Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam (2 Disc Set)

In 2004, Fred took to the road on his engine for the BBC series Made in Britain. This was the last TV series that Fred Dibnah filmed before his death in November 2004. Although dying of cancer, he was determined that he would complete the filming. Travelling the length and breadth of the country, his intention was to seek out the remarkable achievements of the craftsmen, engineers, inventors and industrial workers. It was a journey that took him to Britain s most iconic engineering marvels as well as less familiar sites: from the Forth Bridge and the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge to Europe s last deep-working iron ore mine in Cumbria and a local castings workshop in Bo ness. Along the way he called in on numerous old friends and even managed to squeeze in a trip to Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE. Dibnah was accompanied on his journey by two of his friends, Alf Molyneux and Jimmy Crooks, who both used to be coal-miners. The three men shared the firing and steering of the traction engine. They slept in the trailer that the traction engine towed behind it. Fred s sons Jack and Roger, also keen steam enthusiasts, joined him for part of the journey. Fred s traction engine did not cover the whole of the route under its own steam. Because of the great distances involved, the slow speed of the engine and Fred s failing health, it was transported from one area to another on a low-loader by Alan Atkinson, owner of a haulage firm in Preston and great friend of Fred.