Across York, North Yorkshire and the world, millions tuned in to watch the first moon landing on July 21, 1969.
Neil Armstrong would become one of the most famous men on the planet after he climbed down from the lunar module ‘The Eagle’ and took man’s first steps on the moon.
Armstrong famously announced over his radio to the world: “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
Fast forward 30 years and that very same Neil Armstrong who had walked through moon dust by the Sea of Tranquility a quarter of a million miles away from Earth, took a few steps through York.
Our reporter at the time, Andrew Hitchon, was despatched to try to grab an interview with Armstrong, who was renowned for being media-shy.
June 12, 1999 . First man on the moon astronaut Neil Armstrong boards a London bound train at York Station this morning . Picture : Garry Atkinson
The date was June 12 1999 and The Press had word that Armstrong would be changing trains in York after a visit to Harrogate.
Our reporter Andrew and our photographer Garry Atkinson were tasked with getting the story and an interview – or at least some words – from Armstrong as he switched from the Harrogate to London train.
Here’s an extract from Andrew’s recollection of the moment:
“I met that Neil Armstrong once. Yep, the first man on the Moon, speaker of those famous words about ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’, was innocently trying to get on a London-bound train at York Railway Station one Saturday morning when he was suddenly confronted by a reporter and photographer from this august publication.
“The commander of Apollo 11 had been speaking at a big business conference in Harrogate the previous day, and we had been “tipped” which train he was catching. What I, the aforementioned reporter, didn’t know was that while he was happy to talk to hundreds of entrepreneurs, he virtually never spoke to the media. (The chief reporter who despatched me to the station did know that, but omitted to tell me – thanks, Mike.)
“So what resulted was a rather embarrassing non-discussion as the former astronaut and his wife made their way to the train, during which I somehow managed, quite accidentally, to partially trip the great space explorer before he could get in the first-class carriage.
“At least I got some comments out of him, apparently more than most journalists have managed, though they were rather brief. (Be assured, the first man on the Moon was scrupulously polite throughout, which is more than I would have been.) Altogether, it was not my finest hour, though I suppose it potentially created scope for a joke about “one small trip…”
In an earlier report, Andrew, reported on the details of his exchange with the space pioneer.
“It’s one small step… on to the 8.50am from York. The first man on the moon made a small step in York today – on to the fast train to London from the city’s railway station.
“Getting on the 8.50am GNER service to King’s Cross was slightly more prosaic for Neil Armstrong than his “giant leap for mankind” almost 30 years ago, when he stepped from the Eagle module onto the lunar surface.
“But the man who commanded the Apollo 11 mission – which touched down on the moon’s surface as millions watched on TV around the world on July 21 1969 – seemed happy enough.
“Mr Armstrong, now aged 68, does not give press interviews, but when asked whether he had enjoyed his time in Yorkshire, he smiled and replied: “Always.”
“The former test pilot, who is now chairman of an aerospace electronics company, had been the star speaker at the Yorkshire International Business Convention at Harewood House.”
How we reported the 1969 moon landing
THE Yorkshire Evening Press of Monday, July 21, 1969, dedicated much coverage to the moon landings.
With deadlines that ran through the day, the newspaper was able to update readers with the latest news.
It meant there are several different front pages telling the story of the lunar landing and man’s first steps on the moon from that day.
One version has a headline reading ‘Digging in on moon’ with a blurry black and white photo of one of the astronauts, the lunar capsule and the US flag all apparent.
Another reads ‘Walk on the moon’ with a second headline: ‘Apollo men asleep after their ‘kangaroo hop’. The ‘hop’ refers to the way the astronauts moved on the moon – hopping across its surface in zero-gravity.
Other stories that day included a report on York’s worst fire since the war, at Portakabin Ltd, off Boroughbridge Road. Houses were evacuated and £250,000 of damage was caused when a possible radioactive source was exposed during the blaze.
Other pages reported on two youths attacking a British Rail employee on a train from York to London, and Princess Margaret being given a royal salute by 4,600 St John Ambulance and Nursing Cadets at the Great Yorkshire Show.
Meanwhile, the Pressman’s Diary ranted about tourists’ cars driving the wrong way down the city centre’s one-way streets and Rev Wardrobe, the head of York Minster Song School, spoke out to say it was time to stop being defensive about private schools.
