Alcock & Brown Souvenir

Souvenir lump of rock on stand, from the Irish bog where John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown landed in Ireland; presented to Manchester Airport by Aer Rianta.

John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown became the first people to fly non-stop across the Atlantic when they landed in Derrygimla bog near Clifden in Ireland on 15th June 1919. They had been in the air for 16 hours and 28 minutes, taking off from St John's, Newfoundland on 14th June 1919.

They became celebrities almost overnight and the clamour for souvenirs and autographs was immense. The crashed aircraft had to be guarded against souvenir hunters who tried to remove small pieces as keepsakes.

This rock came from the bog where Alcock landed the Vickers Vimy aircraft. He thought it was a nice flat field but the aircraft's wheels soon sank into the soft ground and the Vimy tipped up onto its nose with its tail in the air. The rock was presented to Manchester Airport, Alcock and Brown's home city, by Aer Rianta.