How Lorraine Kelly showed real courage in daredevil ascent of Discovery's mast

Lorraine Kelly scales the heights in a good cause at the age of 65

Twenty-five metres up in the air may not sound that high but, converted into ‘old money’, 82ft seems considerably more daunting.

So it was quite understandable that TV presenter and national treasure Lorraine Kelly found herself “shaking like a leaf” as she scaled the mast of the RSS Discovery in Dundee. She also abseiled – an activity once largely the preserve of rock climbers and the Royal Marines – back to the bottom.

Lorraine Kelly abseils from the mast of the RRS Discovery at Discovery Point in Dundee (Picture: Andrew Milligan) | PA

A patron of the Dundee Heritage Trust, Kelly performed the daredevil feat to get a taste of the working conditions of the original crew when they travelled to Antarctica in 1901 – at a time when ‘health and safety’ was not really a thing – and also to raise awareness of the ship, which she said “needs a lot of maintenance, and obviously that costs a lot of money”.

And where Kelly dared to tread, others will be able to follow, with sufficiently daring members of the public to be allowed to try the ‘Discovery Mast Climb’ for themselves in the autumn. Er, em, after you?