“The Imagination and Power to Develop”
On 17 October 1959, Sir Winston Churchill travelled to Cambridge to perform a symbolic tree planting ceremony at the site for the new College that was to bear his name. Nothing had yet been built, but that did not stop him from articulating his dream for the institution. He was just short of his eighty-fifth birthday and this was to be one of his last public engagements, but his focus was very much on the future. The moment was captured in a rare piece of 16mm colour film footage taken by Churchill’s former Private Secretary Jock Colville. There is no mistaking Churchill’s vigour with the spade. An audio recording of his remarks also survives along with his speech notes. Speaking of his hopes for his College, Churchill said:
In quality, we should endeavour to outstrip our friends and our rivals as we have done in the past. Let no-one believe that the lunar rockets, of which we read in the press, are merely ingenious bids for prestige. They are manifestations of a formidable advance in technology. As with many vehicles of pure research, their immediate uses may not be apparent. But I do not doubt that they will ultimately reap a rich harvest for those who have the imagination and power to develop them, and to probe ever more deeply into the mysteries of the universe in
