Fred Dibnah's traction engine was a time capsule of Britain's industrial past. After he retired from steeplejacking he took to the road, looking at the achievements of the craftsmen, engineers, inventors and industrial workers whose endeavour made engines like his possible. This is a record of that journey.

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.

Accompanying the television series, Fred Dibnah tells Britain's industrial history and picks out the machinery that made history. Travelling throughout Britain, Dibnah describes what life was really like for people in the industrial age and provides a list of industrial heritage sites to visit.

Fred Dibnah's World celebrates the life and work of Britain's best known steeplejack and national treasure, Fred Dibnhah. Before his death in 2004, Fred presented many popular series, including Magnificent Monuments, The Age of Steam and Made in Britain, all of which attracted viewers in their millions. Fred is the companion to the 12-part BBC2 series celebrating the life of this great man, which combines highlights from some of Dibnah's classic programmes with previously unseen footage. The book can of course go much further than the series, including an extraordinarily account of Fred's childhood which evokes a lost England and our great industrial heritage. Fred's passion for the glories of the Victorian age and his fascination with the landscape he grew up in, plus his admiration for the craftsmen and labourers who made it all possible, captivate us on every page. Fred is the personification of everything that made England great in the first place. And this is a glorious tribute to a man whom millions came to love.

Fred Dibnah's World celebrates the life and work of Britain's best known steeplejack and national treasure, Fred Dibnhah. Before his death in 2004, Fred presented many popular series, including Magnificent Monuments, The Age of Steam and Made in Britain, all of which attracted viewers in their millions. Fred is the companion to the 12-part BBC2 series celebrating the life of this great man, which combines highlights from some of Dibnah's classic programmes with previously unseen footage. The book can of course go much further than the series, including an extraordinarily account of Fred's childhood which evokes a lost England and our great industrial heritage. Fred's passion for the glories of the Victorian age and his fascination with the landscape he grew up in, plus his admiration for the craftsmen and labourers who made it all possible, captivate us on every page. Fred is the personification of everything that made England great in the first place. And this is a glorious tribute to a man whom millions came to love.

Born in 1938 into an England which in his view has been going downhill ever since, Fred Dibnah has always been one to do things properly, whether climbing hundreds of feet to clean, repair or even destroy his beloved chimneys, or taking 14 years to restore his 1912 steamroller to its original glory. In this book he shares his experiences as a steeplejack, his love of machinery of all types, and his forthright views on life in general.

Since 1979, when TV producer and writer Don Haworth first made a film about his life, Fred Dibnah has been the most famous steeplejack in Britain. Born in 1938 into an England which in his view has been going downhill ever since, Fred Dibnah has always been a man out of his own time. Don Haworth has written a fascinating portrait of a man who has had his fair share of ups and downs, but who has become one of Britain's most engaging characters despite some of his more controversial views.