Made In Britain

English | 12 x 29 minutes

Producer: Adventure Film Productions.
Availability: Worldwide, all media



This 12-part series was completed by Fred Dibnah before his death in November 2004. He sets out on a grand tour of Britain's industrial past, aboard his beloved 1912 steam traction engine. In this observational style of documentary you get to see Fred at his best, driving the engine, wandering into workshops and chatting to everyone he meets along the way.

ONE - The Passion of a Lifetime In this first episode, Fred, who came to fame as a steeplejack, demolishes his last ever chimney at a textile mill near Oldham. But Fred has a new project to focus on and it's a lifelong ambition that he's determined to fulfil. Although terminally ill, Fred is making preparations to embark on a grand tour of the United Kingdom on board his 1912 steam traction engine. He's been painstakingly restoring it for 27 years, making most of the parts in his steam-driven Bolton workshop.

Fred will travel the length and breadth of Britain in search of the engineering skills and technology from a bygone age that made it possible to build an engine like his. His journey will take him to ancient iron foundries, industrial sites and little workshops where things are still made today just as they were over 100 years ago. Getting the engine in a roadworthy condition was no easy feat: it had its fair share of teething troubles, but with a boiler test certificate in his hand at last, Fred was finally ready to hit the road.

TWO - Collecting the Coal
Coal was one of the essential raw materials needed to drive steam engines, and it's coal that will power Fred's UK tour on board his traction engine. Stocking up with coal is his first task but as there are no coal merchants left in Bolton, an open cast mine near Wigan is his destination. It's an uphill struggle as the engine runs out of steam and water just a few miles from home. It's frustrating for Fred, but good pub grub soon lifts his spirits.

Fuelled up at last, it's off to Astley Green Mining Museum near Manchester. It houses Lancashire's only surviving pit headgear and engine house. Fred takes a look at Europe's largest steam winding engine and some Lancashire boilers. Lancashire was the first area in the UK to become heavily industrialised due to its cotton mills and coal mining. Some 50,000 men were once employed in its collieries but now only Astley Green remains.

THREE - The Source of the Iron
With 100 miles already covered, Fred reaches Cumbria on his grand tour of Britain's industrial past. We don't normally associate the Lake District with industry, but iron ore was mined on a large scale in the region. The next stop is Florence Mine at Egremont, the last deep iron ore mine in Western Europe thai's still in commercial operation. As he takes a tour underground, Fred hears about the decline of the iron ore industry in the last century. Some traces of the 'old-worlde' steel making process remain in the hand rolling mill. At the local pub, Fred catches up with some of the former steel workers to hear their stories of the old days.

FOUR - Castings
In this programme Fred and his steersman Alf travel up to Scotland where they marvel at the ingenuity of the Falkirk wheel and visit one of the few surviving traditional iron works left in the region. After stopping at Bo'ness and Kinneil railway for a few repairs, they're ready for the off and the traction engine becomes the first to cross the Forth Road Bridge under its own steam.

FIVE - Water and Boilers
This week Fred visits Ryhope pumping station in Sunderland, the station that ceased pumping in 1967 after 100 years of service. Fred and Alf chat to the team of volunteers who maintain the museum including the magnificent pair of working beam engines. Whilst in the North East they travel across the Middlesborough transporter bridge and take a closer look at the workings.

Continuing down the country, Israel Newton boiler works in Bradford was certainly a treat for Fred, here they still make boilers in the traditional way using rivets instead of welding.

SIX - The Road to Steel City
Fred fulfils a great ambition - driving across the imposing Scammonden Bridge over the M62. He and Alf also visit the steel city of Sheffield to take a tour round a fascinating forge and to watch crucible steel being produced by experts Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet.

SEVEN - Mechanics and Riveters
Whilst in Yorkshire, Fred and Alf stop off at Andy Thornton's. A company where they make beautiful ornate carvings and Victorian style wears. Fred tries his hand at carving and watches an ornate glass cutter at work. Next they travel down to Derbyshire to visit the Midland Railway Centre, but on the way spot an old Pit head gear that they can't help but investigate. At Midland Railway Centre they go down to the workshops to have a look at the locos that are being repaired and rebuilt. One of the highlight's is the hydraulic riveter in action - it's powered by a Morris Minor engine! Fred's two sons Jack and Roger join the team and spend a few relaxing days with some old friends; the Howard Brothers who own a Showmans engine destroyed in an accidental fire.

EIGHT - Pattern Making
Fred and the boys are staying at the Howard Brothers, some old traction engine friends and taking a break. The engine is having a few problems so it comes into the shed where Jack's taken the front wheel off to see what the problem is. Luckily there are plenty of helping hands around. Leaving the engine at the Howard's Fred visits David Ragsdale a skilled pattern maker, who just happens to own six steam engines. David explains how it all works then they go directly to the foundry to see the next stage in the process.

Steam enthusiasts manage to use steam for all manner of things - next Fred visits Tom Nuttall a man who runs a garden centre and Museum all through the power of steam.

The team take a trip out to Ashbourne to visit a clockmaker. The whole workshop is belt driven, just like Fred's garden, and has been a family business since 1826. Fred marvels at the skills and techniques involved in the delicate processes and watches how the tiny teeth are cut into the cogs.

NINE - Engines at Work
This week Fred meets up with a few old friends at the North Staffs & Cheshire Traction Engine Club, all the engines are in steam so Fred is in his element, chatting to his mates and enjoying a pint or two!

The next day Fred goes to see Len Crane at Bratch Pumping Station where Len has spent the last six years restoring a great triple expansion engine that was used to pump the water. They call in at the Severn Valley Railway at Bridgenorth for a chat about the loco's and a tour round the workshops. Unfortunately Fred does so much chatting he misses his chance to have a ride on the footplate.

Moving on they visit the Black Country Living Museum to learn about the rich mining history of the area.

TEN - Chains and Copper
Fred, Alf and Jimmy continue their investigation of the Black Country by watching the skills of an authentic chain maker, producing chains in the same way as they would have been in 1910. After all that hard work they sit down to enjoy fish and chips washed down with a pint of local ale.

They have a long journey ahead, travelling all the way from Dudley to Anglesey to visit Parys Mountain a vast copper mine that was once the largest in the whole world. The copper from Parys Mountain would be made into sheets and be taken to a copper spinner just like the one Fred goes to visit in the East Midlands. After leaving Anglesey they travel further down into Wales making an overnight stop at Ffestiniog railway that was originally built to transport slate from Ffestiniog to Porthmadog. Whilst the others look after the traction engine Fred enjoys a ride and drive on the footplate of an 1891 slate shunting engine. He also takes a look around the maintenance yard where he sees Prince – possibly the oldest working steam engine in the world, dating back to 1863.

ELEVEN - The Engineering Workshop
Fred and his team are in the mountains of Snowdonia on the final stage of their journey. They are on their way to the Welsh Slate Museum but to get there they must pass Llanberis Pass. It's a big test for the engine but it makes it. Once at the top they fill up with water and bake their tea the old fashioned way – potatoes on top of the cylinder block. At the Slate Museum Fred and Alf take a look in the workshop where all the machinery is driven by a line shaft an eighth of a mile long.

On their way back home to Bolton they stop in to have a look at the world’s first boat lift in Cheshire. The Anderton Boat lift was built in 1875 as an alternative to a series of locks.

Back in Lancashire Fred has just a couple of places to visit before arriving home. First Budenburg's, the company that made his pressure gauge and lastly Smith Bullough the place that Fred go all the nuts and bolts for his engine, all made to old imperial sizes. Finally they arrive home after travelling a thousand miles around the country. There is a little bit of fine tuning needed before he is ready for his most important trip down to London to collect his MBE from the queen.

TWELVE – A Lifetime's Achievement
In this the final episode of Fred Dibnah's monumental journey around the country on his 1912 restored traction engine, he travels down to London to collect his MBE form the Queen for services to Industrial Heritage and Broadcasting.

Setting of from his hometown of Bolton they stop off in Loughborough at the Great Central Railway and take a ride on a 1912 04 class engine, one of only two surviving ones from the original Great Central Railway.

Back at the traction engine Alf and the boys are doing a few repairs and talking about the trip down to London. After a quick look round the workshops Fred sits down with a pint to have a chat about the old days with his youngest son Roger. As they approach London they make one last detour to the Crossness Pumping Station that houses four great beam engines, possibly the largest in the world. The volunteers have been working hard for 18 years to restore the beautiful engines.

Once in central London Fred can't resist having a drive round to look at the famous sights and of course sampling a pint of local ale. He parks up in Wellington Barracks right next door to the palace and walks across the road to collect his celebrated award – a lifetime's achievement.

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