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Fred Dibnah's Made in Britain

Episode 12: A Lifetime's Achievement (Part 1)

Duration: 29 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Two HDLatest broadcast: on BBC Four HD

Available for years

Fred Dibnah reaches the final stage of his monumental journey around Britain on his traction engine.

This episode begins in the mountains of Snowdonia, where Fred is on his way to Wales's National Slate Museum. However, to get there he must first get over the Llanberis Pass - a big test for the engine. 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. In the pub, they meet up with a couple of the ex-quarry workers and have a chat over a pint.

On their way back home to Bolton, the duo 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. Whilst here, Fred takes a trip on the lift to learn a bit more about its history. Before arriving home, Fred visits a couple of local works that over the years have supplied him with his pressure gauges and lots of nuts and bolts.

After a bit of tinkering at home, Fred and Alf begin their journey to Buckingham Palace, where Fred is due to receive his MBE. They stop off in Loughborough at the Great Central Railway for a ride on a 1912, 04 class engine, before making one final detour to the Crossness Pumping Station in London, where a group of volunteers have been working for 18 years to restore four of the largest beam engines in the world. Show less

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