0:00:17 > 0:00:24Fred Dibnah is on the final stage of his grand tour of Britain's industrial past.
0:00:24 > 0:00:30He's in the mountains of Snowdonia in North Wales with his steersman Alf Molyneaux
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and his sons Jack and Roger.
0:00:35 > 0:00:40They're on their way to see a Victorian workshop,
0:00:40 > 0:00:45the kind of place where an engine like Fred's would have been built.
0:00:45 > 0:00:51To get there, they have to cross the Llanberis Pass in Snowdonia.
0:00:51 > 0:00:56It's a big test for the engine, but it's performing well.
0:01:02 > 0:01:08After a hard climb, they've reach the top of the pass, but they've used a lot of water.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14It's time to fill the tanks. But up in the mountains, fire hydrants are hard to come by.
0:01:14 > 0:01:19The only place they can get water is from a tap in the cafe up here,
0:01:19 > 0:01:22but even then, there's still a problem.
0:01:22 > 0:01:24We haven't got a hose pipe long enough.
0:01:24 > 0:01:29Then the taps...you have to keep your thumb on them all the time.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31Water must be desperate on top of this mountain.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34With no hose pipe, they've got to use buckets,
0:01:34 > 0:01:38and anything else they can get to get the water from the cafe.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41And that means a lot of buckets to fill a 160 gallon tank.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44How far off top is it?
0:01:44 > 0:01:45We're nearly there now...
0:01:49 > 0:01:51It's full!
0:01:55 > 0:01:57Here y'are, Rog.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03- Is it in gear?- Yeah.- Wait a minute then. Hang on, hang on.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06Looks like it's going to rain, doesn't it?
0:02:06 > 0:02:10- Mind that Land Rover.- Eh? - I've driven it on my own now.
0:02:10 > 0:02:15Yeah, I'm just looking at how you've bashed me engine about.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17Anyway...
0:02:17 > 0:02:21We'd better put a lemon in because it's not...
0:02:21 > 0:02:24With the tank full, its time to get dinner ready.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30And they're going to cook it in the old traction engine men's way, while Fred keeps the fans happy.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32I-E?
0:02:32 > 0:02:36We've more potatoes than we've tin foil for.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40Wrap that because we've more potatoes than we've tin foil.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Sorry about the oily finger marks, you know, make it more authentic.
0:02:48 > 0:02:54You can do baked beans on the cylinder block, uh... spaghetti rings on the cylinder block,
0:02:54 > 0:02:59eggs and bacon on the shovel, roast lamb, spare ribs.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02I've never tried toast but we could.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11Alf's early problems with steering the engine are long gone
0:03:11 > 0:03:16and now, after nearly three months on the road he's a very proficient steersman.
0:03:16 > 0:03:22Stood up there in the sky, driving that engine, steering it anyway,
0:03:22 > 0:03:25it was just such a wonderful experience.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28I'd have never got that experience without Fred.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Never.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Is the pub open?
0:03:37 > 0:03:40As ever, it's been hot, thirsty work
0:03:40 > 0:03:46driving down the pass and Fred's in need of some liquid refreshment.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50- You burned it!- Eh?
0:03:51 > 0:03:55You'd think, what time are the licensing hours in Wales, you know?
0:03:55 > 0:03:58I thought they were any time now.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Yeah, well some people, they do that well at the weekend,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04they won't bother opening during the week.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09- If I had glasses on, I'd be able to tell the time.- 14 minutes past one.- Right, 14 minutes past one.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14- Well, we may as well press on, you know.- Right, we're going.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17- I'm ready.- Are you all right?
0:04:17 > 0:04:23Is the break off on't trailer, Jack? Run it up here, we can open it up.
0:04:27 > 0:04:31Now that the engine has been running,
0:04:31 > 0:04:33it will do 15 mph with ease.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36If it's in top gear, it goes very fast.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42You should never try and change gear on a hill.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46You read horrific stories about these super-duper men
0:04:46 > 0:04:51in the old days being able to change gear on the run.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54I don't think I fancy trying that.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58Maybe on the level it's not so bad but on any hills, it's a bit fatal.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Slate has been quarried from these mountains for over 1,800 years.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23But it was with the coming of the Industrial Revolution that the Welsh slate industry really took off.
0:05:23 > 0:05:29Fred and his team are on their way to the Welsh Slate Museum down at the bottom of the pass,
0:05:29 > 0:05:32but before they get there, those potatoes need looking at.
0:05:40 > 0:05:41Try the...
0:05:41 > 0:05:43Is it hot?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Let's have a feel.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49That's done that, it feels... Feels like it's done.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54They feel, uh, good.
0:05:54 > 0:05:59- Get all the carbon off it and it'll be all right.- It's too hot.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04- Want a knife and fork? - A set of teeth would be all right!
0:06:04 > 0:06:09- < Any pubs around here?- There was one up the road but it were shut.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12- There you go. - I don't need that.
0:06:12 > 0:06:16- Do you want some salt and a plate? - A fork would be better.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- They're good inside.- Eh? - Good inside.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Not bad, actually.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26That'll do till teatime, after they've been to the Slate Museum.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30North Wales has been mined for both coal and copper,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34but really, it's the slate industry that dominates the region.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37This is the Slate Museum at Llanberis.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43And it's based in the workshops of the old Dinorwig quarry,
0:06:43 > 0:06:48and in my opinion, it's the finest Victorian workshop in the whole of Great Britain.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55These workshops catered for all the maintenance work of the quarry,
0:06:55 > 0:06:58which at its height employed over 3,000 men.
0:06:58 > 0:07:04All the power came from this huge water wheel, built by the De Winton company in Caernarfon.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08And the whole site was so big, it had its own railway.
0:07:10 > 0:07:15Last time Fred came here, he had a go at dressing the slate,
0:07:15 > 0:07:18but on this trip, it's the workshops he's interested in.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23I've been here before, there's all sorts of interesting stuff.
0:07:23 > 0:07:25How's that for a lathe?
0:07:25 > 0:07:28- Oh, I bet you can do some on that. - It's a fair 'un.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33All the machinery in this mechanic shop
0:07:33 > 0:07:38is driven by this line shaft which is an eighth of a mile long,
0:07:38 > 0:07:41and all driven from the water wheel at the other end.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47It's the type of workshop that my traction engine would be manufactured in.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Look at the size of that one.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54That's for turning wheels, it's like a wheel lathe, you know the ones in the railway workshop?
0:07:54 > 0:07:59- Yeah.- That's the same thing but it'll only do one side at once.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03Really, it would be wonderful to be let loose in here with about
0:08:03 > 0:08:0660 tonne of iron plates of different thicknesses,
0:08:06 > 0:08:08and about 50 tonne of coke,
0:08:08 > 0:08:11a few 45 gallon drums full of oil,
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and there'd be no end to what you could make in a workshop like this,
0:08:15 > 0:08:21cos there's a machine tool of every description that you could ever wish to have.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27Yeah, it's a pity it's a bit too big for our shed!
0:08:27 > 0:08:31- Yeah.- Well, most of the stuff in here is.- Mmm.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Yeah. Blooming heck! Look at that, even in the olden days, no smoking.
0:08:36 > 0:08:40You'd've thought they'd all be going with their pipes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:46When you think about it, in 1870s, it would've been like bedlam.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51them forges in there would all be roaring away from dawn till dusk,
0:08:51 > 0:08:56sharpening all the chisels and all the tools and the drills for them thousands of men up the mountain.
0:08:56 > 0:09:01Here look at this, the shaper, it's a double-ended 'un, isn't it?
0:09:01 > 0:09:04You can do owt you want with this.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07What would you make for the engine on this machine?
0:09:07 > 0:09:11On our one, same thing at home, we've made the valve chest covers.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15When we were doing the boiler, we had to make that piece
0:09:15 > 0:09:19with a slant on it, we planed the slant on it with the shaper.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Made about 1870 or something like that.
0:09:23 > 0:09:30A squirt or two of oil on that and put the belt back on which is not here no more, and it'll be away.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35At it's height, Wales was producing nearly
0:09:35 > 0:09:39500,000 tonnes of slate a year, four fifths of all British slate.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42But this level of production came at a price.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46Slate quarrying was a very dangerous occupation.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48In one quarry alone,
0:09:48 > 0:09:54363 men were killed in accidents in just 150 years.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56Many thousands more were injured.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Dinorwig Quarry closed in 1969,
0:10:02 > 0:10:06but some of the workers still live around Llanberis
0:10:06 > 0:10:11and when Fred and Alf were down at the local pub, they met two of them.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14- Hello, gents. - How do you do?- How are you?
0:10:14 > 0:10:18- Aye.- I saw you steaming down this morning. Where were you going?
0:10:18 > 0:10:23We went to the museum workshop you know which is er, which is er...
0:10:23 > 0:10:27- How did you find it? Lovely. - Yeah. That's where I served my time.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32I started in 1953 when the quarry was, you know, going...
0:10:32 > 0:10:37There must've been a lot of opportunity for pitting and mending things.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43Yes, I remember blacksmiths, six of them working flat out. It's nice to see who's still there.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Yeah, the bloody fires would hardly go out would they?
0:10:47 > 0:10:51A true story about chaps from Caernarfon working in the quarry.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55When somebody would come looking for a job, they had to knock on the door
0:10:55 > 0:11:00of the manager's office and when he said, "Come in", they had to take their caps off.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03- Oh, yes. - To show respect for the manager.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07Well, this chap from Caernarfon came in to look for a job,
0:11:07 > 0:11:11he knocked at the door and walked in with his cap still on his head.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16He said, "Do you know what you're supposed do when you walk into the manager's office?
0:11:16 > 0:11:17"Take your cap off".
0:11:17 > 0:11:21"I've come in here for a job, not a haircut" he says!
0:11:25 > 0:11:27That's a good 'un, innit?
0:11:28 > 0:11:34Yeah, the workshop's summat innit? You could really make a locomotive in there.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Oh, absolutely.
0:11:36 > 0:11:42They've got their own foundry, their own millers and shapers and everything you could want.
0:11:42 > 0:11:44I never knew anything about foundry work.
0:11:44 > 0:11:49This chap came from Scotland and he was a foundryman at Colesbridge.
0:11:49 > 0:11:54He showed me all the ropes about casting brass. I was lucky, that was the first day.
0:11:54 > 0:12:01That's the best way. We've discussed this on this trip, about learning out of books and things like that.
0:12:01 > 0:12:07- You can't.- You can get a book written by an academic who's never done anything in his bloody life.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11I mean OK, he's a clever bloke, he can write it all down.
0:12:11 > 0:12:16But it doesn't really give you the final bit of how to do it.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Like having an old man stood at the side of you saying, "You're making a bugger of that"
0:12:20 > 0:12:23is the best way to learn.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Like making the boiler on my traction engine,
0:12:26 > 0:12:32I were very fortunate cos there were a lot of old men who were left over from Horwich Loco Works.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36And they were all... knew how to work, smoking theirselves to death and all that like.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40I'm glad I met them or we'd be in dire straights.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Unfortunately, they're all leaving us. There's no apprenticeships today.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47They're having a rethink now.
0:12:47 > 0:12:54- Are they? Yeah.- I was in Birmingham University t'other day getting an honorary degree, and the chancellor,
0:12:54 > 0:12:59and the vice chancellor and they're all sat there in three gold braid and I've got a funny hat on.
0:12:59 > 0:13:00I saw that in the picture, yeah.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03They were all Chinamen!
0:13:03 > 0:13:07And seven-eighths of them were girls as well!
0:13:07 > 0:13:11All with a degree in engineering. So what's going to happen to us?
0:13:11 > 0:13:14We'll be shopkeepers and tourist attractions in a bit.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20- Yeah, that's it.- It's getting that road.- It's funny how we're getting old with all these memories.
0:13:24 > 0:13:30They've been on the road now for nearly three months. Alf's thoughts are turning to home.
0:13:30 > 0:13:36Well, it'll be nice to get home and see how the missus is coping.
0:13:36 > 0:13:41It wasn't... It wasn't work, it was an enjoyable holiday,
0:13:41 > 0:13:44and a one-off lifetime experience.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49Traction engines are... They are, they're just such amazing machines.
0:13:49 > 0:13:50A lovely sight.
0:13:50 > 0:13:57You've got to take your hat off to the people who keep them going, keep them on the road.
0:13:57 > 0:14:04On the way home, they're passing one of the greatest Victorian wonders of Britain's waterways.
0:14:04 > 0:14:11On our way back to Bolton, we're going to stop off at the world's first boat lift.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14The Anderton Boat Lift was built in 1875
0:14:14 > 0:14:18and taken out of use in 1983.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20Then it was extensively restored,
0:14:20 > 0:14:24then in 2002, reopened to the public.
0:14:29 > 0:14:34The boatlift is a black and white Victorian iron masterpiece with a chequered history.
0:14:34 > 0:14:38It was built as an alternative to a series of locks,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43to bridge the 51 foot height difference between canal and river.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48The initial plan to build a flight of locks was abandoned due to a lack of space
0:14:48 > 0:14:53and the amount of water that would have been lost from the canal into the river.
0:14:53 > 0:14:59The lift was built to solve the expensive problem of getting goods
0:14:59 > 0:15:04from the River Weaver navigation, up to the Trent and Mersey canal.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10The goods mainly were pottery from Staffordshire, and salt from Cheshire going back the other way.
0:15:10 > 0:15:15Changes in the design took it over budget by as much as £50,000.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20Really, I think they did quite well getting it up in 30 months.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25I'm now going off to see Tim and Harry who are going to give me a ride on the thing.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29- Aye. Good afternoon, Tim.- Hi. How you doing, Fred?- All right, mate.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32- Nice to see you. - Are you going to give me a ride?
0:15:32 > 0:15:36- Yes, if you'd like to come aboard The Storyteller, we'll set sail.- Aye.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39Well, here it is, Anderton Boat Lift.
0:15:39 > 0:15:40Yeah.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45The lift has two caissons. Each one can accommodate two narrowboats.
0:15:45 > 0:15:50What we're doing at the moment is in the aqueduct which was built in 1875.
0:15:50 > 0:15:52When we were doing the refurbishment,
0:15:52 > 0:15:57we did a lot of calculations to work out how strong these girders were.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01- Victorian engineers were good but not quite that good.- I know that.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06Generally, they sometimes overdid it, and sometimes didn't overdo it.
0:16:07 > 0:16:13We've had to add safety features like the buffer, just in case anybody were to...
0:16:13 > 0:16:16In case you were a bit over enthusiastic.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20We've seen from the photographs how they built this 1908 structure.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22They had small derrick cranes.
0:16:22 > 0:16:26- Yeah, oh, built of stick, yeah, yeah.- Steam-driven ones on trestles.
0:16:26 > 0:16:31Any bridge building were quite fantastic really, how they did it.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33- The amount of men that died. - That's right.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36There were generally five or six on any project.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40The large A-frames and upper gear deck were added to the structure
0:16:40 > 0:16:43when the lift was converted to electric in 1908
0:16:43 > 0:16:49after corrosion damaged the original hydraulic mechanism beyond repair.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59The lift was sympathetically restored to hydraulic operation
0:16:59 > 0:17:03in 2002 after an extensive £7 million overhaul.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07They took the main A-frames off as one piece, like giant Meccano really.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11- They actually took the whole thing down?- Yes.- And then re-erected it?
0:17:11 > 0:17:16Re-erected it about a year later once everything had been refurbished.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19When the caissons are full of water, how heavy is it?
0:17:19 > 0:17:23Well, a caisson full of water weighs 250 tonnes.
0:17:23 > 0:17:30Both caissons are balanced at the moment and all we do is transfer the oil from one piston to another.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47- Here we are.- River level.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50So, we're all right now. We can sail away to Liverpool.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28It's been a long trip, but the end is now in sight.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32'Me and Fred work well together.
0:18:32 > 0:18:35'Fred's very easy to get on with.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38'He'd all this hanging over him, the terminal illness
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'but he insisted on keeping going, he intended keeping going.
0:18:43 > 0:18:49'He were determined he'd get round to as many people as possible.
0:18:49 > 0:18:53'He's given as much and he's getting as much back.
0:18:53 > 0:18:59'If you go past the school, the kids run to the railways, teachers and all, they were just as bad.
0:18:59 > 0:19:05'It's just a wonderful feeling when you're on that engine and everybody's waving to you.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07'Every time we stopped,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10'people would descend on us,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15'the joy on their faces, all the snapping they did all over the place.
0:19:15 > 0:19:16'They just loved Fred.
0:19:16 > 0:19:24'It was just a fantastic opportunity to get round to places where I would never have got to.
0:19:24 > 0:19:26'Some lovely memories.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28'Stood up near furnaces.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33'If I hadn't have known Fred, I'd never have gone on that steam launch on Coniston.
0:19:33 > 0:19:40'I can sit back in my chair and close my eyes and drive down Llanberis Pass with Fred.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46'And on the engine like, going over Forth Bridge, the only steam vehicle to go over under its own power.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49'Them are the real highlights.'
0:19:50 > 0:19:54There are another couple of places to visit,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59because it was around here that some of the most important parts of Fred's engine were made.
0:20:01 > 0:20:07They've always had to know what the steam pressure was and how much water they had in the tank.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11If the pressure had got too high or the water level had got too low,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14the consequences would have been disastrous.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18So the pressure and water gauges are absolutely vital.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22WHISTLE BLOWS
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I've had a few pressure gauges from Budenberg's in Manchester.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31They make everything, all the works inside.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35The only thing they don't do is the glass window in the front.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40In its heyday, the company employed over 500 people,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43but now, they're down to just 60-odd workers.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49The Victorian workshops, where this sort of specialist work
0:20:49 > 0:20:54used to be done no longer exists, but the skills are still there,
0:20:54 > 0:20:59even if the work is now done in a modern industrial unit.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04- That was one of the old gauges we used to make. These movements were hand made.- A bit like clock making.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08It certainly is, yes. And basically, the principle hasn't changed.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10- Oh, no.- From the early days.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13- 1850s, 1860s.- Yeah, yeah.
0:21:13 > 0:21:20Steam pressure gauges are still handmade at Budenberg's as they have been for over 150 years,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25under a patented design filed by them in 1849.
0:21:25 > 0:21:31The pressure gauge consists of an oval tube that's been bent into a circle.
0:21:31 > 0:21:37And the steam is offered into one end of the tube, which thereupon it tries to straighten out the tube.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40On the other end, which is blanked off, there's a linkage
0:21:40 > 0:21:47that goes to a needle and tells you how many pounds per square inch of steam there is in the boiler.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51Yeah, one day, about, must be about 15 years since or something like that,
0:21:51 > 0:21:57we stopped for lunch somewhere near Knutsford, or somewhere that road, Cheshire like in this pub.
0:21:57 > 0:22:03And this guy came in with a yellow silk scarf cravat, with red spots on, a big 'tache.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08And he said, "I see you've not got one of our gauges on your machine."
0:22:08 > 0:22:11And I said, "Who are you, Mr Budenberg?"
0:22:11 > 0:22:13He says, "As a matter of fact, yes."
0:22:13 > 0:22:18I said "I'll tell you what, mate, at home, I've got a lovely one,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20"but it's really badly damaged."
0:22:20 > 0:22:24He says, "You bloody chaps are all the same, you want it for nothing I suppose."
0:22:24 > 0:22:27Then we had a pint and bid him good day.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29But he said "I'll send a man."
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And we give it him, he took it away and it came back and it were like
0:22:33 > 0:22:37brand new, all shined up, new glass, new everything.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Back on the edge of Bolton, they've one more visit to make.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48Some of the most important parts of the engine are the smallest,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51like the nuts and bolts that hold it together.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55And this is where Fred got the nuts and bolts for his engine.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00Thomas Smith's, or Smith and Bullough as it's now known, is one of the old time nut and bolt works
0:23:00 > 0:23:05which produce about 800 bolts a day.
0:23:05 > 0:23:11One of the problems that steam enthusiasts have is that it's difficult to get the right
0:23:11 > 0:23:14nuts and bolts for their engines because everything is metric now.
0:23:14 > 0:23:21The beauty of this workshop is that they still make the old style imperial thread sizes
0:23:21 > 0:23:24that a traction engine like Fred's needs.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28There don't look anybody about. Shall I ring the bell?
0:23:28 > 0:23:32- No, I know them all, they're nice lads.- Oh, after you then.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36- I know the way upstairs. - Go on then.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Hello chaps, how are you doing?
0:23:38 > 0:23:40Hello, Fred. Yeah, fine.
0:23:40 > 0:23:46Is it all right if I show the BBC where my nuts and bolts come from, that hold my engine together?
0:23:46 > 0:23:48Yeah, no problem at all.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52You know, we'll not fall in any nut and bolt machines or owt like that.
0:23:52 > 0:23:54- No, no. No problem at all. - Is that OK, then?- Yep.
0:23:57 > 0:24:01Smith and Bullough's nut and bolt works are one of the few
0:24:01 > 0:24:06companies in all of Great Britain that specialise in making one-offs.
0:24:06 > 0:24:12Great big bolts with funny threads and big square heads and any fancy shapes you want.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Whitworth is a word that's practically non-existent now,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19but you can get Whitworth nuts and bolts here.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24I've come today to make a special bolt for my traction engine.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27- Any one?- Any one.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35'In Manchester, Sir Joseph Whitworth perfected the standardisation of screw threads,
0:24:35 > 0:24:40'so everybody could make nuts and bolts that were all practically the same.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44'Up until the beginning on the Industrial Revolution,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48'threads and bolts and nuts had been individually made.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54'I've actually worked on machinery where each nut was made to fit the bolt.
0:24:54 > 0:24:59'And when you screwed them on, they waggled about as they went down until they actually landed on
0:24:59 > 0:25:02'the face that they were intended to go on.
0:25:02 > 0:25:06'Whitworth realised that if all engineers could use
0:25:06 > 0:25:12'the same machinery for making threads and measuring, mass production would be possible.
0:25:12 > 0:25:20By 1860, all his measuring equipment and his standardised threads were accepted throughout Great Britain.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Where are we going now?
0:25:26 > 0:25:28I think we're going to the stores.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Look at the size of them, Fred.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34Aye. Them are nice, aren't they?
0:25:34 > 0:25:38Beautiful. Made in Holland. Magic.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- Now then, John.- Ah, Fred, what can we do for you this time?
0:25:44 > 0:25:46- Scrounging again.- Scrounging again.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48For our tractor.
0:25:48 > 0:25:53- Do you fancy a cuppa?- Oh, aye. We'll have a brew while we're talking, yeah.- Sort something out?
0:25:53 > 0:26:01We used all them inch and a half, seven, five eight set screws what hold all the tyres on the tractor.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04We had the back wheels in the back kitchen and it were
0:26:04 > 0:26:09three inches deep, drilling all the holes, and putting threads down the holes for them to screw in.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13But I'm pleased to say none of them have come loose and it's had a beating.
0:26:13 > 0:26:17I was polishing round them only last night, you know.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18Yeah, very good job.
0:26:18 > 0:26:24Yeah, my tractor's more or less held together by Mr Smith's nuts and bolts.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27I can't remember if I've paid for them or if they give them me.
0:26:27 > 0:26:32I think it were postcards we got for that with your picture on it.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35I'd forgotten about that, yeah.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39Some history in here, you know? But we keep managing, keep going.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42You're still here, that's the main thing.
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Shall we go and have a look at the thread cutting shop?
0:26:45 > 0:26:47Yeah. Mind that hose pipe.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49He'll just squirt all up my leg.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53Yeah, we'll see if he'll put some threads on the end of here for us.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57Hiya Tony, how you doing? I hear you can put some threads on here for us.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- Do you want to put the thread on it? - Now then.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07- Underneath.- Underneath, it's easier. You can get it balanced better.
0:27:07 > 0:27:11Does it stop automatically? Oh aye, yeah. Like a lathe.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15- That's the tricky bit, hitting it in the middle like.- Yeah.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19There you are.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24A few weeks practice and I'll be all right, yeah.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28Fred has come to the end of his grand tour and there couldn't be
0:27:28 > 0:27:32a more appropriate place for him to finish up than here.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37Because, as places like this modernise, they had to do away with the old technology,
0:27:37 > 0:27:42like the line shafting that once drove all the machines here.
0:27:42 > 0:27:46I remember coming by here about 20-odd years ago
0:27:46 > 0:27:51and it was all lying in the yard, wasn't it? He said, "You can have whatever you want."
0:27:51 > 0:27:55But Fred was able to provide a good home for it.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59It's all going round. Drives 18 pieces of machinery in me garden.
0:27:59 > 0:28:06From Smith Bullough, it's just a short drive through Bolton to get back to Fred's garden.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11Since they left here three months ago, Fred and Alf have travelled
0:28:11 > 0:28:15over 1,000 miles and the engine has had a really good road test.
0:28:15 > 0:28:22But there's now a bit of fine tuning needed before Fred can set off on his most important trip.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27He's going to complete his grand tour of Britain by driving down to
0:28:27 > 0:28:31Buckingham Palace on his engine to receive his MBE from the Queen.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42I've been restoring this traction engine for 27 years.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46I've really fulfilled a dream now of actually touring the country,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50driving it all over the shore, meeting interesting people.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54But I've one more long journey to make,
0:28:54 > 0:28:58all the way to London to meet the Queen and receive an MBE
0:28:58 > 0:29:03for services to industrial heritage and broadcasting.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08On my way to London, we've stopped off at the Great Central Railway,
0:29:08 > 0:29:14which is one of the best preserved railways because it's got a double track like proper railways did have.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20Most preserved railways are single line which were once branch lines,
0:29:20 > 0:29:23but this is a proper main line.
0:29:23 > 0:29:29Yeah, in the great days of steam railways, there were two routes up England.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33one up the west coast and one up the east coast.
0:29:33 > 0:29:38In 1893, the Great Central put one up the middle and in 1899,
0:29:38 > 0:29:43they got from London to Leicester, and now it's the only mainline
0:29:43 > 0:29:46with real steam engines.
0:29:46 > 0:29:49And they have 20 here.
0:29:49 > 0:29:56- Yeah, and here's the locomotive. And this is Fred the driver. Hello. - I won't be coming with you.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59- Oh, well.- We shall look after him.
0:29:59 > 0:30:05- I'll see how they're getting on with the repairs on the fire hole door. - Right.- I'll leave Fred with you.
0:30:05 > 0:30:11- He'll be in safe hands, Alf. - Sorry about this!- I can see! - Right!- Catch you later.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14We better get rolling. Bloody hell!
0:30:14 > 0:30:19- A big beer belly, you'd never get though that hole!- No!
0:30:19 > 0:30:24This O4 class locomotive is one of only two surviving engines
0:30:24 > 0:30:29from the original Great Central Railway.
0:30:29 > 0:30:35Built in 1912, it was restored and is part of the national collection.
0:30:35 > 0:30:42For Fred, riding on the footplate of a steam locomotive like this has never lost its magic.
0:30:42 > 0:30:48But for Alf, there's always something to do on Fred's engine.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- How are you going on with it, Jack?- OK.- Hello.
0:30:52 > 0:30:58- Is it working all right? Opening all right? You're happy with it?- Yeah.
0:31:10 > 0:31:15- Your next trip will be down to London to see the Queen?- Yes.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18- Are you looking forward to that? - Yeah.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22- Nervous? No?- No. - Is your dad nervous, do you reckon?
0:31:22 > 0:31:26- Probably.- A bit, yeah. - He's acting differently.- Is he?
0:31:26 > 0:31:31Yeah. He's not been saying a lot, which is very unusual.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36That's 'cos they'll not let him go in with his flat cap on!
0:31:36 > 0:31:40- I wonder what it's like inside the Palace.- It's very beautiful.
0:31:40 > 0:31:46- I wonder if she'll be going, "Cup of tea?"- Yep, that's it.
0:31:46 > 0:31:51- I think he's letting, er, Jack have a steer round, isn't he?- Yes and you.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54Yeah, I'll let you go first, Jack.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58- Thank you. - A bit dodgy with all this traffic.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01That squeaky noise reminds me of my youth.
0:32:11 > 0:32:14That were bad! Cut!
0:32:17 > 0:32:20- How many tonnes have we got?- 234.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23Yeah, yeah.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28And I reckon we didn't burn much above 500 or 600 weight, did we?
0:32:28 > 0:32:33I wonder how much diesel fuel it would take to move the same weight.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36How far is it from here to London?
0:32:36 > 0:32:38I've no idea to be honest.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- Quite a long drive?- Oh, aye.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44It'll be a fair way from here.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47See you, mate. Tara!
0:32:47 > 0:32:50- Right then, Graham. - Did you like that?
0:32:50 > 0:32:57- Aye, it were all right. - Right, we'll have a look at the engine shed.- Right.
0:32:57 > 0:33:01And this is where the engine was restored.
0:33:04 > 0:33:06Can I introduce you to Fred Dibnah?
0:33:06 > 0:33:13- Fred's just been out on the O4. - OK.- Craig's the man who rebuilt it.
0:33:13 > 0:33:15Yeah, I've heard.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19He's learned more about steam than anybody else here.
0:33:19 > 0:33:25- That's good for a young man.- It is. - Yeah.- I'll leave you to chat.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29- Yeah.- See you later.- All right. - Thanks.
0:33:29 > 0:33:36- We just had a good run down the line.- Right.- On one that you done up.- Yeah? Did you enjoy it?
0:33:36 > 0:33:43- It were great.- Well, it took me about three years to complete it. - I bet.- I had to strip it all down.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48- Take it all totally to bits. - What a pleasurable thing to do.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53Put it all back together. What about the boiler?
0:33:53 > 0:33:59Basically, a full re-tube, a few stays here and there, but apart from that it was...
0:33:59 > 0:34:02- 1912 it were made, weren't it?- Yeah.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06Did you have much with the bearings and that part of it?
0:34:06 > 0:34:10All the bearings were replaced.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13Were there owt wrong with the journals?
0:34:13 > 0:34:18They were fairly smooth but we had them skimmed. To get 'em back to new.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20I'm a bit worried about my tractor.
0:34:20 > 0:34:25I don't know what I made the front bearings out of,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30but there's a very weak solution of gold paint coming out with the oil.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33- Right, yeah.- Something's wrong.
0:34:33 > 0:34:39- You've got to be careful when you're getting things out of scrap yards.- Definitely.
0:34:39 > 0:34:46- How are you doing? - We're getting there. - Did you get the fire hole door on?
0:34:46 > 0:34:50He's done a good job, Jack has. It's perfect.
0:34:50 > 0:34:56I've been having a whale of a time on all these nice engines.
0:34:56 > 0:35:01I'm having a Guinness. Where's me chair? I need a sit down.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05Hey, it's nice and peaceful here, innit, Rog?
0:35:05 > 0:35:12- Yeah.- It reminds me of when I used to sneak onto the railway sheds in Bolton, that have all gone now.
0:35:12 > 0:35:17Yuppie houses all over it now. Yeah, when I were little.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19Happy days.
0:35:19 > 0:35:24And here we are, sat here, miles away from home, in Loughborough,
0:35:24 > 0:35:27in a nice interesting place, hey?
0:35:27 > 0:35:30- Yeah, it's lovely, innit?- Yeah.
0:35:30 > 0:35:36On a Saturday morning, I'd climb over the fence and go up this embankment.
0:35:36 > 0:35:42My uncle were there with his steam engine. He'd let me get on it.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46All Saturday morning, chuff, chuff, chuff.
0:35:46 > 0:35:4912pm, it went back to engine shed.
0:35:49 > 0:35:56So, I had to vacate - I had to get over the fence and go home for me meat pie.
0:35:56 > 0:36:03- Yeah, there were a pub. You've seen it on Manchester Road - the Wagon and Horses.- Oh, yeah.
0:36:03 > 0:36:10And it had an iron ladder out of the sidings down into the back yard of the pub. And I'm not kidding.
0:36:10 > 0:36:15It were as shiny as that regulator handle with the usage that it had.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21All day long, railwaymen were going on duty or coming off duty,
0:36:21 > 0:36:28and on a Saturday night it were chock-full - you couldn't get a pint.
0:36:28 > 0:36:35On the big bridge, there'd be a black fire with 40 wagons of coal blowing its head off into sky.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Firemen in the pub were, "Just one more before we set off"!
0:36:39 > 0:36:45Then they got up on the engine, blasting on the whistle and away they went!
0:36:45 > 0:36:48They'd get arrested nowadays for that.
0:36:48 > 0:36:55That lamp on the mantelpiece - Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, Manchester-Victoria.
0:36:55 > 0:37:01This guy were a shunter, a man with a stick with a hook on the end.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05He were in the pub, drunk with the hat on the back of his head.
0:37:05 > 0:37:09Like Will Hay in that film Oh, Mr Porter!
0:37:09 > 0:37:16I says, "What are you going to do with your lamp?" "Buy us a pint and you can have the bloody thing!"
0:37:16 > 0:37:20And he give it me. Yeah, he'll be gone and all.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25But I've still got the lamp, it'll be yours some day.
0:37:25 > 0:37:29- The one on the mantelpiece in the parlour?- Yeah, in the parlour.
0:37:29 > 0:37:35- Yeah, yeah.- And there's the ones above the lathe in the shed.
0:37:35 > 0:37:42Hughie Winterbottom got me them for the steam roller - they were brand-new.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44You can have them as well.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50With the engine all polished,
0:37:50 > 0:37:55time to head off for London and Fred's appointment at the palace.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24I'm enjoying this trip really. It's tiring but good fun, innit?
0:38:29 > 0:38:33But on the way, there's another little detour.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Well, now then, yeah.
0:38:36 > 0:38:41While we're here on the edges of London,
0:38:41 > 0:38:47somewhere near here there's this... The Crossness Pumping Station with four great big beam engines in
0:38:47 > 0:38:53that have been here since 1860, which we should have a look at.
0:38:53 > 0:38:55They're quite splendid, I think.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00They're the finest Victorian cast-iron work in all London.
0:39:04 > 0:39:11The Crossness engines are on the River Thames near Abbeywood in south-east London.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13So, it's been quite a detour.
0:39:13 > 0:39:20But he's wanted to see these engines for a long time and he knows this may be his last chance.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Mmm, here we are.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30Right, disembark. Put the brake on, Roger.
0:39:30 > 0:39:31All right.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34Get in here Fred, have a warm!
0:39:34 > 0:39:39- Cold were that.- Well, we're here. This is it, innit?
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Built in 1865, when the Thames were polluted,
0:39:43 > 0:39:47and the water supplies were bad news.
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Mr Joseph Bazalgette got the job
0:39:50 > 0:39:56and he built 85 miles of sewers to clean up London and then, of course,
0:39:56 > 0:40:00three pumping stations to help out when it started going up brew.
0:40:00 > 0:40:05- This is the remains of the last one. - The last one.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10It's still got the engines in. Some of them, there's no engines.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15And I believe this is the biggest pumping engine, well, the beam engine in the world, isn't it?
0:40:15 > 0:40:18We'll go and have a look at it.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Come on, boys.
0:40:26 > 0:40:33While Alf's fettling the engine, I'll show you these brilliant steam engines these, phwoar!
0:40:33 > 0:40:40Biggest beam engines in England, or maybe even in the world, built by James Watt.
0:40:40 > 0:40:48Originally, they had 12 Cornish boilers that burned 5,000 tonnes of coal every year
0:40:48 > 0:40:54to make them all go, provide the steam and pump the raw sewage of London down into the Thames.
0:40:54 > 0:41:00By 1920-odd it were all over with. They were derelict, finished, redundant.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03And they were heavily vandalised.
0:41:03 > 0:41:08People here restored it, or it would have gone.
0:41:08 > 0:41:12And how can you destroy something so beautiful?
0:41:14 > 0:41:19- How do you do?- Welcome.- We've come to see your beautiful engine.
0:41:19 > 0:41:25- Lovely, isn't it? - Well, a quarter of it. How long has it took to do this bit?
0:41:25 > 0:41:31About 18 years to do this, but these are all original parts.
0:41:31 > 0:41:38- All this cast-iron work's beautiful, isn't it?- Come and have a look at the rest of the engine.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44- There you see the crosshead going up and down.- Oh aye, yeah.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47Mr Watts' famous link motion.
0:41:47 > 0:41:51The fascinating thing about it all
0:41:51 > 0:41:57- is that crosshead coming down and stopping just that much.- It's about five-eighths of an inch off.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01- Yeah.- I wonder when they put it up at first.
0:42:01 > 0:42:07Did they have any fun - "Let's take another quarter of an inch off."
0:42:07 > 0:42:14- Is this the top end of the valve gear?- Yes. This is the inlet valve and that's the exhaust valve.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18The inlet valve has this trip mechanism.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23It trips the valve shut at a certain position on the stroke.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28- Is it about a seven-foot stroke? - Nine foot.- Nine foot? Bloomin' heck!
0:42:30 > 0:42:35- Shall we go up to the er...? - Up to the beam floor.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38Well, here we are Fred. There's the beam.
0:42:38 > 0:42:4242 foot long and weighing all of...
0:42:42 > 0:42:44- 50 tonnes! - Yeah, which is an awful lot.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48It makes you wonder how they got that from Birmingham, doesn't it?
0:42:48 > 0:42:50These are the counterbalance weights.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Yeah, they were put on after it had been compounded.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57To compensate for the weight of the additional cylinders.
0:42:57 > 0:43:01- The beam was cast in Birmingham. - Benjamin Goodfellow, wasn't it?
0:43:01 > 0:43:07- Yes.- Not so far from where we went. - They're no longer in business.
0:43:07 > 0:43:12- Oh, no, no. They've all gone!- But we've managed to get the drawings.
0:43:12 > 0:43:19What we've tried to do is to pick up what we think was the decoration they had in those days.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22Could we look at some more of the decoration?
0:43:22 > 0:43:25- Where it's all very beautiful.- Yeah.
0:43:25 > 0:43:29And it drives on teeth behind the flywheel.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34- Hello, Peter. Can I introduce... - Mr Bazalgette's nephew by three.
0:43:34 > 0:43:39- Joseph's great-great grandson. - Three generations ago.- Right.
0:43:39 > 0:43:44- So...- Can I leave you to talk? - Thanks.- See you later.- Right, Fred.
0:43:44 > 0:43:52Is this the smallest, biggest, compared to others you've seen?
0:43:52 > 0:43:58I haven't seen one as big - the weight of the beam is 49 tonnes or nearly 50 tonnes
0:43:58 > 0:44:02The others I asked about were only 30-odd tonne.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06That's one up for Crossness then!
0:44:06 > 0:44:11And how much good London excrement did this lift every minute in the 19th century?
0:44:11 > 0:44:13A few hundred tonnes.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18This one on its own would do 120 tonnes of effluent a minute.
0:44:18 > 0:44:23- There's other words but you can't say that on telly.- Family show.
0:44:23 > 0:44:28What a task, hey! Cleaning up London of cholera, typhoid.
0:44:28 > 0:44:33- I think I can be proud of that. - Yeah. Well, I should be.
0:44:33 > 0:44:38To me, you never cease to wonder how they had such forethought
0:44:38 > 0:44:41to make everything big enough, you know.
0:44:41 > 0:44:46We make things and they're only designed to last 20 year.
0:44:46 > 0:44:52He'd get into trouble nowadays - spending too much on the system.
0:44:52 > 0:44:56That's why it's lasted 150 years. Still doing the job it is today.
0:44:56 > 0:45:03The other thing that always amazes me about these engines, is that we can almost talk in a whisper.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08It's such a delicate piece of equipment. No real noise.
0:45:08 > 0:45:12It's had little done in mechanical maintenance
0:45:12 > 0:45:18to the main bits that would make the noise, like the main bearings.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22When I were a little lad, I used to go in spinning mills.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26They buzzed round at a lot more revs than this.
0:45:26 > 0:45:31Some of them made a terrible row. It were the end and nobody bothered.
0:45:31 > 0:45:33- Not maintained properly.- No.
0:45:33 > 0:45:40- I marvel at people volunteering to restore a bit of heritage that they love.- Yeah.
0:45:40 > 0:45:43Come on, you go around and...
0:45:43 > 0:45:48I'd like to have been here on the first day,
0:45:48 > 0:45:54after all that grafting, scraping thick grease, the thing actually revolved.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56Unbelievable feeling.
0:45:56 > 0:46:04- All the engines you've helped... Is it why you've got your visit to the Palace?- Oh, aye.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09- Well, I think so.- I think it is. How do you feel about that?- Yeah.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14Well, a bit of a surprise, I tell you, when I got the letter,
0:46:14 > 0:46:16summoning me to meet the Queen.
0:46:16 > 0:46:21The letter - did it give you the reason why?
0:46:21 > 0:46:27- Yeah, services to heritage and TV work.- I'll vote for that.
0:46:27 > 0:46:32- Put it there. Brilliant to have you here.- Thank you, I've enjoyed it.
0:46:34 > 0:46:41After leaving the magnificent pumping engines at Mr Bazalgette's, we're going to the centre of London
0:46:41 > 0:46:48to have a look around the sights and go over a few bridges and cause general havoc with the traffic.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52Come on. We4're all right.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37There are still problems with the engine.
0:47:46 > 0:47:53- Wait a minute.- Let me get an hammer. Hammer!- I can mend this when we get back to base, you know.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58That's it.
0:47:58 > 0:48:04The engine's going very well but there's one or two small faults like this plug.
0:48:04 > 0:48:07Every time you go over a bump, it goes further down.
0:48:09 > 0:48:14- I don't know how much water we've got in it.- It's above the hole.
0:48:16 > 0:48:22Hiya! Retired steeplejack, that lad. Mechanical engineers.
0:48:32 > 0:48:37But driving around the centre of London is hot, thirsty work.
0:48:37 > 0:48:44There are too many nice pubs along the route to drive past them all without sampling some London beer.
0:48:44 > 0:48:48We'll go and have a swift half, you know.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Fetch me one over here.
0:48:51 > 0:48:57- The other thing is, I've no money. - Jack, where was that 20 quid mum gave us?
0:48:57 > 0:49:04- No, that's train ticket.- I'll see if there's any in the van.- Brilliant. - Money like this, you mean?
0:49:04 > 0:49:08- Yeah.- Well, we've got a tenner. - Yeah, come on.
0:49:08 > 0:49:11If anybody comes, we've stopped for a...
0:49:11 > 0:49:16I'll walk about with an oil can and try and look intelligent.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23- Are you nervous?- Should I be?
0:49:23 > 0:49:27The Queen, remember! Your little medal.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31- Me gong. Me gold cross.- Yeah.
0:49:31 > 0:49:35This trip, what did you see that were good?
0:49:35 > 0:49:39I think we smoked Tony Blair out of Big Ben!
0:49:39 > 0:49:41No, we didn't.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46- We gassed him.- We've got some super coal, no.- Have we?- Yeah.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51- What do you think, about the buildings?- Nice.- Yeah.
0:49:56 > 0:49:58Nice to see you!
0:49:59 > 0:50:04And Fred's got a very special parking place reserved.
0:50:04 > 0:50:10We've been given permission to park it up at the Guards parade ground
0:50:10 > 0:50:14while we go and receive our award off the Queen.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17It should certainly be safe here.
0:50:21 > 0:50:26We're here at last. You'd better get some clean togs on.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31- I'll have a look at the engine. - Yeah, right.
0:50:31 > 0:50:36I suppose I'd better get changed. I can't see the Queen like this.
0:50:36 > 0:50:41So I'll go and get me penguin suit on.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46I'm really glad for Fred, you know.
0:50:47 > 0:50:49It's overdue.
0:50:49 > 0:50:52He really deserves it.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04I'm ready now to see the Queen!
0:51:20 > 0:51:25It's being looked after really good. No chance of it getting vandalised.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28We left it with some soldiers.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32- Are we in the right place? Right. - Brilliant.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35I never thought I'd be coming here!
0:51:35 > 0:51:42- We were going to get some ladders for you!- Well, there's still plenty of room for steeplejacks in London.
0:51:42 > 0:51:48- Where I live there's nothing left. - Do you want some repairs done?
0:51:48 > 0:51:53- Enjoy your day.- Take care, have a nice day.- Thank you.
0:51:53 > 0:51:54Who's next?
0:51:57 > 0:52:00The braces I've got on at present -
0:52:00 > 0:52:04the back connection is the button hole in the back pocket,
0:52:04 > 0:52:10and the front are the tightening-up pieces, no belt lugs on these pants.
0:52:13 > 0:52:16Yeah, well-deserved.
0:52:16 > 0:52:23But I'm not so sure when he comes back whether I have to take off me hat, bow or curtsey!
0:52:26 > 0:52:32I've been here before, but only ever stood outside and looked through them forbidding railings.
0:52:32 > 0:52:35I never thought I'd be here.
0:52:35 > 0:52:40It's quite as splendid inside as it is outside, isn't it?
0:52:40 > 0:52:45Er... We'll nick a couple of these gas lamps for back at base.
0:52:45 > 0:52:49- Mr Suggs, London. - Shall I go and get your ladders?
0:52:49 > 0:52:54That flagpole is three ladders high. I tell you that.
0:52:54 > 0:52:58I wonder where the Queen's apartments are?
0:53:01 > 0:53:05Dr Frederick Dibnah, for services to heritage and broadcasting.
0:53:09 > 0:53:13She said, "You don't still climb up chimneys?"
0:53:13 > 0:53:16"No, it's a young man's business!"
0:53:20 > 0:53:25And then it were the handshake and bugger off, it's time to go!
0:53:25 > 0:53:28Can you turn this way? Fred?
0:53:28 > 0:53:34And here I am, stood in the middle of Buckingham Palace with a medal.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37Fred, just hold it up a bit. Lovely.
0:53:37 > 0:53:43- What was it like, meeting the Queen? - Well, it's a bit unusual really.
0:53:43 > 0:53:50I never, ever envisaged I would ever end up in Buckingham Palace getting an MBE, you know,
0:53:50 > 0:53:56Nowadays, do you think as yourself as Fred Dibnah, steeplejack or Fred Dibnah, broadcaster?
0:53:56 > 0:53:57- Well...- What's your first love?
0:53:57 > 0:54:01Neither, really. I'm a back street mechanic.
0:54:01 > 0:54:06Aberdeen University gave me an honorary degree in back street mechanicing.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10And now Birmingham University have given me one.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13- So it'll do for me, that!- And now you've been honoured by the Queen.
0:54:13 > 0:54:18- Aye, I've got an MBE too! - Congratulations. Nice to see you. - Yeah, you're the tennis player.
0:54:18 > 0:54:22- Yeah, that's right how are you?- Yeah. - Let's get a little bit of these in.
0:54:24 > 0:54:29Many, many years ago, when I was at school, you were the first person I ever photographed.
0:54:29 > 0:54:33- Thank you very much!- Take it to the chemist and you'll get your pills.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38- What did you feel when you were told you were going to get this? - Surprised, to say the least.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42Does it bother you at all that it's got this "Empire" word in it?
0:54:42 > 0:54:45No, I think the Queen and the Empire is what made Great Britain great.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48I'm a real royalist, mate.
0:54:48 > 0:54:51I mean everything about this place is beautiful, isn't it?
0:54:51 > 0:54:55It's an iron founder's dream, all of this.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00And it's that love of the craftsmanship and the building and engineering skills of the past
0:55:00 > 0:55:06and his passion for telling us about it that made Fred so special as a broadcaster.
0:55:06 > 0:55:11But looking at these things for television wasn't without its drawbacks.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14The great drawback with television presenting
0:55:14 > 0:55:18is you don't get enough time to actually study the objects.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23They have to come and find me because I'm off looking at things of great interest to me,
0:55:23 > 0:55:29where I could have spent days not hours, like the lantern on Ely Cathedral.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32Quite a magnificent piece of woodwork.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37That's why we created that model that we did that were
0:55:37 > 0:55:42my version of how them men got it all up there in the Middle Ages.
0:55:42 > 0:55:47And then, there's the modern wonders of the world like the Forth Rail Bridge
0:55:47 > 0:55:54and more modern ones, you know, the suspension bridges made of wire, which are fantastic things.
0:55:55 > 0:55:59The most exciting one were the one over the M62.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I've never, ever seen anything go over that bridge.
0:56:02 > 0:56:05But when you're up there, you don't know where you are.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08All of a sudden, you just come to these handrails and whoo!
0:56:08 > 0:56:11200 foot down!
0:56:13 > 0:56:21All the people that I've met, they're like the lads who really do it for a living proper
0:56:21 > 0:56:23like the steam hammer men in Sheffield.
0:56:23 > 0:56:30They were like no talking, like a team, perfectly rehearsed in every move. That, to me, were brilliant.
0:56:30 > 0:56:36I just like that style of workman, like boilers and riveting and all of that sort of thing.
0:56:36 > 0:56:41And for Fred, it's this back street mechanicing, as he calls it,
0:56:41 > 0:56:46and all that he's taught himself in this field, that is his greatest achievement.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51He believes that more than anything else,
0:56:51 > 0:56:57it's what he's done to preserve these skills that's earned him his engineering doctorates and his MBE.
0:57:00 > 0:57:07Yeah. I don't know whether I can wear it whilst, you know, driving the engine.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09I don't know. Maybe.
0:57:16 > 0:57:18That's it.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21A lifetime's ambition fulfilled.
0:57:21 > 0:57:23Now it's time to celebrate.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25And what a way to see the sights.
0:57:25 > 0:57:29- Can you see the big wheel? - The London Eye, that's called.
0:57:30 > 0:57:37Yeah, all the ridge tiles on the Houses of Parliament, they're all cast iron.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40There's lots of beautiful buildings in London.
0:57:44 > 0:57:46- What about Big Ben then, hey?- Good.
0:57:46 > 0:57:48We've been up there, you know.
0:57:48 > 0:57:51Right amongst it all, where the bell is.
0:57:59 > 0:58:04- Where we going now?- We'll go home and see what's what in the back garden, I think.
0:58:24 > 0:58:27'Well, I've done it, it's finished.'