Hebden Bridge filmmaker Nick Wilding was the only cameraman to ever film Fred from the tops of the mill chimneys he was repairing. As it happens, by doing so he captured Fred on the very last steeplejack contracts he ever undertook, as well as recording his everyday life. It’s a rare opportunity to see some extraordinary footage of Fred Dibnah, not seen on TV and only seen by him, his closest family and friends. This is the continuing story of his life and work during his courtship and third marriage to Sheila. Sheila has since earned for herself a reputation for her award-winning talks throughout Britain.
When Sheila Dibnah attended last year’s popular Local History Society event ‘Hebden Royd at the Movies’ at the Picture House, she offered to do one of her talks, with proceeds to fund the restoration and screening of the lost 1920 Cecil Hepworth classic 1920 silent movie ‘Helen of Four Gates’. Nick had found the film, the first to be shot in the Hebden Bridge area, in Canada. . On the strength of this funding, the British Film Institute are hoping to make it possible for the film to be ready for the HEBDEN 500 Festival, in 2010.
If this happens it will be the first time ‘Helen of Four Gates has been seen in Britain for 90 years and the plan is for Hebden Bridge to screen it even before the BFI, which plans to feature it in their planned 2010 London Festival ‘Lost but Rediscovered’. Proceeds from ‘FRED DIBNAH NIGHT’ will hopefully make this all possible. Sheila and Nick have now spent several years collaborating on the compilation of this material and will be combining elements from Sheila’s talks with a rare glimpse of Nick’s films that Fred hoped and they both hope will eventually be transmitted on television. Tickets are now available at Hebden Bridge Tourist Information and at the Picture House at £8 with concessions £6.
