American Reacts to John Noakes Scaling Nelson's Column is Terrifying

In this video I react to John Noakes for the first time. Here he climbs Nelson's Column on a wobbly ladder 170 feet up. He did this for a show called Blue Peter. I love watching stuff like this, but I realize there is simply no way I could do what Steeplejacks do. After seeing this I'm excited to explore more John Noakes content.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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[@claregale9011]

John Noakes is a legend, I was 4 yrs old when this aired , Blue Peter has been running since 1958 to present day its a much loved programme for kids .

[@richardhockey8442]

John Noakes: 'Climbing Nelson Column using a shaky ladder! Pfah, that's nothing, ! had to deal with a live broadcast of a baby elephant with diahrroea, and that Shep, what a complete pain in the backside!'

[@timglennon6814]

I was the same age when this was aired.

[@leehallam9365]

John was the most popular hosts of Blue Peter, which was , and is (it's still going I believe), a magazine show for kids aimed at 6 to 12 year old. It started in 1958, and John joined it in 1965 as one of three hosts, he left a year after this event in 1978. He was the resident dare devil and for a while held a world record for civilian sky diving. We loved him and his dog Shep who appeared with him. It gave him his catch phrase " Get down Shep!" Shep was a lively dog. He did another show Go With Noakes after Blue Peter, but he fell out with the Producer of Blue Peter, and his career fizzled out after that. Getting on the wrong side of the BBC in those days was career ending.

[@TheEulerID]

Falling out with the fearsome Biddy Baxter was not something to be done lightly...

[@janescott4574]

Nelson’s Column in TrafalgarSquare is one of London’s most famous landmarks. Built to commemorate Nelson’s victory at the battle of trafalgar. Unfortunately he also lost his life in the process.

[@reluctantheist5224]

Though just to clarify the " also " part in this comment doesn't indicate that John Noakes lost his life in this incident.

[@janescott4574]

@@reluctantheist5224 since I didn’t mention John Noakes in my post, I would have thought my remark was self explanatory.

[@reluctantheist5224]

@@janescott4574 heh heh , just a bit of fun.

[@womble321]

He was an ex RAF mechanic who became a film and TV stuntman. He applied for a job on a childrens TV show and became one of the most famous people in Britain. His job was actually to do stuff like this. He also became a fully qualified north sea clearance diver so he could film under oil rigs and film archeology on ship wrecks

[@jamesdignanmusic2765]

Bosun's chair. The monument is one of the best-known structures in London, in the centre of Trafalgar Square (imagine of a UK equivalent to the Washington Monument). To my generation of kids in the UK, John Noakes, Valerie Singleton and Pete Purves, the three hosts of kids' show "Blue Peter" were the biggest stars on TV. Noakes often used to do crazy stunts like this on the show. One of the most famous bloopers in UK TV history was him trying to control a baby elephant in a TV studio. RIP John.... and sit down, Shep!

[@vernonallen3370]

John Noakes was a bit of a mild mannered action man , on one episode of Blue Peter in 1975 he tried bobsledding in a two man bobsleigh with the R.A.F. team , at 90 mph the sled hit a hole in the ice wall causing the sled to turn over dragging John upside down for around a 100 yards, suffering concussion and severe bruising. Not put off by that a year later he did the cresta run in Switzerland on a toboggan, the guy was a hero.

[@vamthegreat]

It hasn’t been torn down dunno why you would think it would have been 😅 it was built in the 1840s to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar over the combined French and Spanish navies, during which he lost his life. It’s built out of marble and bronze

[@gallowglass2630]

There was at least one attempt to blow it up by the fenians in the1880s.The dublin equivalent was partially destroyed by the IRA in 1966 and completely destroyed by the irish army a few months later because the ruins were a hazard to the public.It was very unpopular for some time previous to that and attempts were made to remove it,but legal difficulties prevented this from happening.The Millenium spire now rises in the spot of the nelsons pillar.

[@ryujbfvhju1555]

I would be worried about getting my 70's flares caught up in the ladder or rope knot! 😯

[@ryujbfvhju1555]

I watched this first time aired when I was 7....it scared the bejezuz out of me then.... Amazing, the lack of health and safety and the willingness of a TV presenter to do this... Definitely made of sterner stuff in those days.

[@Kimellis0]

I remember this too, when it first aired , amazing how things have changed 😂

[@womble321]

Remember the elephant poo. The only person in the world to fall in elephant shit on live TV I actually watched it at the time.

[@Kimellis0]

@@womble321 🤣 I’m not sure if I remember if I watched the original but yes , I do remember watching it.😆

[@michaeloates5804]

John Noakes and shep were brilliant on Blue Peter funny and brave, I remember him parachuting with the RAF as well

[@michaeloates5804]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqnQhnmDdt93m5I

[@gillgill6095]

I loved Blue Peter, you must watch a video of John Noakes with the baby elephant in the studio, classic moment in British childrens TV.

[@juliajoyce4535]

John Noakes was as a legend, my favourite Blue Peter presenter. I watched this live, you should watch him going down The Cresta Run on a bobsleigh

[@LucyLeaf]

Anyone growing up in the UK, will associate with a certain trio of Blue Peter presenters, depending what time you grew up in. They always have one of the three, who is prepared to take on challenges. It also had you making different projects, made from things like washing up bottles and sticky back plastic. A much coveted item was the Blue Peter badge.

[@greygorthegoateedgeek5350]

John Noakes was indeed the "action" guy of the Blue Peter show. His Free Fall parachuting with the RAF is a stand-out along with this. He also did a Bob Sleigh run where he hit a hole in the ice and turned over. When he finally left the show it was with some anger towards the producer that simmered for years, but he went on to do his own series Go With Noakes (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go_With_Noakes) which you'd probably enjoy as he travels around the UK. He did once old the record for the longest civilian free fall jump, 8km (5 miles) The episode I remember is Lulu the Elephant illustrating why you should never work with Animals kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaucoKCpmLZkfJY

[@TimeyWimeyLimey]

John was an absolute legend of kid's TV in the 70's and 80's. The nation held it's breath when he was seriously injured in the Bobsleigh crash. Researching Lord Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar would make a good reaction video too.

[@countzero1136]

I remember seeing the elephant clip on Blue Peter when I was a kid - that's classic TV :)

[@blueybarnes9442]

Well done 👏 Steve for digging this out ……John was an epic bloke and lived on his boat for many years in Lymington Hampshire…….as a kid in the 70’s he used to often come into my parents general store on Lymington High Street 😅❤

[@juliajoyce4535]

You should watch a clip from Blue Peter when an elephant called Lulu appeared, my family and I were in hysterics, it’s now a classic TV moment when things go wrong 😂😂😂

[@jasonkendrick681]

Just had to watch Lulu episode again. Its still so funny.

[@alangarde2928]

John Noakes. Legend. Him and his border collie Shep (well technically the dog was owned by the BBC, but lived with Noakes when he left) were a large part of my childhood. His show 'Go with Noakes' was a blast.

[@williamevans9426]

Didn''t Noakes attempt 'canal vaulting' on one episode?

[@geoffpoole483]

Blue Peter was a children's tv programme originally broadcast on BBC1. The programme held an annual appeal for charity and often featured cooking demonstrations just before Shrove Tuesday. Every year the presenters went on a long trip abroad. John Noakes was the "action man" of the show. A video worth watching despite being in black and white is his participation in the mast manning ceremony at HMS Ganges.

[@lesjames5191]

I'll be in London in 3 weeks time, when I visit Nelson's column I'll think of John Noakes . 73 men from my home town fought in the battle of Trafalgar.

[@SJ-GodofGnomes21]

John Noakes was a living legend, incredibly daring, incredibly smart.

[@C.CUMM1NGS]

I think British children's TV was a lot different to American not sure though, the main show he was on was called "Blue Peter" you should check it out and yes he died in 2017 at the age of 83. Some others to watch: 1974: John NOAKES Fixes QPR's Floodlights | Blue Peter | Classic Sports clips | BBC Archive 1974: John Noakes: SIDECAR RACER | Blue Peter | Classic BBC clips | BBC Archive 1976: JOHN NOAKES tries the CRESTA RUN | Blue Peter | Classic BBC clips | BBC Archive TRIBUTE TO JOHN NOAKES

[@MsCheesemonster13]

I’ve never heard of “Mr Rogers’, but I will look him up and find out.

[@petrinadendy6395]

I loved John doing the cresta run. That man was up for anything.

[@hopebgood]

I remember him on the live prog showing the bruises. Ow.

[@arwelp]

“Blue Peter” is a children’s show that’s been on the BBC since 1958 (it’s about 6 weeks younger than I am, and it’s still running on CBBC) - it usually had a team of 3 presenters, and your favourite trio of presenters defines your age when you used to watch it - my trio was Valerie Singleton, John Noakes, and Peter Purves (though I also liked Christopher Trace before Peter joined in 1967). There’s a long Wiki article on it. The show also had its own pets which were as famous as the human presenters - Petra, Shep, and Goldie the dogs, Jason the cat, Fred/Freda the tortoise (they weren’t sure of its gender in the beginning!). They did/do annual charity appeals at Christmas which often raised amazing amounts. There are some classic episodes like this, one hilarious one was Lulu the baby elephant in the studio (1969) - the sight of John almost treading in elephant poo would keep 10-year old boys in laughter for hours kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaucoKCpmLZkfJY John Noakes (1934-2017) was on the show from 1965 to 1977, and did most of the daredevil stuff.

[@grendel1960a]

bosuns chair, from the navy term, usually used hanging off the side of ships to clean the boats.

[@BarbaraGrosvenor]

The base is concrete but the column is a rare sandstone. It was built to commemorate Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar and it was made possible by public donations even the Tsar of Russia made a donation. Imagine how brave the cameraman was.

[@sparkyprojects]

You still need to watch "Fred Dibnah How to bring down a chimney stack." he does it with fire

[@caroleannbrunnock8793]

John Noakes and his dog Shep were popular on the children’s television show Blue Peter. He is a legend and well loved xx

[@paulhunter6178]

John Noakes was an inspiration to a generation! They don't make childrens television programmes like this nowadays for sure!

[@orwellboy1958]

Hi Steve, I'm surprised that you haven't heard of Lord Nelson, one of the UKs greatest hero's. The column was completed in 1843 to commemorate his victory at Trafalgar. It's made of Craigleith sandstone. And no I've never heard of Mr. Rogers.

[@B-A-L]

I'm pretty sure there are famous American generals or admirals nobody in Britain have heard of.

[@petrinadendy6395]

I believe the bowson's chair is from sailing. Used when transferring from one ship to another at sea.

[@carolineskipper6976]

I wondered how long it would take you to get from Fred Dibnah to this! This is from the BBC flagship children's programme 'Blue Peter' which is a 'magazine' type programme which servs to both educate and entertain, and has a remit to give all children (through their TVs) access to activities and places - around the world as well as in the UK - that they might otherwise not do. To be a Blue Peter presenter you have to be a 'Jack of all trades' - creative (arts and crafts), be fascinated by new technologies, be able to tell stories, talk to a wide variety of people and make us fascinated by them, but also have an adventurous spirit. This falls neatly into the 'adventurous' category! I watched it live, and have seen it several times since. It makes me dizzy just to watch it! Health and safety would never allow this now! The chair is calld a 'Boatswains' or 'Bo-sns' chair - from it's use on ships for maintenance. John did loads of exciting things - often aided and abetted by his excitable dog Shep. His catch-phrase became "Get Down Shep!!!" The programme (apart from the filmed segments) went out live, which often ld to hilarity. For that I recommend kzbin.info/www/bejne/oaucoKCpmLZkfJY A Baby Elephant in the studio..... John Noakes sadly passed away in 2017. He was a key figure in the childhoods of a generation!

[@dh2032]

Baby Elephant

[@nevreiha]

Nelson's Column is a granite structure, not concrete. Concrete hasn't been a good structural material until we started to reinforce it with steel which was not popular until a while after the column was built. Nelson was a key individual in the napoleonic war (war with napoleon who wished to expand france into neighbouring countries). The 1805 battle of trafalgar (which resulted in a british victory) was when Nelson was killed by a musket ball through the lung. The statue on the plinth is of nelson and the square is named trafalgar square (home to the national gallery and the end of the mall pronounced mal which is a road that leads from buckingham palace). The column was constructed from 1840-43.

[@richardhockey8442]

8:18 'you want to get quite a bit lower, really' yeah, somewhere in the order of about 180 feet lower :)

[@steven54511]

John with Peter Purvis were both crazy at the time they presented Blue Peter! Some of the things they did together would most definitely not be allowed in today's PC society. Noakes himself was a natural children's TV presenter and made the job seem almost too easy as he inspired SO many others to follow in his foot-steps.

[@maryrichardson8790]

Oh, hearing your reaction to those ladders! It did make me smile. I can hear the absolute agony in your voice as you contemplate them! 😄😄 Thanks for reminding me of John's gung ho attitude, he was like no other presenter, for sure! 👏 👏 👍👍

[@reactingtomyroots]

LOL yea there is no way I'd feel comfortable on those ladders. :)

[@rolandbraithwaite1027]

Notice in the truly British way John is wearing a collar and tie nothing to it "old chap"

[@johnhood3172]

He was an icon .

[@adamruscoe170]

Nelson's column is in Trafalgar Square, about half a mile from Parliament (with Whitehall in between which is the road where a lot of UK government departments are based and Downing Street also comes off Trafalgar Square is also classed as the very centre of "London" ie the wider city rather than the old City of London, so all those signs you see saying London x number of miles, are pointing to a spot very close to this column. There's a plaque in the floor and everything John Noakes was born in the 30s and by the time this was filmed was in his 40s, but as a presenter of "Blue Peter" he would have done a few things such as this. Blue Peter is a TV program on the BBC which is a magazine show for older kids (probably 11+) and intended as an exploration and inspiration for "what can be done". Noakes died in 2017 from Alzheimers complications.

[@weedle30]

Most children growing up in the late 60’s to 70’s would have watched Blue Peter. Whilst it was a “children’s” programme, the presenters spoke to their young viewers in a way they would understand without patronising or talking down or making silly faces or voices. The programme was always informative and interesting and explained “serious things” like the famine in Biafra, in a way a young person would be able to understand. It was never boring - things did go a bit “wrong” (Lulu the elephant; the ‘fake’ camp fire that the Girl Guides and Brownies were sitting around really catching fire! And years later, Mark Curry knocking the head of the model of a man made out of Lego, onto the studio floor 😂) - it was always (and probably still is) entertaining.

[@footplate0]

John was out to thrill us youngsters and in his own way showed how the environment was being damaged in a way that kids could understand. He did everything and had so many Guinness records at one time. He did stuff like the aerial assault course to going down in the sewers. Notice no health and safety in those days so anything goes. The funny thing that this was meant for children to view, can you imagine the outrage these days if kids were shown anything like this. Kids are wrapped up in cotton wool these days and have no sense of adventure. Thanks for posting and I saw John do this climb the first time around

[@christinebarnes9102]

They climbed Nelson's Column to clean the bird crap off of the statue at the top, when you visit London and go to Trafalgar Square you will see it. It's called a boatswain's (bowson's) chair and is sometimes used to transfer people from one boat to another.

[@pauldurkee4764]

I love the way the man says 'don't slacken off the knot too much', too bloody right guvnor!!!! Steve the other thing I can remember John Noakes doing, is descending the Cresta Run. 👍

[@Sunakfilth]

Brave man😮

[@Spiklething]

John Noakes was a presenter of the childrens show Blue Peter. Check out the Blue Peter and Lulu the elephant video for older (black and white footage) of John Noakes and other Blue Peter presenters and have a good laugh.

[@JJ-of1ir]

Even though I know he gets down safely, I felt on edge the whole time. Then again standing on a kitchen stool is high enough for me!

[@clarelawton4653]

Showing my age but who remembers Go With Noakes?

[@MadameFlutterbi]

Sadly he died in 2017 at the age of 83. Here is a news video showing a few of the things he did on Blue Peter the childrens TV show he was a presenter on. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mH6koIakeNegmNE

[@DruncanUK]

John Noakes was a presenter on Blue Peter - a children's magazine program that featured art, crafts, gardening, news and special interest topics. John was the "action man" who would go out and risk his neck at all sorts of activities, like free fall parachuting (he got the record for longest ever jump by a British civilian), bobsleding, that sort of thing. The show began in October 1958 and has been running ever since - yes, it is still running!

[@tonygreenfield7820]

It may still be running but the present Blue Peter is a pale imitation of the original.

[@DruncanUK]

@@tonygreenfield7820 It's just not the same without Biddy Baxter running the show.

[@jimcook1161]

Hi Steve. Growing up in the 70s, John Noakes was a TV fixture! He was known as the daredevil of kid's show Blue Peter, doing a freefall parachute jump with the Red Devils, The Parachute Regiment's display team, a bob sleigh run, a skeleton bobsleigh run and being 'the passenger' in a motorbike sidecar race. As well as his BP co-stars Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and Lesley Judd (who replaced Singleton), the fourth member was Shep, an excitable collie who would try to upstage Noakes and the catchphrase 'DOWN SHEP!!!' is forever associated with John Noakes who passed away in 2017. Shep passed in 1987 aged 15.

[@jamesgill1973]

A song was written about john noaks called get down shep by the barron knights it is on youtube

[@MarchAlius]

When my mums friend was a young woman, someone wanted to take a picture of a woman in a wedding dress on top of Nelson’s Column. Since her dad was a steeplejack, she volunteered. It was a similar era to this video, so she had to climb all the way to the top via ladder, then change into a wedding dress once she was up there, climb up onto Nelson himself, have her picture taken, then change out of the dress. I don’t think I could even stand up there, let alone do all of that! She’s an awesome lady! I’m so happy you reacted to this video!

[@Paul-hl8yg]

That is Nelson's column in Trafalgar Square London, built in 1843 & standing at 169 ft tall. It is carved granite, not concrete. Erected to commemorate the defeat of the combined fleets of France & Spain at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Part of the Napoleonic war. Admiral Horatio Nelson died in the battle. Nelson's column is one of London's great landmarks & so yes its still there! Lol. 👍🇬🇧🇺🇸

[@sandrabeaumont9161]

I believe he also went and helped paint the Forth Rail Bridge. AS you can hear he also had an accent. He was born in Halifax in what was named The West Riding of Yorkshire.

[@susanashcroft2674]

John Noakes, Peter Purves, Valerie Singleton and then Lesley Judd (the woman at the end of the clip) were part of my childhood growing up and things such as this would be part of the show. Health and Safety would have had a field day today. The show had pets including Shep the dog who John looked after and was allowed to keep him when he left the show. John and Shep were quite a team (Shep was a character) and when Shep died John was devastated. Sadly John developed dementia and passed away in 2013. Fond memories of John and The Blue Peter team.

[@alche1197]

John Noakes was brilliant. Go with Noakes was good, I remember watching it during school holidays alongside "Why Don't You" and "Champion The Wonder Horse". I remember feeling sad when it was announced that Noake's dog Shep had died.

[@cloudsparrow7729]

I'd love to see your reaction, but I saw this first time around, and it scarred me for life

[@davefrancisjarrett3563]

John Noakes also did a program called "Go with Noakes"

[@NPA1001]

I cannot watch this video ever without my palms sweating.

[@mariahoulihan9483]

I am almost 68.. Brought up with John Noakes presenting the childrens programme Blue Peter.. on after school I think twice a week. may have been once a week at one time. It was a mixture of interesting segments on many things.. some crafts, films outside like this one, visitors to the studio and much about animals and pets. Maybe a visiting childrens choir, marching group or the like. maybe dancing. A bit of history.. very engaging. I loved it. /Although it was pitched at children itr was not at all condesending and I noticed that and I do recall trelling my Mother one day, they treat us like adults.. they didn;t entirely.. but it felt that way. One of the most famous segments was I think London Zoo keepers brought a baby elephant into the studio and it pooed all over the place to much hilarity. I think also they had the scouts there once and they made a camp fire and it got out of control.. the studio fire men rushed in with extinguishers. lol. When I was small i LOVED the cartoon feature about a little boxer dog puppy I think named BONG or something.. I adored it. Usually they had three presents in each episode. John Noakes passed away some years ago.. Absolute legend to a generation of British children. I left school in 72 so I would have seen the 1968 episode where he was up Nelson's column. Nelson was a famous and very successful Naval Commander in the Royal Navy.. The column commenorates him and his famous victory at Trafalgar, hence the square below is Trafalgar Square. I think that is where was he fatally shot. He died due to wounds from battle and I think was brought home preserved in a barrel of Rum. Rum rations being a daily supervised tot (so no storing up and getting drunk) of rum. Nelson was originally from Norfolk on the East coast. I visited the village he lived in. very tiny place.

[@geoffbeattie3160]

I loved watching this in the 70s. John noaked at his finest. Unfortunately no Shep!!

[@ashdrive]

I was so looking forward to you reviewing this video, John Noakes was such a superman in his day...Check out the RAF video...

[@B-A-L]

I met John Noakes and Shep when I was a kid when my mum interviewed him for the Yorkshire Post in Richmond, North Yorkshire while he was filming an episode of Go With Noakes. He was a really lovely, down to earth bloke and I got to pat Shep on the head! Another time I got to meet Christopher Timothy and Peter Davidson when my mum also interviewed them when they were filming in the area for an All Creatures Great And Small episode. Btw, John must have had the balls of an elephant to climb Nelson's Column like that! Lots of people my age will probably get the elephant reference there!

[@sarahclapp505]

Blue Peter have always doing crazy things even last year for RED NOSE DAY

[@annienonimus5236]

Got to watch John Noakes and the elephant on Blue Peter.

[@ianlove1215]

Lord Nelson was a great naval commander who defeated the French & Spanish fleets off the north Egyptian coast. The column is in Trafalgar Square in central London.

[@christhorpejunction8982]

The funny thing is they mentioned post office tower, which was then hard to miss anyway, but….it was NOT on ANY maps, (obviously it is now) as at the time it was a major strategic asset.

[@caleywytch1]

Blue Peter for many decades had some dangerous stuff... sky diving, painting the forth bridge etc. Latter decades ot so much. The show still exists. The audition for the presenter jobs once included extreme trampolining then interview. Show had many segments 8ncluding a bit of these along with crafts cooking and fund raising. Worth checking it out.

[@caleywytch1]

John was very much the dare devil later Peter Duncan took over that title but all the presenters got involved

[@philward2538]

He jumped out a plane and did a freefall with the Red Devils..and in 1971 buried a time capsule for the year 2000..He came back to the same spot in 2000 and dug it up...

[@louisemiller4970]

I've watched this a few times when the Squirrel has reacted to it cause his reaction has me in tears of laughter everytime. Honestly it's the funniest reaction I've seen yet

[@jamesobrien9072]

Have a look at blue peter,when the elephant was in the studio,very funny😁

[@Chris_GY1]

John Noakes, his dog Shepp and two other presenters presented Blue Peter a kids programme on BBC1 it is still on tv, it started on 16th October 1958. Nelson’s Column is still in Trafalgar Square it hasn’t gone anywhere, Admiral Horacio Nelson is buried in St Paul’s Cathederal. It’s a bosoms chair. I was three years old the year of this programme I might have watched it. John Noakes died on 28th May 2017. John Noakes had Alzheimer’s disease before his death.

[@ratowey]

John was a hero to me and inspired me to do many things I would never have attempted otherwise. John used to do many crazy things and once had a nasty accident in a Bobsleigh, there a also a great tribute video on KZbin with his co presenter Peter Perves.

[@sandrabeaumont9161]

Bosun's Chair. Is a naval term for what he is sitting on. Although it's just a plank between ropes. Used in most Navies including the US Navy to transfer staff from one ship to another while at sea and under way.

[@racheldicker5611]

He did the button boy challenge, Nelson was a navy admiral , killed 1805 battle of trafalgar, national hero

[@zacchcanavan5390]

Cant imagine the panic when your hands get slippery on the ladder at the top

[@britbazza3568]

John Noaks was on a children's TV show called Blue Peter and was given extreme jobs like this to do for children's entertainment and education. He did short films like this on virtually every blue Peter show. Two questions need to be asked here though. One is where's Shep? and the second is did John tell Shep to get down? This film was made in an era when the BBC didn't even consider health and safety laws or rules, John Noakes actually had some rather nasty accidents during his stunts. He was a brilliant kids TV presenter John Noakes was the longest serving Blue Peter Presenter and the most Daredevil presenter on that programme. Check out "Go with Noakes" TV films he flies with the Red Arrows RAF display team amongst other things like racing Formula One cars etc etc

[@welshpete12]

When they got to the top , to clean it. They found small bits had been knocked by shrapnel from German bombs in the second world war. When the sculptor made the statue , he had made a mistake. He had put the patch on Nelson's wrong eye , but Nelson never wore one ! His eye looked normal, but he was of course had no sight in it .

[@markbeetham5118]

You want to watch the guy changing the lightbulbs on Blackpool tower

[@countzero1136]

OMG I was thinking about this clip when I watched the one you did about Fred Dibnah a couple of months back - This one is just insane! There was no health & safety code back then O_O

[@TheScunneredMan]

Top of the range safety gear.

[@richt71]

I grew up watching Blue Peter (a magazine style program for kids). The challenges the presenters undertook then was crazy! Did Sep get down I wonder? Notice how flat the London skyline was. Very different today. Btw. Feeding pideond in London is banned and you may be fined! It was banned due to the mess they make of historical buildings and artifacts!

[@TheEulerID]

John Noakes was a children's TV presenter. No training for this sort of thing at all, but he was always doing hair raising things like this. At one time he held the record for the longest parachute free-fall by a British civilian. What they were scraping off would have mostly been deposited by pigeons...

[@paulhorgan6152]

Get down Shep🇬🇧☺☺

[@steviestoosh]

Going up and down Nelson column must be exhausting. I now feel sorry for Winny Mandela

[@dacramac3487]

John Noakes was, at that time, a children's television presenter.

[@adamtyrell4227]

John Noakes was not a steeplejack purely a TV presenter and a very brave man 👍 still unbelievable today to watch,no way health and safety would allow this today.

[@sarahclapp505]

❤️❤️❤️❤️BLUE PETER

[@ianbriers5019]

Silver three percenters on a children's program. Blue Peter . Which is still going. The lady was Leslie Judd ( blue Peter is the name of a flag. Before radio. When commands in the royal navy were sent by flags) symbol of the program is a blue sailing ship

[@williamevans9426]

The legendary Noakes was lucky not to have been killed making another film for the Blue Peter programme, when a competition bobsleigh he was learning to ride hit a lump in the ice and tipped over while still hurtling down the track. Furtunately, he was helped away from the scene with nothing more than very bad bruising. Noakes also scaled a Royal Navy ceremonial ship's mast, to sit on the 'button' on top all, I believe, without insurance. Ah yes, the 1960s and 70s - an innocent time when children's TV presenters were expected to lay their lives on the line for the education and entertainment of their young viewers!

[@kellieprice8776]

John noakes was kind of a Bear Grylls crossed Mr Rogers very into the scouting movement and adventures. Presented Blue Peter on the BBC very well beloved

[@steveclarke6257]

Nelson's column is in Trafalgar Square in the centre of London. It commemorated both the hero "Lord Nelson", his heroic victory at the Battle of Trafalgar (21/10/1905) off the coast of Spain and his death in that battle; this reputation for invincibility of the "Royal Navy" was the reason why Britain maintained its global naval superiority for over 100 years following it- Even the idea that "Britain" is not even mentioned in UK naval service name it is just the "Royal Navy" , despite other countries (Sweden, Denmark, Spain etc) also having royal navies, is because of this 100 years of dominance. Like all great heroes he had his flaws, but he like his contemporary on land (Napoleon Bonaparte) was unchallenged in his domain (which was the sea), and if you can't cross the narrow 22 miles of English channel between Dover and Calais you can't invade England. Unlike so many other sailors, Nelson was not buried at sea, but on land and his ornate sarcophagus is in St Paul's Cathedral If you are looking for more information on Nelson, fellow KZbinr "Drachinifel" has an as yet incomplete series on him (the last part with Trafalgar campaign is not up yet) his service and his victories over the French, Spanish and other navies in the late 1700's early 1800's.

[@Socrates...]

please do more John Noakes

[@richardhargrave6082]

John was a legend Anyone my age who watched him on Blue Peter will agree John was the action man they all have to follow Apparently they had to do it twice because the sound failed! It terrified me in 1977 and still does! What else has he done? 5 mile high parachute jump with the RAF Red Devils Bobsleighed down the Cresta Run Lulu the elephant, you must see that

[@karenblackadder1183]

John Noakes was beloved and adored by a generation of kids. Bear in mind there was no safety equipment.

[@alanhowse9213]

Over the years, Blue Peter presenters on the well-known British children’s show. Did things beyond scary their bravery or insanity, which ever way you want to look at it. Look at the things the other Blue Peter presenters still do to this day

[@llamedosr7843]

I remember this. I was only six

[@Sophie.S..]

Why on earth would you think we would knock down a statue to one of our greatest British heroes Steve?

[@140cabins]

To build more apartments for hipsters?

[@emilyjayne77]

You should watch some of the 80’s children’s programs 😬 I’d love to see that

[@CamcorderSteve]

Most people in the UK, have never heard of Mr. Roberts, although obviously very famous in the States. Off to Google to find out what he is all about.