the impact of Fred Dibnah

[Paul Clerkin]

So now he's passed on after a very quick losing battle with cancer, do you think that his programmes educated the british to their industrial heritage or just fanned the flames of the conservation at all costs lobby?


Obituary: Fred Dibnah
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3623347.stm

[StephenC]

Ah cant believe it. What a pity.
I thought he was brilliant. He had a real knack of explaining architectural heritage in laymans terms.

[Paul Clerkin]

I know. When I was younger, I didn't appreciate too much architecture outside of your classical orders / gothic cathedral. When I say younger, I mean 11 or 12. I remember seeing him on tv talking about his traction engines, the great satanic mills and chimneys. He made me think about industrial buildings which up to then I hadn't noticed.

[GrahamH]

What a shame - and it wasn't just the industrial elements he dealt with so well, he seemed to have an equal interest in more pompous architecture, houses & public buildings etc, and dealt with them in a refreshing way - not at all contrived or stuffy, and at the same time never too simple or dumbed down.. He expected you to know the basics.

It was his enthusiasim shining through that made every programme a pleasure to watch.