0:00:24 > 0:00:30With 100 miles already covered, Fred Dibnah has now reached the Lake District
0:00:30 > 0:00:34on his grand tour of Britain's industrial past.
0:00:34 > 0:00:40My eldest son Jack's come over from the Isle of Man to give us a lift on this trip.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45And really, the way we're going on I think we need all the help we can get.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48We've got Jimmy and the support vehicle behind us.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52We're stopping so frequently through lack of steam
0:00:52 > 0:00:58and going up hills, that a pair of flashing lights behind is a must on country lanes like this.
0:01:03 > 0:01:07The Lake District isn't really an area that most people associate
0:01:07 > 0:01:10with our industrial past and heavy industry.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14But once upon a time, round Workington and Burrow-in-Furness
0:01:14 > 0:01:18there were great industrial centres and they mined iron ore
0:01:18 > 0:01:24by the hundreds of tonnes and it was some of the best iron ore in all of England.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28And alas it's all gone now. Bit sad really.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32But while we're up here we're calling on a mate of mine Mr Richard Ransome,
0:01:32 > 0:01:37who is also a fellow traction engine owner and steam engine enthusiast,
0:01:37 > 0:01:41to do a few running repairs cos it's giving me trouble, and I'm a bit disappointed in it.
0:01:44 > 0:01:49Trouble is, in the hurry to get the engine on the road,
0:01:49 > 0:01:53Fred didn't have time for enough fine-tuning.
0:01:53 > 0:01:57So he keeps coming across little problems that need to be sorted out.
0:01:57 > 0:02:00It isn't steaming very well at all.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04I think... The fact the piston rods... is the one thing...
0:02:04 > 0:02:09it's my fault, I've put the cylinder block a bit too far forward and the...
0:02:09 > 0:02:14I know for a fact that the piston, the high pressure piston,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18covers the port holes up when it's in the forward position.
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Which means that when it's supposed to be working,
0:02:21 > 0:02:23the steam can't get at it properly.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26So when I get to Mr Ransome's,
0:02:26 > 0:02:34I'll beg him to use his workshop and shorten the piston rods by about quarter of an inch.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38- Are you going to get to Dick's all right?- Well, there's another big hill yet!
0:02:38 > 0:02:46Fred knows some good steam engine men here who he'll be able to get help and advice from.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48Mind that car.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50But he's got to get there first.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55Fred's engine is a four horse-power model, built to pull around 15 tonnes.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58But right now it's struggling to pull two.
0:02:58 > 0:03:01This is ridiculous, isn't it?
0:03:03 > 0:03:06- A bottom gear job.- Mm-hm.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10We're on, Dad.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18At least the scenery is good. It's time for a re-think.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24Fortunately, Fred's friend Dick Ransome has arrived and he's got a plan.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28We were a bit worried as to whether the engine'd get the van up.
0:03:28 > 0:03:34So Dick's got one of his mates what'll come and rescue it, pull it up with a Land Rover.
0:03:34 > 0:03:38- It's a bit of an insult to our engine but...- Just a bit of insurance Fred, isn't it?
0:03:38 > 0:03:44- When we get there we'll do some running repairs, won't we? - Absolutely, make it well again.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48- Any man who never did owt never took the risk.- Never was a man, was he?
0:03:48 > 0:03:54When you think we had t'boiler in about five different pieces, three times, before we riveted it together.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57We must've lost summat somewhere.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00Anyway, I think if we do what we say we'll be all right.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- We'll give it a whirl. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.- Right.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11That's a bit easier
0:04:11 > 0:04:14without the living van in tow.
0:04:52 > 0:04:56It's been such a disappointing journey!
0:04:56 > 0:05:02In the morning, when it's cooled down, we'll have to take the cylinder end covers off
0:05:02 > 0:05:06and weigh up how much we can take off the end of a piston rod.
0:05:06 > 0:05:13And hopefully he'll help me, I know he'll help me, cos I've known him a long time.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16Something happened, we lost the nuts and they never got put back so...
0:05:16 > 0:05:21- I hope it's... - Never mind losing your nuts!
0:05:21 > 0:05:26- Thank you, Mr Ransome. - God bless you. - Have you got another crateful?
0:05:26 > 0:05:31- Yeah, two-box-full.- Good health. - Aye.- Why have you not got one?
0:05:31 > 0:05:36I'm a bitter man. I'm not a reet a stout fella. Well, I am...
0:05:36 > 0:05:39- Good health.- Good health, Fred.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46- Dad!- What?
0:05:48 > 0:05:52- I'm moving it.- Oh, right, I'll get out your way then.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08Woah, that's full forwards now you can see the point there, can't you?
0:06:08 > 0:06:10But is it enough, you know?
0:06:10 > 0:06:16- Now I don't think that's healthy-looking, is it?- No. But it's in that recess, isn't it?
0:06:16 > 0:06:18- Yeah.- But it's not healthy looking.
0:06:18 > 0:06:24- It is, it's too long, isn't it? - Yeah. I think we've gotta shorten, maybe leave this one.
0:06:24 > 0:06:31- Woah, that's just about covering it up, isn't it?- I reckon about quarter of an inch, easy.- Yeah.
0:06:31 > 0:06:37It'll make it so the steam comes in a lot better than it is doing.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41Hold it there Jack, back a bit. Woah.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46Yeah, go on, Jack.
0:06:48 > 0:06:54- We've got Roger coming, who's quite a bleeding authority...- Oh, absolutely...- ..on steam engines.
0:06:54 > 0:06:59He actually makes steam engines for rich people's steam yachts,
0:06:59 > 0:07:02for Lake Windermere, and everywhere else.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Turn it back again, Jack.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07Morning!
0:07:08 > 0:07:13- What've you found, then? - We've got a problem. - Got a nest in there, have you?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17- Yeah, dunno what it is. - You gonna lift me up, then?
0:07:17 > 0:07:22You think the whole crosshead, the whole piston rod, the whole lot...
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Yeah, it's too far forward.
0:07:24 > 0:07:31- There is a slight clearance. - Yeah, but it's like nothing.
0:07:31 > 0:07:33I mean it looks it.
0:07:33 > 0:07:40If you put it in with 200 on the clock, and open the regulator,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43it's reluctant to start without the double eye.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48Yeah, what do you think, Roger?
0:07:48 > 0:07:52Generally, it's not in bad condition.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56I'm a bit worried about the way the piston is covering the port opening
0:07:56 > 0:08:04- in the cylinder, so when the valve opens there is no room for... - The steam, yeah.- ..to get through.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07So what I propose to doing is lending you a high speed burr
0:08:07 > 0:08:12and machining a lot of the iron out of the cylinder round the port...
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Anyway I'm going to go to down to me boat,
0:08:15 > 0:08:20- and if later in the- day - you fancy coming out for a run then I'll...- Yeah, I'll love that.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24- Get me away from this! - Get something that works!- Yeah.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26- All right, then. - Nice to see you, anyway.
0:08:26 > 0:08:32- See you, see you later, Roger. - Bye.- Ta-ra.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Good afternoon, Roger!
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Have you got t'steam up?
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Oh, yeah, blowing hot!
0:08:48 > 0:08:52Yeah. We're ready for our trip round the lake.
0:09:00 > 0:09:06Well, the Shamrock, she was built in 1906 by Shepherds of Bowness.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Wealthy families, such as, I think I'm right in saying,
0:09:10 > 0:09:13families like Beatrix Potter's family used to come and take...
0:09:13 > 0:09:20the castle for the summer season, and the boat would be part of the hiring.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24And then eventually, Second World War came along
0:09:24 > 0:09:29and the numbers of people that could afford to do this had gone,
0:09:29 > 0:09:35and immediately after the war it had its lovely steam plant removed,
0:09:35 > 0:09:40it had a TVO engine fitted, and then about ten years later,
0:09:40 > 0:09:43it went one step worse and had a diesel engine fitted.
0:09:43 > 0:09:48And all this lovely boiler casing and everything was removed.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50The whole boat lost its dignity.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55And until 1976,
0:09:55 > 0:10:02it was just lying derelict because nobody wanted to go out
0:10:02 > 0:10:07in an old-fashioned boat like this, the awful 60's and 70's...
0:10:07 > 0:10:10old was not wanted.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15So it just laid around, empty, no engine, no anything, it was just a hull.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18Roger obtained it.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21And it took three years almost,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26to get the boat back into its original concept.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28We had some wonderful times.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- And it is the way to go. - It is, aye.
0:10:31 > 0:10:37- I mean, the modern diesel, is very good but it's not like this, is it? - FRED IMITATES ENGINE NOISE
0:10:37 > 0:10:43I mean, there's really no sound at all. There's no feel, there's no motion, there's nothing.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46I believe you've finally mended my gramophone.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49Oh, I did, but it isn't a gramophone, it's a phonograph.
0:10:49 > 0:10:56It's a 1905 Edison Gem Mark B Phonograph.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59And...it's clockwise.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01Clockwork, of course.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07And it's got a lovely aluminium horn.That's new. This is new.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12The cylinder is made of wax, it's also 1905.
0:11:12 > 0:11:16It's an Edison Bell cylinder. They were made in this country.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Most cylinders you can get hold of are American, but this is English.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24- Mm.- You know. And we'll see if it'll go.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28- CRACKLING - We'll soon see.
0:11:28 > 0:11:36- VOICE ON THE RECORDING: - 'The Old Colonial March, played by the London Regimental Band.'
0:11:39 > 0:11:42MUSIC PLAYS
0:11:45 > 0:11:48- Do you like it? - Ah, it's wonderful, yes.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01Them lads that recorded that won't be around now, will they?
0:12:01 > 0:12:06I doubt it. If they are, they'll be smelly, won't they?!
0:12:06 > 0:12:09MUSIC CONTINUES
0:12:14 > 0:12:20- MUSIC STOPS - Now, then, did you like that? There we are.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Now back to work on the engine.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37Will the engine doctor be able to cure the problem?
0:12:40 > 0:12:47Well, Roger's got his hand-held milling cutter, and we're going to put a champer on the port
0:12:47 > 0:12:51so that when the piston is, you know, in its full forward position
0:12:51 > 0:12:54steam can come past the end of it.
0:12:54 > 0:13:00We think it's a different piston, that's too thick, and it's covering the port up, you know,
0:13:00 > 0:13:04when it comes forward. Maybe doing the same going backwards.
0:13:12 > 0:13:17Now for the big test. Is the engine going to work any better?
0:13:29 > 0:13:33We're now off to Egremont and the last deep iron ore mine in Europe
0:13:33 > 0:13:40that still works, and when we get there we shall find out whether our running repair is a success.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56The work of the engine doctor seems to have done the trick.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04Iron ore production is Cumbria reached its peak in the 1880s
0:14:04 > 0:14:08when there were over 300 iron ore shafts.
0:14:08 > 0:14:13Back then the industry employed over 5,000 people in Cumbria.
0:14:13 > 0:14:18- We've made it!- Today there's just three and they're at Florence.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27We've come up the hill with the brake on again!
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- Well, Fred, we've been waiting a couple of hours for you!- Well...
0:14:31 > 0:14:34I'm pleased you've got here. We're ready to go down the pit.
0:14:34 > 0:14:40It's a long way from, from, um... Where've we come from? I've forgotten, it's been that long!
0:14:40 > 0:14:44I don't know, the last couple of days!
0:14:44 > 0:14:48Yeah, but we did get here, that's the main thing.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- It doesn't like hills, this thing. - All right.- I hope YOU like hills
0:14:52 > 0:14:58- because we've got a cap lamp and a helmet for you.- Yeah.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01- Have you got your incline railway going yet?- Yes...
0:15:01 > 0:15:05The mine is still a commercial operation and the ore they mine here
0:15:05 > 0:15:08is used to make pigments for the dye in paints.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11Keep your heads and your backs down, lads.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15- Oops!- A bit more than that, Fred!
0:15:16 > 0:15:20You know, we were a great big mine industry round here,
0:15:20 > 0:15:25- we had between 200 and 300 iron ore mines.- How many men?
0:15:25 > 0:15:29In this pit alone at the start of the Second World War there were about 1,000 men.
0:15:29 > 0:15:35- In this one pit?- Aye. In fact, we've got, we've got 11 shafts here.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40And this is, uh, the site of Number Three shaft.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43This one was sunk in 1905.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48Yeah, when you were sinking this drift out, or a heading like this,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51how much powder would you use?
0:15:51 > 0:15:58Well, you went for a 5ft advance every shift and you would use 20 to 30lb of explosives.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01- Oh, aye.- And, of course, detonators.
0:16:01 > 0:16:07The men worked in companies which would either be twos or threes,
0:16:07 > 0:16:13and their daily routine would be for the blast at the end of the shift,
0:16:13 > 0:16:16really for to get the fumes clear.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22We favoured spraying into the air a mixture of compressed air,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25water and castor oil, of all things!
0:16:25 > 0:16:29It's a great media for to clear dust.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Castor oil? Keep you regular that, won't it?!
0:16:35 > 0:16:38Have you still got that exotic...?
0:16:38 > 0:16:43- Oh, they're here!- They're there! - Yeah, look at them.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46They're in fine growth there, aren't they?
0:16:46 > 0:16:51- Don't know if we could harvest them. - Have you tried any in the pan?
0:16:55 > 0:16:58And this is where we come to the ore.
0:16:59 > 0:17:04Remember as well, of course, that there were those 200 to 300 mines,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07perhaps all owned by different companies,
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and all selling to...
0:17:10 > 0:17:13different iron works.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18And they were vying with each other for quality and price.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21It was a very competitive area to be in,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24and a competitive industry to be in.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36And this isn't a little steam engine down here -
0:17:36 > 0:17:40machinery like this in the mine is powered by compressed air.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Right, Fred, well, in here we've got our loader.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46It's powered by compressed air.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52It has a bucket on the front and it loads into its own body.
0:17:52 > 0:17:57And when it's full, we travel it back to the top of the ore pass
0:17:57 > 0:18:01and we can tilt the body up, the rear door opens, and we tilt it,
0:18:01 > 0:18:04so the load drops into the ore pass.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07Marvellous machine, isn't it?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10It is that. How old is it?
0:18:10 > 0:18:14That's a good question. We first got them at Hill Moor
0:18:14 > 0:18:17in '66, I would say.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22- So it would be brand new... - Vintage!- ..in about 1966. - Vintage vehicle.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32All our ore went to be made into pig iron and then steel,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35some at Workington
0:18:35 > 0:18:39and some down at Millom, which was a one-industry town.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Have a look at this in the roof here.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47As good an example of kidney ore as you'll see anywhere in the world.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50- Yeah.- Tremendous ore.- Magnificent.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52All round here, 80% iron.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Almost good enough to make hematite jewellery out of.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59But it's a little bit like onion skins.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03Thin layers. You need thick layers for to make good jewellery.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05We don't get much of it nowadays.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07How is it formed, that sort of style?
0:19:07 > 0:19:12- I don't think we've solved how it has been formed.- Nobody knows.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17No, I don't think so. It just appears randomly in the body of the ore.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21- There's tons of it here. - There is, but we've got to leave it there for the time being.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25Right. Is it back to the surface?
0:19:37 > 0:19:39That just finishes Fred's top off.
0:19:39 > 0:19:44He likes his brass and copper polished up nicely.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48And then later on we're going to get steam up
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and shoot off to Workington Steel Works
0:19:51 > 0:19:54where all the iron ore from Florence went to.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58It was running better,
0:19:58 > 0:20:03and it'll have a good trial today when we steam off to Workington.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07I've a bit more due yet before he comes because, uh,
0:20:07 > 0:20:08he likes it to see it gleaming.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13Just wipe the paintwork over and then, uh,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17we're ready for off and getting it all dirty again,
0:20:17 > 0:20:19ready for polishing tomorrow!
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It's running very well, actually.
0:20:31 > 0:20:36On reasonable level roads it's all right. It's when you come to a big steep un...
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It's like motor cars, you've got to change gear.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Nice to see you here!
0:20:55 > 0:20:58We're now injecting.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01That means we're putting water in the boiler.
0:21:02 > 0:21:05And when it's, uh...
0:21:05 > 0:21:08gone up about an inch, we'll set off.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14HORN TOOTS I'm ready for a pint and me tea.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Are you stopping in the van tonight?
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Yeah, aye, yeah.
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- Oh, right, so we're both stopping in the van?- Yeah, yeah.
0:21:22 > 0:21:25I'm not bloody leaving it on its own!
0:21:32 > 0:21:36Next morning, it's off to the steel works
0:21:36 > 0:21:40to see where the raw material that was mined at Florence
0:21:40 > 0:21:42was turned into a product.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47The ore mined at the Florence mine came here to Workington Steel Works
0:21:47 > 0:21:50where it was converted by Bessemmer converters
0:21:50 > 0:21:54into steel to manufacture railway lines.
0:21:54 > 0:21:5995% of the UK's railway line were rolled here at Workington.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02And I don't think there's a railway in all the world
0:22:02 > 0:22:06that's not got "Workington Steel" stamped on the side of its track.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15Today, most of it is rolled in this modern computer-controlled rolling mill.
0:22:15 > 0:22:20But what Fred was interested in seeing was the old hand rolling mill
0:22:20 > 0:22:24which is still used for small, light and narrow gauge railways.
0:22:24 > 0:22:29This is the last 24-hour rolling mill in the country now.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- It's pretty ancient! - It is, uh, very, very old.
0:22:34 > 0:22:36This was driven by steam engine
0:22:36 > 0:22:40- and this was taken out some years ago.- Yeah.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44- It still works and we still get a good saleable product...- Oh, yeah.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48- ..from this mill.- Was the steam engine at that end?- Yeah,
0:22:48 > 0:22:54- in the drive.- It's very similar to what I remember from when I were a bit younger in Bolton
0:22:54 > 0:22:59- an' all, and, uh...- Was that all manual operation?- Yeah, oh, aye.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02They used to let me have a go
0:23:02 > 0:23:04but it were bloody harder than it looks!
0:23:04 > 0:23:09- Can I suggest we go round to the front of the process?- Aye.
0:23:09 > 0:23:11We'll have a look at the slab.
0:23:12 > 0:23:17- They come down to this door down this...- Yeah.- ..this tube.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28How long do these lads do before they get a break?
0:23:28 > 0:23:32Well, they tend to do about...
0:23:32 > 0:23:35He's off NOW, he says!
0:23:35 > 0:23:39But they'll have an hour on, half an hour off,
0:23:39 > 0:23:45rotate round to an easier job, to try and make sure they're not all on the same job all the time.
0:23:45 > 0:23:51They're cutting you bloody short, mate! We had couches in this rolling mill we were at!
0:23:51 > 0:23:56- It were right nice, you know!- If we had them, I'd be asleep by now!
0:23:58 > 0:24:00That's coming to the end of its line.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05This is the future in the sense that this is the 113lb rail
0:24:05 > 0:24:09- that we do for Network Rail.- Yeah. - And this is the future
0:24:09 > 0:24:15of making sure that we have good consistent, rail manufacturing.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Good for Great Britain!
0:24:19 > 0:24:21Great Britain.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23It's like a great snake!
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Is there not a pub across the road? There were about four bloody pubs!
0:24:29 > 0:24:32There's one left.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36I think I need a drink of cold water.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40- Is he happy now? - No, he wants a drink of cold water.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42Oh, right.
0:24:42 > 0:24:47In 1962 the steel industry employed around 5,000 people in Workington.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50Now there are just 200 employees.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Most of the old ways of working have gone forever,
0:24:55 > 0:25:01but down at a local pub Fred met some of the former workers to find out what it used to be like.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05- That mill you saw where they're doing it by hand...- Yeah.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08..we always referred to it as Number Two mill.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11We had a rolling mill in Bolton up till 20 year ago.
0:25:11 > 0:25:16- Right.- And it were steam-driven with a vertical steam engine.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Your men had a rougher time - still today.
0:25:19 > 0:25:25They had bloody couches and easy chairs. And when they'd done so many passes they all flopped into them!
0:25:25 > 0:25:31And they had a propeller off an aeroplane driven with a belt, going round and round, keeping them cool.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Now, we had the Solway Colliery and it closed.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39And we lads, we worked in the Bessemer, in the steel-making plant.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43And these colliers got a start in the Bessemer shop.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46And do you know how long they lasted?
0:25:46 > 0:25:51One day! And their reason was, "It's too dangerous here"!
0:25:51 > 0:25:58- These are miners working three miles under the sea!- It's all them sparks! - It was, Fred, that's right, yeah.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02It's quite frightening, really, if you watch it.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06If you realise what could happen to you, if owt went wrong.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Oh, you'd be...
0:26:08 > 0:26:12Well, I was one of a group who was injured in 1962
0:26:12 > 0:26:19when this ladle of iron fell. This shackle had been used which wasn't really supposed to be used.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23It was a bit like the straw that broke the camel's back.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28It was only a small emergency ladle with four ton in but, of course,
0:26:28 > 0:26:34it came down and, oddly enough, I was in charge of the job at the time and, uh,
0:26:34 > 0:26:36I got knocked down in the rush.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40And you sort of automatically put your hands out to save yourself.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44And even though I was... an under manager, if you like,
0:26:44 > 0:26:50I'd never been frightened to use a shovel and I'd fairly horny hands,
0:26:50 > 0:26:54and I remember the skin started peeling off like blotting paper.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56I'd only had my first car three weeks before
0:26:56 > 0:27:01and I thought, "Oh, Christ, how am I going to be able to drive the bloody car?"
0:27:01 > 0:27:03Bloody hurts, don't it?
0:27:03 > 0:27:10One of the first jobs, the boys, when they came in the Bessemer at 14 or 15,
0:27:10 > 0:27:17was taking the sample from the pitch side to the laboratory for chemical analysis.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22And what they used to do was, there's a bent bit of wire,
0:27:22 > 0:27:28maybe about quarter of an inch diameter, and they used to carry it in that, you see.
0:27:28 > 0:27:34Well, this little chap George Dickinson - you'll remember George - he wanted a Jimmy Riddle.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39So he's standing in behind tin shed at pitch side and he had this bloody thing in his hand
0:27:39 > 0:27:44and he happened to catch it, and of course he burnt it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50So he went down to the ambulance station and he said, "Oh, he said I've burnt me pencil."
0:27:50 > 0:27:56So they bandaged it up but they didn't leave him a hole at the end!
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Who's getting the ale in? We've ran out.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07- I'll go. I'll volunteer. - It's been a warm and thirsty day with the steam machine.
0:28:07 > 0:28:12- Do you drive it?- Eh?- You don't drive, do you?- Oh, aye, I drive it.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16These two don't know how to do that, they can only steer it.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Keeping them in the dark!
0:28:19 > 0:28:22- Who does all the bloody polishing? - That's your job!
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Now there's a long drive ahead
0:28:27 > 0:28:30as Fred and Alf head through the Scottish Borders
0:28:30 > 0:28:35on their way from West Cumbria to Bo'ness on the Firth of Forth.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39They'll be visiting an iron foundry
0:28:39 > 0:28:43to find out more about the casting process and the foundryman's trade.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46And, while they're in Scotland,
0:28:46 > 0:28:50Fred will be driving his engine over the Forth Road Bridge.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Subtitles by Catherine Weston and Duncan Black, BBC Broadcast 2005