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Something that you may be interested in if you are local to Manchester.
The Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) is running its Festival of Transport” between 30th July and 7th August. Lots going on. The festival is open to the public and it is free.
During the Transport Festival, I will be doing a short talk and signing my recently published book “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” on Monday 1st August between 14:00 and 14:40.
Links to audio and video below.
The 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s UK visit was marked by the unveiling of an aluminium statue of Gagarin, an exact copy of the one outside Lyubertsy Technical School number 10 where Gagarin started his training as a foundryman. The statue, a gift from the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos to the British Council, is located outside the British Council Offices in London but only for one year.
This episode is a collection of some of the speeches and my short interviews during the three events on 14th July. They were the unveiling of the statue in the morning, the lunchtime reception at the Russian Embassy and the evening reception back at the British council. So, in order of appearance here is a list of all the contributors in this episode
Unveiling of the statue ceremony was opened by
Two recordings during the lunchtime Reception at the Russian Embassy where incidentally, Gagarin spent each of his four nights in the UK
British Council Evening reception
Korolev’s daughter, grand daughter and great grand daughter
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I had watched the channel 4 documentary on Saturday evening and inevitably ended up comparing it to the one on BBC last night. The ad breaks aside, the BBC’s version came out on top because of the focus on people, perhaps because of Kevin Fong’s connection to the shuttle program. The personal emotional contributions from the NASA administrator, people who will soon out of job and the touching discussion between Piers Sellers and three other astronauts discussing frankly the real danger of spaceflight to life (the throttle-up and mach 19 moments). I also found it was quantitatively more informative (decent rate of 28,000ft per minute, home-made sandwiches, a minimum of 1000 landing approaches and the first view of the high res digital camera – described by its operator).
An odd thought arose whilst I was watching the close-out crew doing their thing. They get pretty up-close and personal but they were all male and not all astronauts are.
Apart from their technical skills and professionalism, I wonder how much of the “spirit” of the BBC guides the program makers? Like the Shuttle the BBC itself is a marvel of our times. An excellent documentary -well done all.
On a personal note..
Almost exactly 21 years ago (28th July 1990) I was in Florida working on my Private Pilots Licence. The variable weather in the UK was just too variable and I went out there for a month.
I was training at an airfield in Titusville, a short distance from Merritt Island where the 3 mile long Shuttle Landing Facility is located. It is part of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.
On a tip from a local pilot, I sought and got clearance (with restrictions – minimum altitude 1000ft and remain 5000ft west) from air traffic traffic controller to fly along the runway. At that time I only had completed my solo but not my final test!
This 3 minute video is from 21 year old VHS tape! Filmed on board Cessna 152 (N49010) by Bill Benson and my instructor in Florida was a brit – Gary Evans from AirwiseUK Ltd who had also gone to Florida for the flying friendly weather.
On his first visit outside the eastern bloc, Yuri Gagarin arrived in London for a 5 day visit on Tuesday July 11th 1961. He was greeted with a tumultuous and sincere warm welcome everywhere he went including his meetings with the Prime minister and the Queen. The British government juggled with acknowledging Gagarin personal courage and the Soviet Union’s historic technological achievement whilst assuring its allies, USA, France and West Germany that the visit would not be exploited exclusively as a communist propaganda opportunity.
When the Manchester based Amalgamated Union of Foundry Workers discovered that Gagarin had trained as a foundry worker, they invited him to join their union as a honorary member. He came to Manchester on 12th July and visited the union office, the Metrovicks plant in Trafford Park and the city’s town hall before flying back to London six hours later.
During the late seventies I had lived near this union office and only discovered in 2010 that Gagarin had actually been there. I looked but failed to find any books on the subject so I decide to write one. It is called “Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester” and attempts to fill in a small bit of the Gagarin story.
The first and last chapters describe Gagarin’s flight, some of the key individuals involved, the air crash that claimed his life in 1968 and his personal impact as an advocate of peace during the Cold War. In the remaining chapter – 2-7, I document the background to his invitation and details of where he went and who he met. Some of those recollections are the subject of this episode. It includes clips from Captain Eric Brown and Reg Turnill, longer versions of which are available in episodes 40 and 41. My thanks to those who contributed to this episode – Reg Turnill, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Brenda Knowles, Marjorie Rose, Stanley Nelson, Captain Eric Brown and Stanislava Sajawizc.
Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester
185 Pages, 27 Illustrations
ISBN 978-0-9569337-0-6
Paperback £10.00 (+postage) and eBook (iPad and Kindle) £2.50 available from publications@astrotalkuk.org
Download a pdf of the page of contents, Chapter 2 “An Uneasy Invitation” and the text above or all three in a zip file.
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Recollections of Yuri Gagarin in London and Manchester from AstrotalkUK on Vimeo.