Moon landing 50th anniversary: memories from Trinity in 1969

‘It's one of those events in history that makes you remember where you were when it occurred,’ says Mike James (TC 1969, pictured above on the left), remembering the momentous moon landing in 1969. For 50-odd Trinity students, it meant cramming into a small TV room – standing room only – to huddle around a black and white television set.

‘Like all students, we were pretty blasé about that sort of stuff, and were probably more concerned about going to the pub than noting the landing as a significant event in history,’ says Mike. 

‘You can also appreciate that a lot of the student groups were anti-American and against the Vietnam War at the time. America wasn't exactly the flavour of the month amongst the student cohort. Nevertheless, it encapsulated the time and we were all glued to the screen.’ 

Further, the television itself was quite a novelty. Students didn’t have TVs in their rooms, or even in their family homes most likely. The idea of Netflix would have been incomprehensible. 

Life in ’69 was pretty good though.

‘The fact that we lived and breathed within five minutes of all our academic faculties, sporting facilities and the pub, well it was a fun and relaxed time,’ says Mike. 

On those metrics, the argument could be made that not much has changed!
 

Trinity’s alumni group of 1969 met earlier in the year for their 50-year reunion. View photos from the event.