parallel.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04I think he loved us both in his way,
0:23:04 > 0:23:08but I wouldn't have hedged my bets - I think the steam engines would've come first, really.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15He was seen as the mascot of all the steam preservation movement,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18which is a huge movement nowadays.
0:23:18 > 0:23:21He was also...
0:23:21 > 0:23:27not quite so widely regarded as popular in the very early days.
0:23:27 > 0:23:31- I'm going for a pint.- I'm coming with you cos I'm no' a bloody camel.
0:23:31 > 0:23:36There are instances when the National Traction Engine Trust,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40which is the body that looks after the interests of traction engine owners,f
0:23:40 > 0:23:44weren't altogether happy that this guy on the box was,
0:23:44 > 0:23:50whilst he was promoting their cause of traction engines, and being out on the road with them,
0:23:50 > 0:23:55they weren't altogether happy that it made it look like it was one big pub crawl from one pub to another,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58another pint of beer, going to the next pub, another pint.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05Fred used to set off from the house, probably nine o'clock in the morning,
0:24:05 > 0:24:08and we'd get down to the Lever Bridge,
0:24:08 > 0:24:12get his first three pints and then we'd perhaps trundle off for another
0:24:12 > 0:24:16half an hour, an hour, to the next pub and I invented this phrase
0:24:16 > 0:24:19when everybody used to stop and ask, "How fast does it go?"
0:24:19 > 0:24:22I used to say, "Oh, it used to go at two PUBS an hour".
0:24:22 > 0:24:26I think...considering, we're not doing too bad.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29And that was what it was, we used to kind of stop and start
0:24:29 > 0:24:32and I used to count how many of these pints he used to drink,
0:24:32 > 0:24:37and believe it or not, it used to be 16. I remember often counting 16 pints
0:24:37 > 0:24:40he'd had during one sort of day.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42That is bloody good!
0:24:42 > 0:24:45And also, when Fred had quite a young family,
0:24:45 > 0:24:50there'd be sort of travelling on the trailer drawbar at the back by the living van
0:24:50 > 0:24:56all sort of practices which were all a bit, "Perhaps he shouldn't be doing that," showing bad practices.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59It made great telly, but it was showing bad practices,
0:24:59 > 0:25:05so it was a kind of a bit of a love-hate relationship with Fred originally,
0:25:05 > 0:25:09but...a movement like that can't buy
0:25:09 > 0:25:16TV time like that and it was great - the way it all ended up, of course, was absolutely fantastic.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20When Fred first went on the television with his steeplejacking
0:25:20 > 0:25:24and then he brought the steamroller into it,
0:25:24 > 0:25:28there was an instant, massive following at the steam rallies,
0:25:28 > 0:25:31a lot of people was attending, you know, to go and see Fred
0:25:31 > 0:25:35but also at the rallies when Fred wasn't there,
0:25:35 > 0:25:41he brought the numbers, attendance numbers up so, with being an engine owner, that was very good,
0:25:41 > 0:25:45because without people going and supporting the steam rallies,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48I'm afraid they would die a death.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52- Now then, young man, how are you doing?- All right, Fred, and yourself?
0:25:52 > 0:25:54- You all right, mate? - Yeah, not too bad.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57- Don't worry about the oily hands, I'm used to it!- Right.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- Yeah, Wallace and Stephens, eh? - That's right.- Basingstoke.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06- Apparently this is the only one of two left.- Yeah. - On an eight-horse single.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10- For the viewers, that's a powerful engine, innit?- She's very powerful...
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Eight-horse power is the equivalent to a big locomotive, like Atlas,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18it's good for t'see them doing summat, innit?
0:26:18 > 0:26:21We all like to see them out and about, not stuck in a shed really -
0:26:21 > 0:26:26- that's the beauty of it, then everybody gets the enjoyment of it as well.- Yeah, yeah.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31- I have a friend who's got a Clayton and Shuttleworth.- Is that right?- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34It's... What year's this one?
0:26:34 > 0:26:38- 1919.- What's furthest you've ridden it, like, along t'road?
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Mainly back and forward up and down the lane there, actually.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44Oh, you've not been in middle of a city yet?
0:26:44 > 0:26:48- No, not yet, no, no.- That's good fun, that, with all the traffic, yeah.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50We did have a little run locally with her and...
0:26:50 > 0:26:55it was nice to see the modern tractors waving to you, instead of the other way about.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00Oh, aye, you get lots of people who will even put up with the inconvenience of being behind you,
0:27:00 > 0:27:06I mean their not all like that, some of them come by giving you rude signs and hooting their hooters.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11- Yeah, yeah.- Best thing do with them then is blow the whistle very loud and drown them out
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and they can't hang about, they've got to keep going.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17- Yeah.- I see you've got the wife and all the kids with you, haven't you?
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Yeah, they take part in the engine and we all have a bit to do with it.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26- Yeah.- It's a passion we've got between us.- If you can find a wife that likes them, you're a lucky man.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30The biggest problem with it is expense with it all,
0:27:30 > 0:27:35because no matter what you're doing, it is terrifically expensive,
0:27:35 > 0:27:41but Fred has brought a lot of awareness to all these projects that are going on,
0:27:41 > 0:27:47and I think when people wouldn't visit an industrial museum,
0:27:47 > 0:27:51all of a sudden they've got an interest to get in the car
0:27:51 > 0:27:56and go and visit it, cos Fred's been there, which helps the museums, which brings the money in
0:27:56 > 0:28:04and better things happen, more's restored, so yeah, without a doubt he has brought awareness.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07It's his passion, passion is the word.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13It was the passion that Fred had for steam that came out in everything he did,
0:28:13 > 0:28:18either on telly, off telly, at steam rallies, he was just so happy
0:28:18 > 0:28:22whenever he was near a steam engine of some sort,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26whether it was a huge beam engine or a traction engine in a field,
0:28:26 > 0:28:29and that absolutely came out in everything he did.
0:28:35 > 0:28:36Magic!
0:28:41 > 0:28:44Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd - 2006
0:28:44 > 0:28:47E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk