John Noakes Climbing Nelsons Column

Climbing Nelson's Column

[@JimGall]

How did anyone get out of the seventies alive?

[@malbig2344]

One thing about the '70s, no one wrote the idiot "lol" abbreviation...

[@stevest1300]

Safety rule of 1976: Beer in cans and not in bottles.

[@WolfWesker]

Weed

[@JimGall]

@@WolfWesker 😮

[@WolfWesker]

@@JimGall Lol. J.k. but, for the record, I'm not judging anyone. :)

[@Gwailo54]

I know John Noakes was up there and it’s laudable to praise him, but he wasn’t doing the filming. The cameraman deserves equal credit.

[@snack4458]

Give dude his due. He was clearly fuckin terrified and still went up and done it.

[@ZeldaFitz]

Flares, red socks, slippy shoes and a g green anorak, good old John! Looks like he just walked in off the street.

[@gattsbyproductions]

I wonder how many health and safety managers passed out watching this...

[@simonorr594]

I remember him saying he was actually uninsured during his whole time at Blue Peter. It's one of the reasons he walked out, after several close shaves and accidents. Thanks Biddy Baxter!

[@mattwoody1089]

@@simonorr594 what do managers have to do with there not the guys working up there

[@carlastaton4150]

@@mattwoody1089 Baxter was the boss. She had control and could have insisted on insurance for the presenters.

[@geoffpoole483]

@@mattwoody1089 A legal principle called duty of care. Look it up.

[@gedofgont1006]

John Noakes! Whaddaguy!!!💪💪😲

[@nicklad9463]

They deserve a medal of honour just for climbing up them ladders .

[@petergadd9814]

My full respect to John Noakes! sod that!

[@pompeymonkey3271]

Absolute legend! :)

[@mrp3031]

When London was London

[@gromcom]

Shep, sensibly,sat this one out

[@kevinkascolinkeithtimghera4305]

Shep would have caught him...

[@highdownmartin]

And a cameraman with a massive heavy film camera. Ffs!

[@crazyjay7676]

I know it doesn't look like he's wearing safety equipment but actually those flares are so big if he'd fallen off he would just floated down to the ground like a feather.

[@dirkbruere]

1970s H&S manual - Don't let go with both hands at once

[@andycraig2423]

someone doesn't get British humour.

[@4uthefunnyfarm]

@@andycraig2423 😂😂😂

[@paulahamilton7290]

@@petehill8885 No it definitely works have you not seen the videos?

[@danlancia]

those safety flares are still available today but you can only get em in luminous yellow with reflective stripes, ive seen em in the hardware store next to the skirting board ladders

[@philbedford8979]

To all those who say that Fred Dibnah would have done this with his eyes closed etc. that was his daily job so he was used to it. John Noakes was a tv presenter and he did this wearing flairs and a baggy jacket, I'm full of admiration for Yorkshires finest...

[@michaelwray1034]

Agreed john was very brave here.

[@stephenharris3676]

What never ceases to amaze me is that nobody spares a thought for the poor sod with a camera on his shoulder doing it too!

[@michaelrodgers6776]

Very brave man

[@julierobinson3633]

@@stephenharris3676 I did!

[@kevinkascolinkeithtimghera4305]

The camera men were even braver! And go unmentioned.

[@chrisjones6017]

No way would I do that with no harness or anything. I'm getting cold sweats watching this

[@dingopisscreek]

takes guts to do it when you don't have to do it.

[@thighdude7]

Amen

[@BATMAN777888]

John Noakes was a Legend

[@adeblair]

To many people my age John Noakes was a hero and the first children's TV presenter to have a regional accent.

[@paulahamilton7290]

@SuperVHSchannel 😂

[@carlastaton4150]

@SuperVHSchannel The ones who hadn't heard of him you mean?

[@bodsnvimto]

This is a MUST WATCH for anyone suffering from constipation.

[@hopebgood]

1:43 That overhang bit! There is absolutely no way I could do that. Nope. None.

[@paulgriff7987]

Exactly!! F**k that for a game of soldiers!!

[@hopebgood]

@@paulgriff7987 haha Nice one Paul mate. That's exactly what my dad would say. I'm not particularly scared of heights. I just know when not to do something ridiculously dangerous.

[@jimcameron4672]

Trowel in one hand and a cigarette in the other, awesome

[@richardhayes5517]

No words for this. It actually makes my legs tingle. It’s not even a joke. A wooden ladder overhang at 30* negative angle with nothing to prevent your death. This is totally unbelievable.

[@stevest1300]

2021: certified high angle training people, documented and inventoried person rated ropes with logs and expiry dates, hard toed boots, hi-visibility vests, hard climbers hats with chin straps, latex gloves and respirators, regulation leather gloves, safety supervisor, traffic control, first aid personnel standby, safety glasses, weather and wind monitors, redundant ropes, certified safety harnesses with rated carabiners... 1976: a turtleneck and a hangover

[@peterdunlop9256]

He climbed up ladders which I assume were set up by steeple jacks, I don’t think that bell bottoms were the best thing to wear When climbing such a column you experience what rock climbers and mountaineers call “exposure” I was interested to see the heavy steel blocks and what looked like hemp ropes When I was climbing up a vertical piling rig it well over 100 feet of open lattice steelwork which meant that I could see through it to the sky beyond and not look at solid stonework. The “best” bit was though when the clever men at the bottom started moving the rig along its railway track which made it sway. No harness or hoops on the ladder back in 1972

[@julierobinson3633]

Come on now, they DID finally tie him onto a safety rope AFTER he'd got on the top...

[@OFFtheCHIZANE]

And if it’s just an inspection job, some dude with a drone would do it now

[@im9282]

LMAO!

[@nibunibu4254]

Plus a pair of flared trousers.

[@webspaghetti]

climbing that overhang is bad enough but how hard is it to get back down it? There must be a part where you've just got your feet hanging in mid air scrambling to find a rung and not being able to see!

[@carpetbaggerface]

True I totally overlooked that point. Too scary for me to even consider.

[@BunnyKins1970]

3:08 Nice, secure, inch-thick safety rope. Attached to a string that I wouldn't trust to tie up a parcel!

[@BossySwan]

Lol

[@andrewdeacon4737]

Hahah, good spot

[@leigh8928]

I can't imagine how thin the Health & Safety manual must have been in the 1970s. This is absolutely amazing, shocking too. John Noakes - what a legend - and the cameraman too.

[@proudvirginian]

I don't think there was a health and safety manual 🤣

[@leigh8928]

@@proudvirginian There couldn't have been. It's pure madness. Lol.

[@geoffpoole483]

@@leigh8928 This video shows what not to do in terms of health and safety. The UK Health and Safety at Work Act was passed in 1974. The actor Ricky Tomlinson used to be a construction worker and when he was involved in an industrial dispute (which resulted in him going to prison) on average a construction worker was killed every day. Incredible to think the BBC would permit an employee to do this.

[@leigh8928]

@@geoffpoole483 That's interesting Geoff. It is incredible the BBC allowed this. I just cannot get my head around how this could possibly be allowed, it goes beyond irresponsibly dangerous and mad.

[@jacobsaxby9468]

I'm terrified of heights, but I think even if I wasn't I'd still struggle to watch this. It's nerve racking to watch, let alone do!

[@timeforatwix]

There are some really interesting go with noakes series made and sadly few are still waiting to surface on KZbin. Hopefully they will be found at some point . An amazing talented guy, may you rest in peace John

[@JammyDodger45]

I can't imagine Ant & Dec doing that nowadays even with all the Safety kit they'd use! Noakes was 1/2 pure bravery and 1/2 pure mental!

[@pkbradbury]

"...if I kneel down I'll start praying!"" Yorkshire wit at its finest.

[@geoffjoffy]

You wouldn't get me up there for £10 MILLION pounds.

[@bagpuss998]

That cockney cleaner. Cool as a cucumber 🇬🇧👍

[@davidzof]

Back when the license fee was worth paying. I don't bother now.

[@brianmorrison9168]

Over 13,000 views with that simple title "Nelsons Column" ... imagine what the total would be if the title had John Noakes added ... I'm sure most people my age, will remember watching this as a kid and would gladly watch again.

[@MarkoKaar]

Brian Morrison great idea, thanks! Fixed it!

[@nickshipway8199]

Tis due to pigeons That alight On Nelson's hat That makes it white. - Spike Milligan.

[@mikebulbeck7514]

I felt so ill watching that im so scared of heights.

[@Edward1312]

What about the cameraman, how did he film this, he must have been in a harness?? Love John's complete understated nonchalant delivery.

[@jeremycroucher7153]

Would like to see todays bbc snowflakes try this rip John Noakes

[@philo4422]

That is one of the ballsiest things I have ever seen. That final part on the inverted ladder makes me go cold. What a legend. It is mad to think this was only the 70's, Health & Safety have come a long way...

[@KRPTV]

My palms are sweating just watching this!

[@mikegray002]

Oh my god...this is so scary to watch, what a brave man.

[@leonardmcdermott7703]

Good old John, what a geezer.

[@Keithbarber]

And I've watched it several times and it still makes me feel uncomfortable watching it

[@beneire6955]

Feckin madness fair play to the cameraman aswell

[@BellogsTheChicken]

Not forgetting the cameraman fearless in them days.He didn't have to go right to the top but he did for children's entertainment Blue Peter and all his other stunts RIP John I loved watching this as a child.

[@Philo68]

I’m no fanny but no way I’d do this! Noakes was a legend on this day.

[@ianspencer2826]

Balls of steel!

[@rogerking7258]

And the cameraman Terry too.

[@myleslawler6866]

Fair play to Mr. Noakes. Blue Peter (and the BBC) have changed. Those really were the days.

[@fiddleandfart]

Almost unwatchable... after all these years, and knowing he survived! But hell, to climb that vertical ladder, with no ropes... Gee..!

[@kjellolofsson6766]

The guy at the top had no ropes on or anything whilst he is right at the edge showing John how to lower the ropes etc. Horrifying.

[@colincharlton9339]

When he said..that's the post office tower..I thought of the goodies..

[@codprawn]

YUM YUM!

[@kramnostribor1]

Love the fact that they waited until John was at the top of the column before giving him his first lesson on how to use the chair 😂

[@codprawn]

That was back in the days when you didn't mind paying the licence fee. Not a safety rope or any political correctness in sight!

[@hothi92]

Yes mate! Political correctness gone mad! You can't even put a man's life in danger for the sake of a children's entertainment show any more. Ridiculous

[@codprawn]

@@hothi92 I don't think they put his life in danger just for cheap thrills. Things were done differently then.

[@geoffpoole483]

@@codprawn He risked his life going up there and the BBC didn't insure him. Being done differently doesn't mean being done better.

[@nibunibu4254]

John did very well not to die doing this, but it's the camera man/men getting up there with all their equipment that I find really impressive.

[@Cabdrum1]

John Noakes quite rightly getting a lot of praise on here but what about the cameraman ?

[@MarkEGreen-rf4on]

The days when television presenters earned their salaries. This would never be allowed today, even if the participants had signed a disclaimer. Such are the times in which we live, where no one takes responsibility for his/her actions, and lawyers litigate, in so many instances, for stupid and clumsy idiots.

[@geoffpoole483]

So you'd be happy for Noakes to have fallen to his death?

[@rjrj4750]

I'm surprised either of them had the strength to heave their gonads up the column. Like a spacehoppers.

[@malcolmpettett5957]

Top man in more ways than one ,saw him on a talk show talking about losing shep nearly breaking down

[@markl9245]

I remember that, it was heartbreaking.

[@ffibnogab7644]

Thankfully, Noakes was wearing flared trousers. When he filled his y-fronts on the over-hang - and who wouldn't ? - he could 'lighten the load' by simply shaking a leg...

[@Anthony-Testicali]

Better out than in

[@fredo1070]

I remember watching this as a child. It gave me nightmares.

[@rhhmunro]

"Don't slacken it off too much alright?" Most understated safety tip ever.

[@banquo46]

I'm glad i lived in the 60s and 70s where we took risks in our stride and enjoyed life. Now health and safety/political correctness is turning us into sad individuals who are frightened of shadows let alone climbing a ladder. I saw Countryfile presenters wearing life jackets in a stream 6 inches deep!

[@Anthony-Testicali]

I were sacked from work because i gave a lass over cooked toast in work canteen.Company regulations said coffee coloured not treacle cost me me pension at Pilkington & Sons

[@cableguy786]

Worst thing is that John found out much latter that the BBC had not insured him for any of this. He was really pissed about it

[@chombersSOpA]

The halycon days before health and safety got involved. Bloody terrifying, great tv.

[@jmc6720]

Balls of tungsten, wearing flares. I’m old enough to have seen it first time it was broadcast, and it doesn’t lose any of its power to shock. God bless him.

[@Yagdrol]

1979 men outside gettin shit done 2021 men indoors watchin screens

[@billbo814]

Construction still goes on mate😉

[@snack4458]

“Just get comfortable first” Aye that would be 180 feet down mate.

[@charliehmi76]

Still nearly unwatchable after all these years 😱

[@garrybaldy327]

And now on BBC1, it's "Biddy Baxter Tries To Kill..." with this week's victim John Noakes.

[@geoffpoole483]

It was always Noakes.

[@worldofameiso5491]

Children's show presenters were made of tough stuff in the 70's.

[@Porkcylinder]

Funny thinking back, as kids at this time we thought nothing of playing on building sites etc. I remember jumping of scaffolding into piles of sand, great fun.

[@MarkoKaar]

We had a septic tank manufacturer down the street - we played "army" in confined spaces all the time...

[@tgktgkify]

We lived opposite a building site when I was 3 - 7 years old. It was great fun; playing on the dumpers was particularly enjoyable. A few of us would climb into the front bucket part, while another friend would pull the release lever to drop the bucket with us all in it (no hydraulics or anything fancy then - we'd just lift/tilt the bucket back up, get in, and pull the lever to do it again - proper entertainment!)

[@nedkelly5866]

Sod that 🙈 Leave the pigeon poo up there.

[@stuartwallace6154]

And now we have to shop safely

[@johnc3403]

He wasn't as much an amateur as he'd have us think. The way he wrapped his leg around the ladder to have a rest is pure Fred Dibnah.

[@J77housedj]

With no safety gear.... what a REAL MAN. Got balls of steel!

[@Fcutdlady]

W larkins steeplejacks in Essex . Still in buisness today

[@IbnShahid]

Good God...that overhang near the top! The guy had balls of steel. That's all I can say.

[@dminnett9394]

My legs are feeling odd just watching him. The man deserved a knighthood.

[@pwuk]

Of course, some latter day Blue Peter presenters got high in different ways

[@djpaul146]

I also saw him in a cherry picker putting a blue peter badge on a massive photo of him and shep on the side of a building near the m4 motorway I think it was but I can't think of the name of the building

[@Sol-Cutta]

The worse thing HAS to be the climb back over the overhang. I couldn't do that. I'd sooner lower myself in the bowsons chair. Tho I'm sure there not long enough rope to get to bottom. I don't know what I'd do because even if I made it over that overhang I could not haul myself over and back onto it to go down on a slant..nightmare

[@stoppcovidiots4131]

I died watching this Video

[@jaguar3248]

Dont forget the BBC had to get a cameraman and a sound recordist up there as well along with there bulky and heavy 1970's pre computer age equipment.

[@yourmaw6839]

Think about the camera man.

[@paddypoolfc3579]

Dont slack it off to much. Ya think!. I remember watching this as a child and thought nothing of it. Now it terrifies me lol

[@pappajinx]

Aaaaw fuckin' L, I feel dizzy just watching that. And no ropes, I think I'm gonna vomit.

[@Ziplock9000]

I like his style, scooping up bird shit with one hand and a tab in the other.

[@rickyman2307]

That takes sheer guts to get up there especially that last top sloping ladder then you have to get down again! Great health and safety on the ground just a couple of policemen to catch you no herras fencing--great times in those days

[@iansimpkins8931]

Makes my palms sweaty just watching it. I'd like to see a clip of the blokes putting up the ladders in the first place...

[@ohembers8676]

"... when you're lowering you just slacken it (the knot) off a touch ... don't slacken it off too much ok?"

[@stinkerboo5028]

I would like to see that BBC lovey Dan Walker do this instead of appearing on Come Dancing

[@seamusblack5876]

Now THAT is a BRAVE man remember if your not scared you aren't being brave I think this is the bravest thing I've ever seen in 50 years of viewing television What a man!!!!!

[@regsymes1377]

A true legend of my 60s and 70s childhood. Those rreally were the days 2:36 2:37 on

[@rob4831]

when the bbc was worth watching if the y still made content like this i still be paying a tv license compare this to the crap of today

[@johnvanstone5336]

The old bell bottom trousers! 🇬🇧

[@littleeggy3393]

Good grief that bit where it leans back out near the top!

[@fiddleandfart]

"You can easily lose your grip and fall!" says John, lightly. (Just returning for another look at this). Oh my God... yes!!!! I wouldn't even manage the first base climb, when the ladders are angled...! Jesus H....!

[@richardhunter7363]

I remember watching this as a kid. Ok with the height except the idea of the overhang!! Still makes my stomach churn!!!

[@channelclosingastrollshave9447]

Check out fred dibnah tho 😱

[@kronovore3583]

By gum, Nelson can have his column all to himself.

[@darania1]

Mr Noakes ascent was impeded by the sheer weight of his steel balls...🤔

[@andytoff8024]

by gum ! I remember watching the broadcast on Blue Peter - John Noakes what a hero. I would love to see how they do it now.

[@tyronewhitehead3123]

You are fearless John and I admire you I allways think of you when I go to Nelsons collum you have no safety Arness you sir deserve a plaque for this John your a gentlemen and a hero and iv never forgotten this thanks for the entertainment on blue peter you are no longer with us and I miss your fabulous personality ⛴

[@jacobb6929]

Wonder if he has a sandwich and a can of pop for the top