Why a balloon ride is not just a lot of hot air
Half-past seven inside the morning, 3,000ft above rural Somerset and climbing. The land under is divided by a trail of low mist that hangs over the Chew Valley.
On the west, Bristol is bathed in sunlight and on the east the air above Georgian Bath is just beginning to clear. The 15 guests from the wicker basket beneath the balloon are momentarily silent.
Floating – lighter than air – encourages a feeling of tranquillity. It is only necessary to look directly down to realise that the fantastic yellow canopy and also the human cargo that hangs beneath it drifts with the wind.
Ballooning: appeals to more than romantic patriotism
But the view across the landscape creates the illusion that the balloon is absolutely nevertheless. The brochure that advertises flights from Bath promises a feeling of serendipity.
Anybody who isn’t quite sure what the word suggests has only to take the trip. Suspension between earth and sky provided what the dictionary defines as “the chance discovery of pleasant things”.
Only from high above Bath is it possible to comprehend the complete splendour of its Georgian architecture. The city stretches away below – Royal Crescent, the Circus, Lansdown Hill and innumerable other rows of elegant houses which are normally only seen piece by piece.
And you’ll find new discoveries being made. In central Bath, Beckford’s Tower is a couple of pinnacles, just visible above the rooftops. From the sky above the racecourse, it is clearly a mysterious folly which, once you might be back on earth, demands a visit.
Not everyone regards a trip in a balloon as a prescription for peace of mind and contentment. Brian Walsh, who had been waiting and hoping for a flight for six years, had at last found a day when he was totally free and the wind was set fair.
Butalthough his wife was there to see him off, his second ticket was employed by his daughter, Nicky. Linda Walsh preferred to keep her feet on the ground.
The suppressed giggles that ran via the waiting people as pilot Mike Jennings spiced his briefing with gallows humour suggested that a few other hearts had been fluttering.
But as soon as the people began their steady ascent through the trees of Royal Victoria Park, they all understood why hot air ballooning is one of England’s fastest-growing leisure activities.
There’s no better way of seeing this green and pleasant land. Too as providing a panoramic picture of Shakespeare’s ‘sceptred isle’, it makes the men and women hanging in mid-air feel members of a ‘happy breed’.
Ballooning appeals to additional than romantic patriotism. The Bath brochure suggests that people “might like to help the ground crew with their preparations”. It can be hard to imagine how the balloon would get off the ground if they declined. But the question doesn’t arise.
They operate away with the enthusiasm of Boy Scouts at their first camp. Two men manipulated the giant fans which, by filling the canopy with air, transformed 30ft of creased synthetic fabric into a real-life balloon.
The task of holding the handle of an expanding dog’s-lead was given to Helen Turner. The end, which was designed to be fastened to a dog, was attached to a spot halfway up the canopy. So it was assumed that the device had some technical importance.
In fact, it was a homemade gadget which enabled the pilot to photograph the guests in mid-air – prints offered, price �20. The prosaic purpose did not matter. By doing odd jobs, the passengers had turn out to be argonauts.
Balloon passengers need to be gregarious. Fourteen full-size human beings occupy four compartments in a basket which is about eight feet long and four feet wide, and nonetheless leave space for the pilot and also the canisters of fuel that feed the flame that heats the air.
The flame, technically known being a ‘burn’, bursts into life when the pilot pulls on a rope and gives out a roar of which a pride of lions would not be ashamed. It’s the one primitive aspect of the whole operation.
Radio contact was kept with flight control at Bristol airport and an acceptable altitude agreed. Caution was essential. From the obvious sky on the far horizon 100 dots gradually turned into the armada of balloons which had been taking part within the city’s 29th annual International Balloon Fiesta.
It’s by no implies apparent what balloons at an international fiesta do. They cannot race. Balloons go where, and as fast as, the breeze requires them. All they can do is hover within the sky. Most passengers regard that as enough.
As the balloon came gracefully in to land, there was genuine regret that it was practically all more than and distinct relief that there was nevertheless operate to become done, deflating and packing up the canopy.
Back at Royal Victoria Park, Linda Walsh said that, as she saw the balloon take off, she wished she had been around the flight. Next time her husband takes to the air she will be by his side.