Bishop to the Moon landing in Southport

In July 1969 man first landed on the moon. Fast forward fifty years and on the 8th of July 2019 a NASA space suited Ken Clapham will be landing in Southport. His mission – to chat to a bunch of guys in a Shakespeare Street coffee lounge about his involvement with the American space travel programme.

As anniversaries go, 50 years since man first walked on the moon is pretty special. As is Ken Clapham.

Born in Toxteth and now retired to Morecambe, he became an Anglican Vicar but his interest in the space race spans several decades and he numbers astronauts in his personal circle of friends. He made so many visits to NASA in America, was visited by astronauts at his Lake District home and gave so many talks on the space programme that he became known as the Bishop to the Moon, a title actually bestowed on him by American children during one of his NASA visits.

Since 2017, the Men’s Group at Southport’s Salvation Army have welcomed musicians, an Olympic security specialist, a pharmacist and even a movie director to headline their regular meetings. They’re not lectures but relaxed, informal round-table style chats about their lives and lifestyles and discussion often runs quite deep.

Bishop Ken’s visit to Southport is to headline the Group’s meeting on July 8th and all men in the area are invited. Access will be from 7:00pm for a 7:30pm start but due to space restrictions (pun intended!), entry will be by ticket only, bookable on-line at www.spttsamen.co.uk Booking is open now but will close when capacity has been reached.