1
00:00:11,250 --> 00:00:17,540
It's going. Going!
HE SOUNDS KLAXON

2
00:00:32,220 --> 00:00:34,420
Done for!

3
00:00:38,700 --> 00:00:41,380
Do you like that?

4
00:00:52,740 --> 00:00:59,660
Having knocked down,
over the past 30 years, most of
the chimneys within range of home,

5
00:00:59,660 --> 00:01:06,900
Fred Dibnah had to travel further
afield for work. This morning,
he was deep in the Yorkshire Dales.

6
00:01:06,900 --> 00:01:10,500
CROWS CAW

7
00:01:10,500 --> 00:01:17,340
Really, I've always liked
climbing up church spires.
There's summat magical about 'em.

8
00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:24,980
Once you get right where the point
is, it feels quite nice. It's not
like a chimney, it hasn't the bulk.

9
00:01:24,980 --> 00:01:27,860
The views are quite splendid.

10
00:01:29,060 --> 00:01:33,420
What's it like?
It's all rotten, you know. Yeah.

11
00:01:34,540 --> 00:01:37,420
It's been in a long time.

12
00:01:37,420 --> 00:01:40,220
Well, nearly 150 years. Yeah.

13
00:01:42,380 --> 00:01:45,340
WOMAN: It seems such a dangerous job.

14
00:01:45,340 --> 00:01:52,340
It is. That's an understatement.
If you make a mistake, it's
half a day out with the undertaker.

15
00:01:53,900 --> 00:02:00,980
When I were a lad, I used to be
a joiner till I were 21, before
I went insane and started this job,

16
00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:05,220
the guy I worked for knew
I wanted to be a steeplejack.

17
00:02:05,220 --> 00:02:10,180
And every time somebody fell off
a chimney, he'd pin it on the door.

18
00:02:10,180 --> 00:02:17,900
When I were 21, the door were full
of pictures of dead steeplejacks.
But I'm still here. You are, yes!

19
00:02:19,260 --> 00:02:21,580
Help!

20
00:02:21,580 --> 00:02:24,380
..a terrible experience!

21
00:02:24,380 --> 00:02:28,780
But you say 150ft up?
Johnny can beat you at that.

22
00:02:28,780 --> 00:02:32,020
He lives about 2,000ft up!

23
00:02:32,020 --> 00:02:34,540
Right in the sticks of Malham there!

24
00:02:36,940 --> 00:02:41,980
What do you do? Are you a farmer on
this mountain? Yes. A hilly-billy.

25
00:02:41,980 --> 00:02:47,060
Them woolly things. Them woolly
things that you make poems out of.

26
00:02:49,100 --> 00:02:53,740
This sort of church,
if you look up above the clock,

27
00:02:53,740 --> 00:02:58,620
you'll see the louvres.
They're hanging out, falling out.

28
00:02:58,620 --> 00:03:02,740
500 years old. What do you reckon?
Time for renewal.

29
00:03:02,740 --> 00:03:05,340
What about the cost?

30
00:03:05,340 --> 00:03:10,140
I don't know. You won't have
much change out of 600 or 700 quid.

31
00:03:10,140 --> 00:03:13,100
That much? For some wood?

32
00:03:13,100 --> 00:03:20,020
Yeah, yeah. It don't look
so big from down here but it's
two inches thick and it is oak!

33
00:03:20,020 --> 00:03:27,140
Oh, well, I'll let them know.
A Taiwanese bloody mahogany
front door is 100 quid!

34
00:03:31,060 --> 00:03:35,900
Now, with the work getting
further away from home,

35
00:03:35,900 --> 00:03:39,500
I find myself,
like, booked into hotels.

36
00:03:39,500 --> 00:03:44,740
At one time, I used to get
very overawed. I didn't like hotels.

37
00:03:44,740 --> 00:03:48,580
The communal eating part
was frightening -

38
00:03:48,580 --> 00:03:55,660
not picking the right knife
and fork up and being gazed upon
by strange eyes.

39
00:03:57,380 --> 00:04:04,140
At the beginning of the, like,
the euphoria and excitement
of a new job far from home,

40
00:04:04,140 --> 00:04:11,420
the first three-quarters
of the week is all right and then
you begin to miss being at home.

41
00:04:11,420 --> 00:04:18,460
It's a bit like being a sailor,
I suppose. You get on a ship
and you disappear for six months.

42
00:04:18,460 --> 00:04:25,580
It's a strange life when you've
been coming home for your tea
at 5 o'clock every night for years.

43
00:04:25,580 --> 00:04:30,260
I get frustrated that
I can't get on with me tractor.

44
00:04:30,260 --> 00:04:37,380
When you're working at home, after
tea, if you only do half-an-hour in
the shed, it's a little bit nearer.

45
00:04:37,380 --> 00:04:41,660
But when you've been away all week
and you come home,

46
00:04:41,660 --> 00:04:47,940
you're reluctant to zoom off
into the shed
in case you get a talking-to.

47
00:04:47,940 --> 00:04:52,500
You've been away all week
and you disappear in the shed!

48
00:04:52,500 --> 00:04:55,260
In the course of his travels,

49
00:04:55,260 --> 00:05:01,100
Fred arrived at the Victorian
refuse destructor at Cambridge.

50
00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:08,460
It's many years now since the
chimney was in use and the station
pumped its last load of sewage.

51
00:05:08,460 --> 00:05:14,300
But the site has been preserved
and maintained by volunteers.

52
00:05:14,300 --> 00:05:22,140
Initially, when it were out of use
and these lads first took over,
they had some very unpleasant tasks.

53
00:05:22,140 --> 00:05:29,140
They had to dig out the well, which,
of course, were full of human
sewage. And it had solidified.

54
00:05:29,140 --> 00:05:33,940
And they had to dig 40-odd foot
of this stuff out of this hole.

55
00:05:33,940 --> 00:05:37,500
All credit to them,
they didn't give up.

56
00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:40,660
They've done it and it works.

57
00:05:41,860 --> 00:05:46,580
They all, like, live
in a romantic world of long ago.

58
00:05:46,580 --> 00:05:52,940
It's like little lads
who never grew up. I can't complain
because I'm one meself.

59
00:05:54,340 --> 00:05:59,420
They're like romantics trying
to escape from modern life in a way.

60
00:06:02,340 --> 00:06:06,540
ENGINE BUZZES
Right.

61
00:06:06,540 --> 00:06:11,020
It's warm in here, innit?
It certainly is.

62
00:06:12,060 --> 00:06:17,100
This engine
started work here in 1895.

63
00:06:17,100 --> 00:06:24,460
It pumped...over two million gallons
of the drainage of Cambridge. Yeah.

64
00:06:24,460 --> 00:06:31,260
This had previously gone
straight into the river. Yeah.
This... Big improvement!

65
00:06:31,260 --> 00:06:37,420
This is the bit
that controls it, is it?
Yes, this is known as the steam man.

66
00:06:37,420 --> 00:06:40,860
This is where the driver would stand.

67
00:06:40,860 --> 00:06:44,740
It's a magnificently made thing.
It's marvellous.

68
00:06:44,740 --> 00:06:49,300
The attention to detail.
The ends on the rods. Yes.

69
00:06:49,300 --> 00:06:54,180
CLACKS AND WHIRRS
It makes some lovely noises! Yes.

70
00:07:02,300 --> 00:07:07,260
That's had a lot of time spent
on it, made to look beautiful again.

71
00:07:07,260 --> 00:07:11,740
It must have looked magnificent
when it were brand new.

72
00:07:14,180 --> 00:07:19,660
Look at them beautiful chimney
stacks! All that carving - magic!

73
00:07:20,780 --> 00:07:27,980
Our town hall's got lions' heads,
like them. When we mended it,
we put some marbles in for eyes.

74
00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:32,940
I don't suppose the stone's very
hard, not like it is in Lancashire.

75
00:07:32,940 --> 00:07:36,100
Although it's weathered well.

76
00:07:36,100 --> 00:07:41,220
Them balustrades up there
look a bit fragile, don't they?

77
00:07:41,220 --> 00:07:48,100
A good gust of wind and it looks
as though the lot would come down.
But it must be all right.

78
00:07:48,100 --> 00:07:51,660
..Les choses qu'on trouve normalment

79
00:07:51,660 --> 00:07:58,980
dans les colleges dans les anees
cinquante du septieme siecle. Au
centre, c'est le porche originale

80
00:07:58,980 --> 00:08:03,540
d'un college qui etait la avant,
un college fonde par Edward III.

81
00:08:12,460 --> 00:08:16,580
It's very nice in Cambridge.
I like it very much.

82
00:08:16,580 --> 00:08:22,860
It strikes me
as it's a laid-back existence
being an academic or a student.

83
00:08:22,860 --> 00:08:26,900
I don't know
if I'd like my sons to come here.

84
00:08:26,900 --> 00:08:31,140
It all depends
on the academic ability, of course.

85
00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:35,940
I know men who have brilliant
brains and have thick sons.

86
00:08:35,940 --> 00:08:40,700
And I know some, like, intelligent
sons who have thick fathers.

87
00:08:40,700 --> 00:08:43,940
There's no weighing it up, really.

88
00:08:43,940 --> 00:08:49,060
The trouble with chimneys these
days is not only that they are few,

89
00:08:49,060 --> 00:08:54,300
but also, as Fred approaches 60,
those remaining take more climbing.

90
00:08:54,300 --> 00:08:59,180
Oh! I'm getting too old for this!

91
00:08:59,180 --> 00:09:04,900
People ask me, "How long are you
going to keep climbing chimneys?"

92
00:09:04,900 --> 00:09:08,140
"Do you still climb up chimneys?"

93
00:09:08,140 --> 00:09:13,060
I've gotta do! I've got a big
mortgage! I've got to keep going.

94
00:09:15,660 --> 00:09:20,940
Our income from the steeplejacking
business has been going down.

95
00:09:20,940 --> 00:09:26,820
A couple of reasons are fewer jobs
around and a lot more companies.

96
00:09:26,820 --> 00:09:31,940
Sometimes we've banked maybe less
than £3,000 over the whole winter.

97
00:09:33,940 --> 00:09:38,660
Against the odds, Fred landed
a big restoration job near home,

98
00:09:38,660 --> 00:09:45,540
which, tackled a few weeks
at a time, would keep him in work
through 1996 and beyond.

99
00:09:45,540 --> 00:09:50,420
This chimney is THE biggest chimney
left in Bolton.

100
00:09:50,420 --> 00:09:57,620
And, er, I climbed up it
when I were about 17,
for a ten-bob bet, in the dark.

101
00:09:57,620 --> 00:10:00,460
I never got the ten bob.

102
00:10:00,460 --> 00:10:03,420
It's rather ironic, really,

103
00:10:03,420 --> 00:10:11,140
that now, in the twilight years of
my steeplejacking career, 40-odd
years later, I've to repair it.

104
00:10:11,140 --> 00:10:17,020
It's now a listed building and
supposedly has got to stay for ever.

105
00:10:17,020 --> 00:10:21,300
When we've finished repairing
the chimney stack,

106
00:10:21,300 --> 00:10:28,220
we've been asked
by the Royal Society for the
Protection of Budgies to put this...

107
00:10:28,220 --> 00:10:34,860
water tank it looks like to me,
but they call it
a peregrine falcon's nesting box,

108
00:10:34,860 --> 00:10:39,980
and we've got to put this up on the
south-west side, 30ft from the top.

109
00:10:39,980 --> 00:10:46,700
Now, peregrine falcons
do not like pigeons. They have
them for breakfast, dinner and tea.

110
00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:53,580
The local homing pigeon society's
up in arms about it. They really
don't want me to put it up.

111
00:10:53,580 --> 00:10:57,460
Me, personally,
I'm not over keen on pigeons.

112
00:10:57,460 --> 00:11:05,140
They put me in bed once with some
sort of disease I got off my cap
that had been in pigeon droppings.

113
00:11:05,140 --> 00:11:08,500
COOING AND FLUTTERING

114
00:11:09,820 --> 00:11:12,780
Not pressed too hard by paid work,

115
00:11:12,780 --> 00:11:17,340
Fred expanded his collection
of ancient industrial tackle.

116
00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:28,700
It's always been
a lifelong ambition of mine

117
00:11:28,700 --> 00:11:32,980
to build a wooden pithead gear
in the garden.

118
00:11:32,980 --> 00:11:38,020
Near here, there were a lot of
collieries but they've all gone now.

119
00:11:38,020 --> 00:11:42,300
So I've put in for
planning permission to erect this.

120
00:11:42,300 --> 00:11:45,260
Hopefully, some time in the future,

121
00:11:45,260 --> 00:11:51,700
we'll sink a 500ft mine shaft,
and tunnel under the river
and cemetery for the coal!

122
00:11:52,860 --> 00:11:55,460
Only a joke that!

123
00:11:55,460 --> 00:12:02,420
Really, it's a garden ornament
in memory of the miners
who once lived in this area.

124
00:12:02,420 --> 00:12:08,140
Daddy, has mine got no oil in? Yeah,
it's got oil in. I can't see any.

125
00:12:08,140 --> 00:12:13,700
The centre of attention in the yard
was still the old steamroller,

126
00:12:13,700 --> 00:12:20,780
done up years ago as an expensive
hobby, but now an essential prop
in Fred's public appearances.

127
00:12:20,780 --> 00:12:25,980
I think sometimes he struggles with
the celebrity aspect of it, in that,

128
00:12:25,980 --> 00:12:30,900
you know, if we've got something in
the diary to do a public appearance

129
00:12:30,900 --> 00:12:37,580
when really he would quite like
to be going off up a church steeple
or in the garden.

130
00:12:37,580 --> 00:12:41,220
But he realises
we have to do these things

131
00:12:41,220 --> 00:12:45,900
to earn enough money
to keep ourselves in the winter.

132
00:12:45,900 --> 00:12:49,580
It's very odd,
the celebrity business.

133
00:12:49,580 --> 00:12:57,060
At the beginning, it were quite
frightening, you know, 18, 19 years
ago. I've got used to it now.

134
00:12:57,060 --> 00:12:59,900
It doesn't bother me as much.

135
00:12:59,900 --> 00:13:07,020
What do you do if somebody waves
to you? Do you pull your face at
'em and look miserable and nasty?

136
00:13:07,020 --> 00:13:12,060
Or do you wave back? If you don't
wave, you're a miserable bugger.

137
00:13:12,060 --> 00:13:16,980
If you wave, you're a bigheaded
bugger! What can you do?

138
00:13:16,980 --> 00:13:23,260
Fred, Fred, turn this way, lad.
You should have a Martini!

139
00:13:25,500 --> 00:13:29,860
The cat's not happy.
CAT MIAOWS

140
00:13:29,860 --> 00:13:34,900
I want to help too. No, no.
It's a technical job, this painting.

141
00:13:34,900 --> 00:13:41,140
Dibnah and Sons
have been reviving a home industry
in weathercock making.

142
00:13:41,140 --> 00:13:44,860
Lift it up
and bring it round this way.

143
00:13:44,860 --> 00:13:50,220
I'll come all the way down with it,
all right? We'll see how we go.

144
00:13:53,300 --> 00:14:00,460
It were really weathercocks,
well, weather vanes, that started
my career in steeplejacking off.

145
00:14:00,460 --> 00:14:05,740
I'd come fresh out the army and set
myself up as a steeplejack of sorts

146
00:14:05,740 --> 00:14:09,820
and never managed to get a job
for six months.

147
00:14:09,820 --> 00:14:16,860
And then, I was summoned to meet
the Vicar of Bolton, a big tall
fellow with a long black frock on.

148
00:14:16,860 --> 00:14:21,580
He were a canon, which I approached
with a great deal of fear.

149
00:14:21,580 --> 00:14:28,060
I think the reason he liked me
were the fact
that he had a 1929 Humber car,

150
00:14:28,060 --> 00:14:33,180
and I arrived on me 1927 350 AJS
motorbike. We got on quite well.

151
00:14:33,180 --> 00:14:40,060
We had another interest in common -
firearms. For a vicar,
a bit unusual but nevertheless...

152
00:14:40,060 --> 00:14:45,140
Anyway, we got the job of regilding
these weather vanes,

153
00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:50,620
which enabled me to go to other
vicars with a lot more confidence.

154
00:14:50,620 --> 00:14:53,660
I went up nearly every church spire.

155
00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:58,180
It's about 30 years
since I put the gold on these.

156
00:14:58,180 --> 00:15:04,420
Somebody did them in-between
but they didn't do
a very good job, you know.

157
00:15:06,660 --> 00:15:10,460
Let's stand 'em up,
see how tall they are.

158
00:15:17,540 --> 00:15:19,580
Yeah.

159
00:15:19,580 --> 00:15:21,940
See? Just a bit, yeah.

160
00:15:28,700 --> 00:15:32,460
Nice to see you. All right?
There it is!

161
00:15:32,460 --> 00:15:38,540
That looks superb! Your ladder's not
blown away. This is the headmaster.

162
00:15:38,540 --> 00:15:42,540
I'll get it and fix it up.
It looks great!

163
00:15:42,540 --> 00:15:45,060
It really does.

164
00:15:46,460 --> 00:15:50,940
I was going to say, six months ago,
I saw the mock-up,

165
00:15:50,940 --> 00:15:56,860
and I thought it might be a cockup.
No, no. That's absolutely superb.

166
00:16:11,860 --> 00:16:15,740
CHEERING

167
00:16:29,500 --> 00:16:32,460
GENTLE SQUEAK

168
00:16:32,460 --> 00:16:37,620
This is the latest masterpiece
in weathercock manufacturing.

169
00:16:37,620 --> 00:16:42,900
They get bigger and better every
time. And the price goes up too.

170
00:16:42,900 --> 00:16:46,980
We've got these up to now,
like, nearly £2,000.

171
00:16:46,980 --> 00:16:52,060
Putting the chimneys aside, I could
go on making these till I'm 95.

172
00:16:52,060 --> 00:16:57,540
This is, actually, in remembrance
of a gentleman who I once knew.

173
00:16:57,540 --> 00:17:00,620
His widow's paying the bill for it.

174
00:17:02,300 --> 00:17:07,100
BUGLE PLAYS: "The Last Post"

175
00:17:27,860 --> 00:17:35,020
Fred's most promising line of late
has been the restoration
of other people's steam engines.

176
00:17:35,020 --> 00:17:39,300
He landed a few small jobs
and then a very big one.

177
00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:46,100
To repair this world-famed
giant of the road, Atlas,
owned by James Hervey Bathurst.

178
00:17:46,100 --> 00:17:50,180
It's a Fowler B6 tractor
of 16-and-a-half tons,

179
00:17:50,180 --> 00:17:54,260
built in 1928
and now worth a small fortune.

180
00:17:55,460 --> 00:17:58,500
We'll put it to the test!

181
00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:02,060
WHISTLE BLOWS

182
00:18:08,020 --> 00:18:10,980
I'll have a look at the bearings.

183
00:18:21,220 --> 00:18:28,140
I'll buy one of these when
Susie wins the pools. What do you
reckon it'll cost you? Well...

184
00:18:28,140 --> 00:18:33,660
Maybe £80 - £90,000, you know,
something on that score.

185
00:18:33,660 --> 00:18:36,500
WHISTLE TOOTS

186
00:18:42,700 --> 00:18:46,420
WHISTLE TOOTS

187
00:19:11,820 --> 00:19:15,260
How are you? Mind the castle.

188
00:19:17,340 --> 00:19:24,380
I wasn't sure whether you were
going to actually come back. I
didn't really want to bring it back.

189
00:19:24,380 --> 00:19:30,580
I've had so much fun with it
back home
that I got quite attached to it.

190
00:19:30,580 --> 00:19:37,020
I think we've cracked the bearings.
There's no blue smoke
coming off them.

191
00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:42,420
Can we hear it ticking over, then?
Yeah, give it a swing round, Bill.

192
00:19:42,420 --> 00:19:47,420
ENGINE RUNS SMOOTHLY

193
00:19:47,420 --> 00:19:54,420
Sounds fantastic. I'm quite happy
with it meself. Come and have
a drink. We'll play with it later.

194
00:19:54,420 --> 00:20:01,980
People used to walk away from it
sighing, saying "Lovely engine -
pity about the knocks."

195
00:20:01,980 --> 00:20:05,420
This is some room, innit?

196
00:20:05,420 --> 00:20:10,500
A bit of a headache for your
decorator. And the cleaner, yeah.

197
00:20:10,500 --> 00:20:16,020
55ft high and it takes 10 hours
to heat it to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.

198
00:20:16,020 --> 00:20:19,300
Two fireplaces, one on each side.

199
00:20:21,100 --> 00:20:25,980
How much did it all cost
when they built it, this place?

200
00:20:25,980 --> 00:20:31,620
It's difficult to know at today's
prices but nearly £600,000 then.

201
00:20:31,620 --> 00:20:38,780
They had to sell quite a lot of land
to build it. It's still a lot of
money in them days. A huge amount.

202
00:20:38,780 --> 00:20:43,500
I think we'd rather wish
they hadn't spent it sometimes.

203
00:20:43,500 --> 00:20:48,100
Yeah, made it half the size,
easier to maintain.

204
00:20:48,100 --> 00:20:54,260
These are interesting.
These are cast iron inserts.
With oak in the middle.

205
00:20:54,260 --> 00:21:01,460
There's a lot of cast iron in the
house. It's one of the first houses
built with cast iron beams in it.

206
00:21:01,460 --> 00:21:08,300
There was a shortage of oak at the
time because they were making ships
for the Napoleonic War. Mm.

207
00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:14,740
So cast iron was popular.
Some beautiful slabs of stone,
isn't there? Big!

208
00:21:14,740 --> 00:21:21,340
How did they lift them up?
My word! It's a long way up, innit?
It certainly is.

209
00:21:21,340 --> 00:21:25,860
There's a bit that I repaired.
What, yourself, like?

210
00:21:25,860 --> 00:21:29,740
Well, it's not a big job.
You put the slates on.

211
00:21:31,580 --> 00:21:35,540
Magic! That's the view.
That's all your lake?

212
00:21:35,540 --> 00:21:40,740
It's our lake and on a misty day,
what we own is as far as you can see.

213
00:21:40,740 --> 00:21:45,100
That monument was put up
by the builder of the house

214
00:21:45,100 --> 00:21:48,820
when his son died
in the Peninsular War.

215
00:21:48,820 --> 00:21:55,660
How did you become interested
in iron monsters? Well,
I think it was in the blood partly.

216
00:21:55,660 --> 00:22:01,500
My grandfather was in the Grenadier
Guards on the way to Omdurman.

217
00:22:01,500 --> 00:22:08,300
The train broke down on the way
and he got up on the footplate
and got the fire going again.

218
00:22:08,300 --> 00:22:15,060
He got a mention in the regimental
history for that. Then he drove
a shunter in the Great Strike.

219
00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:18,180
And my father was always interested.

220
00:22:18,180 --> 00:22:21,980
That means it's definitely
in your blood.

221
00:22:21,980 --> 00:22:27,260
Then we bought a traction engine in
Ireland. We used that for thrashing.

222
00:22:27,260 --> 00:22:31,860
Then I bought a derelict steam lorry
and did that up.

223
00:22:31,860 --> 00:22:36,180
That was really good fun.
I wasn't married then. Ah.

224
00:22:36,180 --> 00:22:41,300
My mother was keen that I should get
married. So she helped me paint it.

225
00:22:41,300 --> 00:22:47,780
She thought there was no chance
of me getting married
till the engine was finished.

226
00:22:47,780 --> 00:22:50,620
When I did finish it, I got married.

227
00:22:50,620 --> 00:22:55,540
Have you had much trouble
with the wife since you got Atlas?

228
00:22:55,540 --> 00:22:59,140
Like the house,
it was in the prospectus.

229
00:22:59,140 --> 00:23:04,380
A lot of people I know have to sell
engines for divorce. Yeah, yeah.

230
00:23:04,380 --> 00:23:09,100
I'm very keen on Atlas. I'm keen
to keep... Yeah, you've got to.

231
00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:13,340
I keep washing up
and looking after the children.

232
00:23:13,340 --> 00:23:19,060
I've started doing washing-up now.
I never did any before the divorce.

233
00:23:19,060 --> 00:23:25,940
But you're lucky. If you've got a
stately home AND several engines...
That's double trouble.

234
00:23:25,940 --> 00:23:29,820
..you've really got to watch it.
Definitely!

235
00:23:29,820 --> 00:23:37,140
One of the good things is that Bill
Walker, who comes over and helps me,
he's been through all that trouble.

236
00:23:37,140 --> 00:23:44,380
So every time we're about to go off
to a rally, he brings flowers
for my wife and a box of chocolates.

237
00:23:44,380 --> 00:23:50,660
He's got it right.
Yeah, I must have a do at that.
He does the right thing.

238
00:23:50,660 --> 00:23:54,580
Bunch of flowers goes a long way.
Yeah.

239
00:24:55,460 --> 00:24:58,660
Does it run any better? It does.

240
00:24:58,660 --> 00:25:05,500
It's a lot quieter - apart from the
gears. Yeah, it's a shame about that.
That's another job.

241
00:25:05,500 --> 00:25:12,780
But there was no knocks.
Nothing ran hot and, um,
I think we got here in record time.

242
00:25:12,780 --> 00:25:16,260
We did,
compared with three years ago.

243
00:25:16,260 --> 00:25:20,700
We ended up at half past eleven
on that bridge there.

244
00:25:20,700 --> 00:25:24,140
We also didn't stop
at a pub this time.

245
00:25:24,140 --> 00:25:26,900
No, we brought our own.

246
00:25:56,860 --> 00:26:01,180
I know one lad who fell off.
He fell about 60ft

247
00:26:01,180 --> 00:26:08,020
and landed on a load of planks
across a valley on the top of
a building, in-between two roofs.

248
00:26:08,020 --> 00:26:15,180
And the planks saved his life.
They must have broke his fall, even
if it rearranged his bone structure.

249
00:26:15,180 --> 00:26:23,060
The thing is, I found about this
because I rang him to invite him
to a chimney-felling operation.

250
00:26:23,060 --> 00:26:31,020
And his little lass came on
and I said, "Is your dad in?" She
said, "No, he fell off a chimney."

251
00:26:31,020 --> 00:26:38,540
You shouldn't laugh, really. And
then mum came on and said, "He's in
hospital. You can go and see him."

252
00:26:38,540 --> 00:26:46,460
Me and Sue went and he were all
trussed up like you see in Ealing
comedies. All wires and strings.

253
00:26:46,460 --> 00:26:53,660
And he says, "I'm all right till I
laugh. Then it feels like someone's
hit me with a sledgehammer."

254
00:26:53,660 --> 00:26:58,020
Anyway, he's all right now.
He's back steeplejacking.

255
00:27:12,020 --> 00:27:14,700
He went to art school.

256
00:27:14,700 --> 00:27:20,460
When he were 17, you'd think he'd
work in office, not do what he does.

257
00:27:45,940 --> 00:27:50,380
If there's nowt doing
for a fortnight, I get all grumpy.

258
00:27:50,380 --> 00:27:55,500
I get thinking
nobody wants me no more.

259
00:27:55,500 --> 00:28:01,140
I gotta go and have
a climb up something, you see.

260
00:28:01,140 --> 00:28:05,860
If I can carry on till
I'm an old fellow, like,

261
00:28:05,860 --> 00:28:11,700
I don't know,
and slow down a bit before I'm 70,

262
00:28:11,700 --> 00:28:15,020
the ideal way out would be, I think,

263
00:28:15,020 --> 00:28:18,900
instead of dying in bed
of lung cancer,

264
00:28:18,900 --> 00:28:25,340
just drop off on one sunny day when
I'm about 75. That'll be the end.
LAUGHS

265
00:28:30,060 --> 00:28:34,300
Subtitles by Mary Easton
BBC Scotland - 1996