Astronaut Tim Peake visits Woolsthorpe Manor in Colsterworth - the home of Sir Isaac Newton - to launch National Trust summer programme
Astronaut Tim Peake said he was proud to be linked with Grantham’s most famous son during a visit to the county to launch his own homemade rocket.
Tim visited National Trust property Woolsthorpe Manor, near Colsterworth, on Saturday (June 22) to launch a Summer of Discovery programme, inspiring the next generation of scientists like Sir Isaac Newton and astronauts.
During his visit, Tim gave a talk to a packed audience and answered questions, toured the property and took part in an educational workshop with a group of Year 5 pupils from Colsterworth CE Academy, where he made and launched his own rocket.
“This is my fourth time to Woolsthorpe and it’s always such a joy to be here,” Tim told LincsOnline. “The atmosphere is always very special but it is at its very best today in this beautiful June sunshine. It is incredible to see the locations that probably the world’s greatest scientist walked.
“Isaac Newton really pushed scientific boundaries and was incredibly ahead of his time. He believed innovation was inevitable. I like to think that he looked up at the stars and thought ‘one day I hope we get to space’.”
In the question and answer session, Tim spoke of joining the Army after school, having not done particularly well at A-levels. He then went onto have a career as an Apache pilot, flight instructor and test pilot, before seeing an advert to become an European Space Agency astronaut.
After a year-long selection process, Tim was chosen from 8,500 applicants for a four-year training programme before eventually blasting off to spend six months on the International Space Station in December 2015 - the first British astronaut to do so.
He spoke about his time in space, sharing photos of the Earth, often drawing laughter from the enraptured audience with his observations.
Referring to Newton, Tim said of his time on the ISS, which he called ‘the greatest feat of human engineering’: “You have to be a test pilot for two days and a scientist for the rest of the time because it is all about conducting experiments.”
His mission was named the Principia mission, a name Tim himself chose after a competition, in recognition of the work of Sir Isaac Newton, who was born at Woolsthorpe Manor and returned there during the plague. It was there that he famously had a flash of inspiration while sitting under an apple tree in the orchard and conceived the idea of gravity.
“Having that link to science and to Sir Isaac Newton was very important to me,” said Tim.
Seeds from the Flower of Kent apple tree at Woolsthorpe were also blasted into space and were left to float in zero gravity on the space station before they were returned to earth to be nurtured into young trees. Tim last visited Woolsthorpe in 2020 to plant the saplings.
During his latest visit, he joined pupils from Colsterworth CE Primary Academy in a rocket building session led by National Trust volunteer Liz Bender. As he coloured and folded his paper rocket alongside 10-year-olds, he laughed and joked with them, helping them as they taped their rockets together.
Each of the participants, including Tim, then took it in turns to try and get their rocket the furthest distance, blasting it from a Henry Hoover-powered launchpad. After three turns, it was revealed that Tim had lost out to 10-year-old Jack Rice who had managed to get his rocket 16.9 metres.
“He has absolutely loved today,” said Jack’s mum Emma. “You can see how his mind has just been completely blown.”
Rosie Huckle, mum of Daniel, also 10, said of her son: “We went to visit the Soyuz exhibition that was at Peterborough Cathedral a few years ago so Daniel was incredibly excited when he learned we could come here today and meet Tim. It’s been really lovely.”
Daniel and Jack said it had been “super cool to meet a real astronaut”.
“It has been such a lovely morning,” agreed Liz, who led the session. “It’s not every day you get to show a real-life astronaut how to build a rocket!”
During the visit, Tim took time to sign the children’s space rockets and books, as well as stop for a quick chat or a photo with visitors, some of whom had travelled to spot a glimpse of Tim and others who were taken aback to spot a famous face on their day out.
Afterwards, Tim told LincsOnline: “I have never seen rockets launched like that before with a Henry Hoover and it was amazing! It’s something that can be replicated at home. The competition was fun although I was really hoping I wouldn’t win. It would have been a little embarrassing to present the certificate to myself!
“One of the best parts of my job now is to inspire the next generation. It was great to see all the children getting so excited about science - that’s what today and the Summer of Discovery is all about.
“I absolutely love Woolsthorpe and I love Lincolnshire. Having travelled the length and breadth of the country both in the Army and on my tours, this really is a beautiful part of the world.”
The Summer of Discovery features holiday-long interactive experiments inspired by Newton's work, including a Sand Pendulum, Water Wall, Tower Drop, telescope, and air-powered rocket toys.
