Photos of US presidents visit to Newcastle Airport in 1977 found

Posted on February 8th, 2010

Some unique photos have been found of Newcastle Airport. Tim Callaghan was at Newcastle Airport in 1977 when a rare visit by one of the most powerful men on the planet occurred. Tim was studying graphic design at Newcastle Polytechnic and managed to get ring side seats to a visit by then US president Jimmy Carter. The US president made a 4 hours top off in Tyneside to accept a Freeman of Newcastle honour by Prime Minister of the day Jim Callaghan and Mayor of Newcastle, Hugh White.

Tim who lived in Newcastle at the time, but now lives in London says: “I always knew about the shots but over the years I had forgotten about them.

“At Christmas, I was at my mother’s house and I found a folder with the pictures in. It was definitely a trip down memory lane and I knew people in Newcastle would find the shots interesting as it was such a big day for the North East.

“On the day, I remember being let inside an inner cordon by security, they must have thought I was a professional photographer when I wasn’t  and I stood in front of a small TV tower and film crew from Pathe News.

“I was literally only about 50ft from the President.

“I borrowed a Pentax, which is a really old-fashioned camera and a light meter from our Photography Dept and took some photos.

“I had then developed and printed them myself in our dark room.”

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