How duo helped shape Britain
A BLUE Peter presenter who gave the country many memorable TV moments joins register of people who have helped to shape Britain.
John Noakes’ name is among 241 new additions to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, an annually-updated register of those whose lives helped shape Britain.
Noakes, who was born in Shelf near Halifax, died in 2017 at the age of 83 after a battle with Alzheimer’s.
Noakes grew up in Halifax, and was educated at Rishworth School. He trained as an aircraft engine fitter before switching to drama
He joined Blue Peter in 1965, and went on to become its longest-serving presenter, occupying the role for over 12 years.
Noakes landed the Blue Peter job after notching up small TV parts in series like Redcap and Mogul, when editor Biddy
Baxter decided to have a third presenter on the show to join Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton.
His feats while included ascending Nelson’s Column without a safety harness using just a rickety wooden ladder, a sound problem meant he had to repeat the climb, a bruising encounter with a bobsleigh and a recordbreaking skydive.
As well as Blue Peter, he made 1970s travelogue spin-off Go With Noakes, where he travelled around the UK with his dog Shep alongside him.
Biochemist Oliver Smithies has also been added to the list.
Born at St Luke’s Maternity Home in Halifax and educated at Heath Grammar School (now the Crossley Heath School), the biochemist, who died in 2017, was a compulsive tinkerer.
His tinkering led him to two fundamental discoveries: the use of starch as a medium for gel electrophoresis, and the technique of homologous recombination of segments of DNA with similar sequences. His work on the latter was recognised by the award of the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 2007.
The annuallyupdated register is of those whose lives helped shape Britain.