Matthew Steeples salutes home educated Matilda Walden, an impressive teenager whose enthusiasm knows no bounds and whose video about steeplejack Fred Dibnah is a must watch
In the time since, I have watched a number of subsequent videos by Matilda Walden – a young lady who aged just 13 years old last year won the world record for assembling a ‘Mr Potato Head’ in just 5.69-seconds – and most recently was impressed by one she made after visiting the former home of the late telly box titan Dr Fred Dibnah MBE.
In the 6:03-minute sequence, Walden (pictured top dancing outside it) toured Dibnah’s former home in Bolton, Lancashire – last featured in this publication in October 2012 when it was offered for sale for the somewhat staggering sum of £1.25 million ($1.54 million, €1.42 million or درهم5.67 million). She shared lively commentary and even performed a song she has written about the legendary Lancastrian steeplejack.
In doing so and in also sharing video footage she has filmed about steam trains, music and many other things, this inquisitive youngster provides an example of a Generation Z mind put to good use. Walden’s passion is clear and she is someone I do believe who will go far.
Thrice married father-of-five Fred Dibnah himself was himself known for his bluntness. He described himself as “just a bum who climbs chimeys” and once stated of his work: “If you make, it’s half a day with the undertaker.” He had no time for “fancy London types” and took the view that: “We’ve become a nation of conmen, living by selling double-glazing to each other.” His type sadly won’t be seen again and as Matilda herself concludes: “They don’t make them like Fred Dibnah anymore.”
Editor’s Note – Unlike as is the case in many publications, this article was NOT sponsored or supported by a third-party. Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Join Matilda Walden’s 2,700 followers on Facebook by clicking here and join the 1,200 who subscribe to her YouTube channel by clicking here.
Matilda River Walden with David Harper, one of the ‘stars’ of ‘Antiques Road Trip’ and ‘Bargain Hunt.’The teenager with the boxer Tyson Fury (in a ‘bread section’ in a Morrisons supermarket).And with Richard Jupp, former co-founder, songwriter and drummer of the band Elbow.In March 2022, the vlogger featured in ‘The Sun’ and was described as the “spud toy teen girl” who “smashed the world record for the fastest assembly of a Mr Potato Head toy.” She “put the pieces together in just 5.69 seconds” and “beat the previous best of 6.62 seconds, which stood as a world record for 12 years.”Bolton born Dr Frederick Dibnah MBE (1938 – 2004) described himself as a “backstreet mechanic,” but in essence it was his role as an entertainer that resulted in his becoming a genuine national treasure. Of meeting the late Queen Elizabeth II, he remarked: “I was slightly nervous shaking hands with the Queen. She asked me if I was still climbing chimneys. It beats me how she keeps tabs on everybody. I never thought I would be receiving an MBE.” Of wanting to meet the now King Charles III, he added: “I’d like to meet [him] because we share the same views about modern architecture.” Dibnah appeared on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Desert Island Discs’ on 1st December 1991 and chose tracks by amongst others Gary and Vera Aspey, Neil Diamond, James Galway, Elaine Paige, Sergey Rachmaniov, Jennifer Rush and Johnann Strauss II.
Then 6-year-old French boy thrown from the 10th floor of the Tate Modern by a then 17-year-old monster in 2019 amazes with remarkable progress and is deservedly lauded as a “little knight”
The resilience and determination of children can be remarkable and the then 6-year-old French boy who was thrown from a 10th floor viewing platform at the Tate Modern in August 2019 is a true testament to that.
In a statement on 28th May, the child’s family remarked via a GoFundMe page supporting them:
“To fill the strong desire of our little knight to go in the water (he had been swimming since childhood), we managed to find a specialised educator who can accompany him to the swimming pool with great vigilance. Indeed, he still can’t put his head under water because of his swallowing difficulties. Our son has to start all over again from the beginning but that doesn’t scare him! He is so happy in the water!”
We do not know if this is related to the picking up of this activity, but our son is starting to move his left ankle. Once again, we are happy to see him succeed in making a new movement, still light of course, but clearly visible for two weeks.”
“Other good news, our little knight is standing more and more upright (he has gained muscle tone and strengthened his back) and he has made enough progress in his right ankle for his doctor to decide to remove the splint from the right foot! Our son therefore only has two splints left, on the left foot and on the left hand. Little by little, his armor is disappearing!”
“This week he has also been able to make his first try at the school canteen. He was very happy, even if he is still very sensitive to noise: he complained of having earaches at the end of the meal. For next week, his occupational therapist will lend him noise-canceling headphones that he can put on whenever he needs to soothe his eardrums.”
“Finally, we were able to celebrate his birthday for the first time with other children since the attack. Our son was able to invite classmates and even one of his buddies from our old town was able to come! They had a great afternoon together, despite their differences in mobility. It was exhausting for us, but it was a step closer to a classic life, and it’s worth it.”
“Some periods are so difficult. Sadness and discouragement would sometimes take hold of us, but we must hold on and focus on all the progress made. Thank you so much for continuing to think of our little knight and for encouraging us.”
Shockingly this is an incident that should never have occurred in the first place. The then 17-year-old perpetrator, Jonty Bravery, was an autistic teenager who lived in a placement in Northolt, West London with two-to-one care funded by Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
The unironically named Bravery had been involved in a “series of troubling incidents” in the two years prior to the attack including threatening to kill members of the public, hitting a climbing wall instructor at a leisure centre and putting faeces in his mother’s make-up brushes. In April 2019, whilst on a supervised trip to Brighton, he had punched a care worker and a member of staff in a Burger King.
Allowed out for the day unaccompanied on 4th August 2019 in spite of his past violence, Bravery spent considerable time scoping out victims on the viewing platform of the Tate Modern and looking over the railings before committing a totally unprovoked attack on a child he had never even met before.
Subsequently jailed for 15 years after being convicted of attempted murder, Jonty Bravery was arrested again in 2021 on suspicion of raping a man in his 30s in the shower block of Her Majesty’s Prison Belmarsh. This is frankly indicative that those charged with minding this menace and monster are clearly not doing their jobs properly.
The GoFundMe fundraiser towards paying for the medical care and rehabilitation of the child has raised over £315,000 ($398,000, €370,000 or درهم1.5 million) and today we urge readers to join its nigh on 700 supporters – who number the BBC’s Emily Maitlis and billionaire Hans Rausing – by clicking here.
That Jonty Bravery, a then 17-year-old with a then undiagnosed personality disorder, autism and someone known for extremely violent behaviour, was allowed to wander central London unaccompanied by Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council and the NHS Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is a genuine outrage. That Fulham Borough Council also spent £12,400 over the course of four court hearings as they tried to prevent this clearly warped individual being named is an utter disgrace. That this maniac was able then to hurl a young child previously unknown to him off the 10th floor viewing platform (pictured left on the day of the fateful incident with an air ambulance present) of an art gallery is equally shocking.The shocking incident occurred at the gallery on 4th August 2019 and involved the youngster being thrown 100-foot. Afterwards, the parents of the child victim asked: “How can one explain to a child that someone deliberately tried to kill him?”The story of resilience bares similarities to that of then 9-year-old Tobias Weller (AKA ‘Captain Tobias’) – whose story ‘The Steeple Times’ featured in August 2020. In spite of having cerebal palsy and autism, this inspiration raised over £150,000 for a children’s hospital and school by completing walking marathons in spite of being unable to stand or walk unaided.
