1974: John Noakes: SIDECAR RACER | Blue Peter | Classic BBC clips | BBC Archive

[@weejim48]

John Noakes was a role model and a hero for all us kids back in the 60’. The man was fearless. 🇬🇧👍

[@peterflynn9123]

John Noakes. Absolute hero before Health and Safety was invented! Certainly a role model for me !

[@peterbrown7130]

You seen him climb Nelson’s Column?- yikes😮😮

[@Richard-pe4cx]

health and safety ! did you not notice the helmets , race marshalls its not health and safety its insurance driven measures to mitigate loss through claims its still the same in the factory i work in all the " improvements " came from insurance inspections i have been a race marshall at thruxton and i work in sheet metal

[@MrStr8den]

@@peterbrown7130 ...not to mention the Cresta bobsleigh run where sledge crashed

[@blackdoublezero]

Blue Peter & Fred Dibnah was a great way to grow up in the 70's .......my son in law cant even change a tyre or wire a plug

[@temparalflux914]

@@blackdoublezero I've only just come across Fred Dibnah (and also these John Noakes clips), cannot get enough of them.

[@composedlight6850]

John Noaks was for me the best presenter /action man ever.

[@AlGorithm-n6q]

They just don't make presenters like John Noakes any longer. Someone clearly broke the mould. Thanks for posting this. Brought back some happy memories.

[@cblack1green]

I remember reading that John was never insured for all the dangerous stunts he did, what a legend.

[@andrewshore262]

Brilliant, I thought John Noakes was a try anything kind of bloke he never wimped out and left a really positive impression on me. RIP John you really were one of the best 💪👍

[@ivorainsworth]

Great days to live in .Thanks John being part of our valued early years...RIP John 😢

[@michaeldeakin4287]

Brings a tear to my eye watching this, such special times, pre nanny state and John Noakes, what a hero for young kids like me.

[@fourutubez7294]

What are you on about ? sidecar racing still goes on.

[@blackdoublezero]

and just think, John & these lads fathers fought the war and bombed the dams in cotton overalls and leather helmets..... imagine what they thought of wearing a fibre glass helmets and having to sign a membership waver ;)

[@esseker6320]

Lovely bloke, R.I.P John, hope your back together with your dog Shepp 👍.

[@jasona9393]

I love that this was Les Judkins but I've only just discovered this now! (Jan 2024). I was alone at a race meeting at Mallory Park in 1990 as a 19 year-old. When Les saw I was alone, sleeping in a tent with the bike on a trailer behind the car, he came up to me out of the blue and offered me a cup of tea! He's a legend, wonderful bloke.

[@Rickstartattooman]

John Noakes was a total legend, awesome stuff 👍

[@folkme3042]

Absolutely!I was a big fan of Blue Peter back in the sixties/early seventies and John was my favourite presenter.He was game for anything and seemed fearless to me.I always remember him scaling Nelson's Column with just a rope tied around his waist.You didn't hear many presenters with regional accents on the telly back then either.

[@Lord-hoboco777]

All thats missing is the smell of Castrol R40 ,Good old days 👍

[@seamusblack5876]

5:45 good to see john wearing the mandatory foot protection in the 70s the good old plimsoles

[@markyhp322]

What a legend and brave bloke John Noakes was!

[@nickjh1968]

Indeed he was.

[@BecomeConsciousNow]

Fairplay to John Noakes he was game for anything. Very brave!

[@Alex000113]

A legend. I dont think anyone realized how impactful his character was (BBC's Alf Tupper). Some great footage in these segments, excellent camera work. Loved the old bikes and sound of those engines (pre Japanese).

[@50YearOldTeenager]

If Britain had only taken real notice of what Japan was doing we might have still had a motor industry. Having owned and ridden both yes the early Jap stuff sounds a bit tinny but from the 1960s bikes were really for the young out there and that meant going fast, or as fast as you could afford. A lot describe a bike or car as 'Doing a ton while standing still' my old A65 was fine in its day but just sounded great though just about able to do the ton, now my Suzi Hayabusa both looks and sounds fantastic doing nearly twice that. I loved my older bikes but wish I had caught the Japanese bug earlier especially the Suzuki T100 or Kawasaki H1two strokes.

[@robertmarsh3588]

Utter classic Blue Peter. John Noakes Peter Purves and Valerie Singleton (then later Leslie Judd). John was game for absolutely everything. He truly loved Shep as well. I don't think we'll see the like of this again.

[@davidpayne3938]

John Noaks was an absolute legend, looking back at it now he always seemed to get the dangerous presenting jobs which I must admit used to love watching when I was a child..Who could forget his beloved dog and companion Shep..Get down Shep..😅 Happy days and memories..❤

[@simonlunt353]

John noakes is blue Peter’s action man 👍👏👏

[@brianosborne9446]

A hero and a legend. Proper bloke.

[@Team-fabulous]

Noaksy was just brilliant.. These where the days before health and safety ruined fun for everyone.. Just love John's shirt, white plimsolls and wooly hat under his lid. 🤣🤣🤣. Get down Shep.. 🏁🏁🏁

[@jamesrindley6215]

Get over yourself, health and safety regulations exist to protect the average worker from exploitation and danger of ruthless bosses. Health and safety has saved millions from death and maiming and a miserable existence of poverty and pain. If you want to race that's still going on all over the world, check out Goodwood or the TT.

[@fourutubez7294]

You can still do nuts stuff I've been a caver, climber, winter climbing in the mountains, MTBer, recumbent rider .,...... all H&E does is give an excuse to those who'd never do it anyway.

[@markpeddle4688]

Don't you just love the Union Jack 😊

[@samuelwilliams9224]

To the person/people in charge of BBC Archive, can you invite me round so I can look at all the archival footage? As no offence, but watching this clip makes me insanely jealous of the amount of content that's still left to be uncovered and makes me want to unlock my inner Adam Curtis. Thanks for putting this stuff out there, and once again, I am happy to come by at any point.

[@chrislee2221]

I remember John Noakes doing so many things as well as this side car racing, parachuting out of a plane, climbing Nelsons coloum to clean the pigeon sxxt off. He did the 4 man bobsleigh too. No h&s back then❤

[@markbrennan4693]

Top man. True Yorkshire grit. Only time I missed Blue Peter was during the powercuts back in the 70's. Get back Shep !!

[@kaibroeking9968]

'The Marshall gave us our last minute instructions: "Five laps and good luck!" ' 😂😂😂

[@martinhambleton5076]

John Noakes. Hero and legend. RIP John and Shep. 💐🌷⚘️🌹

[@keen2b]

Love John Noaks,He was always up to any challenge, Never pretentious or big head, Just got on with it, Always laughing and joking a great man missed RIP john, 😄🇬🇧👍

[@longbowfta]

Thanks John you were not only entertaining but also inspirational.

[@alanwatkiss7993]

How brilliant was blue peter.

[@pmacc3557]

I'd love one of those old bikes

[@flashtheoriginal]

Brilliant. Ive always wanted to be the wing-man on a sports sidecar. Really enjoyed this. Childrens TV in its PRIME

[@Merseysiderful]

I used to watch "Go with Noakes" when a child in the 1970s and remember him driving a Morris Minor with his dog Shep. He was a top bloke !

[@martinbird9387]

I never missed Blue Peter, good old John Noakes - proper bloke

[@Themanincumbent]

Remember this was kids tv back then

[@seebarry4068]

Hence our generations relaxed attitude to health and safety.

[@richardhebden5603]

I used to race with the North Gloucester Club in the 1990's at old airfields like Keevil, Staverton, Colerene, Hullavington, Long Marston, Wroughton etc etc It brings back happy memories albeit 25 years + after this was filmed. Les Judkins was a hero of mine racing a 125cc MBA solo motorcycle at places like Mallory Park against kids 30 years younger than him in the 1980's/90's. I saw him "parading" his old MBA at a classic meeting a few years ago still wearing the same leathers with his son competing in other races. I don't think the BBC would ever get one of it's staff to do something like this these days, They would be wearing hi viz and safety glasses just to spectate.

[@joecater894]

the BBC isn't interested today unless they can make a politically loaded left wing statement... in my opinion, of course...

[@thatsoutrageous1961]

They are a different crew the sidecar boys , John fitted right in !!

[@ralphjohnson4041]

You’d think they could have at least got him a crash helmet that fitted!

[@kissofthelabrador3998]

Noakesy you were a legend

[@MrJasdog107]

John Noakes was like the superman of kids TV he laughed in the face of fear.

[@a34rwl]

Dress shirt under leathers, surprised he didn't wear a tie. A man amongst men.

[@foo4572]

He certainly had no fear 😧.. what great days

[@grahamariss2111]

I remember seeing this first time around, thinking how sleek and modern the bikes seem and now they look vintage.

[@Bruce-1956]

John Noakes and Shep, legends.

[@solsol1624]

Was suprised he didn't bring Shep along for the ride, he would have loved the wind in his face😊

[@davecooper3238]

I sometimes attended race meetings. A now retired sidecar driver said this about preparing a new passenger. Unzip head remove brain. Replace with pork chop. Re-zip head.

[@briangriffin928]

I actually got emotional watching this!

[@SimonMiles-m8l]

He was champion viewer material... natural, no complaints hero... What ever was thrown at him. He caught it and put it in his pocket

[@kimhicks8443]

Les Judkins was still whizzing about on motorcycles [A 350cc Ducati I think] with the CRMC until recently as far as I know. Really nice bloke.

[@andyashton6309]

Ye lovely chap raced against him many times in 80s

[@philalthorpe4864]

Don’t think he races anymore. I know his family. Lovely bunch. Remember les balancing the carbs on my rd400

[@dermotwalsh9662]

Absolute hero, best children's presenter by a country mile.A man in what was then predominantly a man's world dare I say. Most of today's pc presenters wouldn't be capable of holding his Jacket 😁. His free fall parachute jump with the red devils was my favourite, and at the time claimed a new civilian record, what a man👍.

[@ivancounsell4077]

I was there and my Mother took a photograph of me and John Noakes.

[@JackOfAllTrades-UK]

I grew up watching John Noakes and whilst I look back now with absolute admiration, we never thought it was anything exceptional at the time. H&S wasn’t really a big thing and John made it look so easy. Even climbing to the top of Nelson’s column without a safety line or harness in sight, not even wearing any fancy gear, he just looked like he had wandered onto set straight from his afternoon walk 👍😂

[@GPR111]

"By now we were touching 70mph"..... 😄 Good stuff from a good time. John Noakes was the original peoples hero 👍

[@rogernevin7461]

Get down Shep ! The best pairing on TV ever.

[@ReferenceFidelityComponents]

Noakesy…what a star! Not much in the way of h&s…woolly hat on under an open face lid 😂. He was such a gutsy man and never turned down a challenge.

[@charlesmarsh9608]

Noaksey a total loon fondly remembered.

[@blackcat5159]

Noaksy was up for anything , not even a full face lid. How many of us would do this instead watching it in our safe comfy homes ?? Real action man without any ego. Brilliant .

[@Mitch-l5u]

Also white trainers😄

[@mikeh5431]

He was superb

[@olthomas5170]

What the BBC Archive makes clear (unintentionally I’m sure) is the paucity of its current offerings for both children and adults compared to those days.

[@robinheighway6227]

Crazy

[@jtbkilmartin9110]

Absolute brass ones….

[@jahshappybus]

Jesus Les you look old enough already here. Would have been fun to see you race.

[@tvdinner325]

I grew up with John. Thank you!

[@richardhartley1705]

Ballsy John noakes he would have a go at anything and did 👍👍

[@Christiansoldiering]

I so wish Go with Noakes was available on DVD....Maybe one day!

[@taxus750]

First Nelson's Column, then the Cresta Run, now this: the bloke's one of my favourite people on the telly, ever. As anyone who rides chair outfits will tell you, being the "passenger" is hard work and chuffing dangerous.

[@Mute_Nostril_Agony]

Noakes was fantastic. He would be climbing up a chimney stack or free fall parachuting INTO THE SEA. Then back to the studio and Peter Pervie would be baking a cake...

[@davidrenton]

also the British record for highest civilian free fall fo a while , when he parachuted with the RAF

[@stevesj80]

Real tv for kids. John was great.

[@SimonMiles-m8l]

And then he goes and climbs Nelsons Column... then up the mast of some football stadium spotlights to change a bulb...and on and on he went... FEARLESS... What a guy... Get down Shep...

[@baccas66]

John Noakes was a top presenter. Sky diving, Bob sleigh, climbing Nelsons column, sidecar racer. You never saw Peter Purves having a go.

[@howardosborne8647]

Purves did ride the speedway bikes with John noakes but Pete slid off the bike.

[@sofalugger]

Love the `Tea cosy` under the `Skid lid`!!! Halcyon days...

[@paulbiggs9279]

Brilliant, absolutely fearless

[@tommaguzzi1723]

I never knew this existed. John was every school boy's big brother, doing things we would never dare to.

[@flybobbie1449]

Finding it hard to believe that is Staverton airfield. First flew in 1978. Don't remember it looking like that. Very different now.

[@rexeverything100]

When broadcasted television was actually entertainment

[@TJMack-]

Yep, definitely one of a kind. My first true hero figure. At the time we kinda took it for granted that he would do all these daft things without much practice or training, but looking back just shows how brave he was.

[@leewalledge4299]

John Noakes LEGEND

[@campbellnutting3663]

Brilliant thank you 😃

[@garynorris8492]

I tried to do a crash course lap of the Isle of Man T T Circuit once "blind folded" .... i didn't even make the first corner turn!!

[@evilelf5967]

good ol noaksey.....blue peters resident daredevil.class man.

[@76-UVB]

John did rather well there, he seemed to be a bit of a natural at it although the BBC could have at least sprung for a pair of boots that covered his ankles in case he was thrown off

[@rolandsmith2141]

When TV presenters were more than just presenters

[@freespeech3673]

Can you imagine Philip Schofield doing this? Bit dangerous.

[@myalfie]

You’d have more chance of holly doing it that Phil !

[@thatsoutrageous1961]

And certainly not politicians.

[@martinsaye6869]

What a Guy ! God bless you John !

[@gm16v149]

Those were the days, unmuffled bikes and the smell of Castrol R. Now thanks to the fun police, race bikes in UK have got to have silencers on the exhausts. I think the IoM TT is the only place where you can hear race bikes as they were intended.

[@76-UVB]

Yes indeed the neighbours in those houses would be up in arms due to the noise nowadays

[@howardosborne8647]

Get down,Shep!

[@richardjones8699]

Wonderful children's Television.

[@MrLukealbanese]

Happy days.😁😁

[@David-xl9cp]

What a man John was, would never happen today, and what is that about having to correct fitting helmet, oh yes, use a woolly hat to pad it out, going to try that tip with my Aria helmet, Thanks John for the great tip 👍

[@splodge57]

John would have a go at anything and everything. I don't know if he was brave stupid or both. Wonderful times.😊

[@highdownmartin]

P4 rovers pulling trailers to get to the meet. This isn’t a classic meet it’s just all our lads could afford! Buy a ridge Ulster for ten quid , get it going again and race the bugger. Amazing

[@miamitten1123]

The bikes here are literally this 🏍 emoji.

[@oddsandwindsocks5905]

Mr noakes the legend.

[@limeyosu2000]

John Noakes was blue peters version of chuck Norris!

[@ianjones7266]

Eee .. I remember this first time round .. see the combos at Cadwell these days and their speeds .. Ai carramba!

[@stuartburton1167]

Blimey I must have seen Les Judkins race at the TT in 1989 I still have the programme and hes down to start in the ultra lightweight race.

[@leslietravis3079]

And give him a blueeeee Peter baaaadge!

[@PositiveCoaching1508]

If only I watched that Blue Peter episode, when they made a time machine out of empty cereal packets and sticky back plastic 🙈 I absolutely loved this era. TV was great. Music was great. Fashion was fantastically outrageous. I also left school that summer and was able to ditch my: "I'M A Virgin" T shirt 👕 before Christmas. 😎

[@marcushill78]

Kids TV back then taught us to be bold and courageous. What is it teaching children today?

[@whiskywhippet]

John Nokes was a legend.

[@keithrose6931]

This bloke would have a go at anything.

[@MrSillenomis]

What a star

[@Tony-tourette]

Here in late 2024 for the way it used to be 😊

[@malcolmpettett5957]

The woolly hat under the helmet full health an safety

[@garyalderson1056]

Get down shep😂