Until 1978, Fred Dibnah was a steeplejack working locally to his own area of Lancashire. Whilst working on the Town Hall in Bolton, the local BBC TV filmed a short news item about him. As a result of this, Fred was approached by a television producer with a view to making 1 half-hour film as part of a series about people with unusual occupations. After several months of filming, the final article was an hour long documentary, screened in his own right. This won two awards for the producer.