Peterborough Cathedral is providing a unique way for people to see what the astronauts of the historic Apollo 11 mission saw as they prepared to land on the lunar service over 50 years ago.
Moon with a View involves climbing up the stone steps of the Cathedral’s central tower in order to gain a bird’s eye gaze down onto One Small Step, the artwork by sculptor Peter Walker. This giant representation of the moon’s surface is laid out across the Cathedral between the north and south transepts. It is a reconstruction of the moon surface as photographed by the American space agency NASA.
ESP went along to the exhibition launch and during our tour the chance to see the artwork from above definitely gave us a wonderfully different overview of this new attraction.
Vice Dean Tim Alban Jones told ESP – “We’re absolutely thrilled with it, it’s a real spur to the imagination. People will come and look at it and we hope their imaginations will be ignited and they can think about the world from a different perspective.
“We hope it’s a draw in its own right but we also hope that once people are here they’ll stop and admire this wonderful building in which this installation is placed as it is the most wonderful spectacular thing.
“The trip to the moon was cutting edge science and when this wonderful building was built 900 year ago it was also cutting edge science technology, so we hope people will stop and admire that and give them a reason to think.”
Since opening at the Cathedral on July 17, the artwork has attracted thousands of visitors back into this iconic building to explore the lunar landscape but also to view it from above. Moon walkers can also discover the exact spot where the lunar module Eagle landed in July 1969.
“This experience lies at the heart of how we’re engaging our visitors for this adventure,” said Henry Laprun who is coordinating the volunteers working at the event and guiding members of the public to the upper levels of the building. “The moon floor looks all the more amazing the higher you go and we’re hoping as many people as possible will take this opportunity to see the spectacular landscape.”
Moon with a View trips, which go right up to see the view over Peterborough from the top of the tower, take place on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays across August from 10.30am (last climb at 1.30pm), and on Thursday evenings during late opening between 6.30pm - 8.30pm (last climb at 7.30pm).
Moon with a View costs £6 per person is open to ages 8+ only. Ages 8-17 must be accompanied by a responsible adult. Visitors can pay on the day in the Cathedral.
Full details are available on the Peterborough Cathedral website:
Lead Photo: Graham Williams