Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam by Fred Dibnah
Britains favourite steeplejack and industrial enthusiastic, the late Fred Dibnah, takes us back to the 18th century when the invention of the steam engine gave an enormous impetus to the development of machinery of all types. He reveals how the steam engine provided the first practical means of generating power from heat to augment the old sources of power (from muscle, wind and water) and provided the main source of power for the Industrial Revolution. In Fred Dibnahs Age of Steam Fred shares his passion for steam and meets some of the characters who devote their lives to finding, preserving and restoring steam locomotives, traction engines and stationary engines, mill workings and pumps. Combined with this will be the stories of central figures of the time, including James Watts - inventor of the steam engine - and Richard Trevithick who played a key role in the expansion of industrial Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Popular industrial archaeologyAn oxymoron? Not when Fred Dibnah writes so engagingly about the early history of steam power. Steam was the force behind the industrial revolution of the 18th century, the basic technology that made Britain the workshop of the world. Dibnah goes into the historical material that will be familiar to many readers from school, but more interestingly explores the extent to which the industrial past is still preserved in old steam locomotives, traction engines and steam-driven mill pumps. The actual work of preservation, of maintaining these fascinating old machines, is the life work of enthusiasts whose passion for mechanisms is at the heart of this fascinating journey into the ever-present industrial past.
FRED DIBNAH has always been a man out of his own time. Growing up a youth in the 1940s in Bolton, Lancashire, he lived near the railway lines and there began a lifelong fascination with steam locomotives. Fred's love for all things steam is also a practical one; for the last 27years, he has been renovating a steam boiler and engine in his back garden and it is now nearly complete. As Fred grew up, despite parental disapproval, he pursued his first goal of becoming a steeplejack, and it was his outstanding skill in his chosen profession that led to his first appearance on television. DAVID HALL, once a journalist and teacher, has been producer for over 25years, making programmes for the BBC, ITV Network, Channel 4 and other broadcasters around the world. He worked with Fred since 1998 on Industrial Age, Buildings of Britain and Age if Steam. His latest work includes a documentary on Fred's garden and Founders of the Great Dynasties for History Channel International. He enjoys travel, fell-walking and watching Manchester United whom he has followed since the 1950s.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780563487432 |
| ISBN 10 | 0563487437 |
| Title | Fred Dibnah's Age of Steam |
| Author | Fred Dibnah |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Ebury Publishing |
| Year published | 2003-07-03 |
| Number of pages | 192 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |