I have a new post on the Guardian online Across the Universe

It's been said that Neil Armstrong embodied the American dream: coming from a small Ohio town to be the first man on the Moon. As the inhabitants of Langholm, Scotland, know he came from a lot further than that

This weekend the Scottish town of Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway, holds a series of events to commemorate the life of Neil Armstrong. Why, you may wonder, is a town of just 2,500 inhabitants celebrating the life of an American astronaut? The reason is simple: the town claimed Armstrong as one of their own. And he accepted....

You can read the whole article here.