We greeted our passengers at Werrington sports centre, Peterborough at 6.15 p.m. It was a lovely evening with unbroken skies and a gentle breeze coming from the northwest. Quite a number of friends and family arrived to watch and help prepare the balloon and were very keen to join in on the ground retrieve. We were airborne at 7.20 p.m. climbing out to 2,000 feet. The visibility was good at about 30 miles. The city of Peterborough panned out in front of us with Hampton Hargate, Baxley and Stan ground to the south. The showground, Ferry meadows and Milton Park clearly defined the western boundary of the city.

The grand medieval cathedral dominates the Peterborough sky line and is always such a pleasure to see from the air. The balloon left the city and drifted over Eye and to the south of Thorney. An hour had passed and the surface layer of wind was almost calm. We could see our retrieve crew and quite a convoy of cars following to our front. With children waving and camera flashing we came to a very gentle landing south of Thorney Toll.

One of our passengers Mrs Helen Campbell said ‘ It was superb, so gentle brilliant!' My family who followed and watched us land are over the moon.

It was a pleasantly warm evening we met our ballooning passengers at Werrington sports centre Peterborough at 6.15 p.m. being a Sunday many members of family and friends were in attendance to watch and assist the balloon launch. We were aloft at 7.30 p.m. Up to 1,000 feet there was a gentle breeze that would take us in the direction of Helpston and Barnack. To get a better view of the city we climbed up to 5,000 feet. At altitude the wind direction had changed and the balloon was now heading towards Wisbech. The advantage of flying at that height, visually there is a lot to see.

Viewing from the hot air balloon, out to the south west we could just make out the outline of Grafham water near Huntingdon. Rutland water and Stamford to the North West. The wash was in clear view with both the Norfolk and Lincolnshire coastlines well defined. Looking down at ground level bonfire smoke indicated that the surface layer of wind was still travelling 180 degrees opposite to the direction we were travelling at height. It was an ‘onshore breeze' coming in from the coast. Over Postland we started our descent. At 900 feet we felt the wind change and we were now flying back towards Spalding. We eventually landed in a fallow field in Cowbit after 1 hour and twenty minutes in the air. The field was owned by a Mr Roland Biggs, it was lovely to meet him again as he had flown with us in 2006. We toasted the flight with a glass of chilled champagne to savour a beautiful Lincolnshire sunset.

Mrs Ruby Ladd whose family purchased the flight as a 76th birthday present commented:
‘The whole thing was simply wonderful'.

A balloon flight over Stanford battle area is a fascinating insight to what natural Breckland would have looked like beyond a century ago. Pre planning for this is quite involved as the airspace is controlled by RAF Lakenheath. A phone call confirmed that the air traffic controllers were happy for the launch to take place at 7.00 p.m. Also the area of D208 (Stanford battle area would not be live firing!!) Very, very important to get that confirmation. It was a lovely early summer evening and we were airborne from Thetford rugby club. We headed north climbing out to 2,500 feet. Crossing the battle area north of Croxton.

D208 covers some 26,000 acres and has been under the stewardship of the army since 1943. It is an area of outstanding natural beauty of which the Army have managed the conservation of wildlife and fauna extremely well, contrary to some people's beliefs. Rare birds such as the stone curlew have found the area much to their liking with large areas of rolling heathland, which is the birds natural habit. In fact the forest is a relatively new addition to the area when planting started in the late 1800's. To the east the church of Tottington and farm cottages remain well cared for and intact. Out to the west the church of Sturston and the site of the old Benedictine monastery were all in view.

The balloon flew over the cressingham Arms onto Ashill, Bradennham finally landing in a field next to the A47 at Great Fransham. A thank you to Mr Robert Salmon for allowing us to retrieve our balloon from his field.

One of our passengers kindly emailed us the next day:

'Just a short note to say thank you so much for the most enjoyable experience you provided yesterday. From the time we arrived to the time we left, you were so professional and gave me the most wonderful experience. I shall never forget the stunning views over the battle area and your running commentary.
It was well worth the reasonable rate that you charge, and I will most definitely recommend you to anybody that asks. Look forward to receiving the on board photos. I have published a few photos on my facebook site for all to see'.

Once again, a BIG THANK YOU,
Best wishes,
Julian Howes

We arrived on site at 5.00 a.m. A sunrise balloon flight is a wonderful time of the day to fly, the surface winds are generally calm and the air fresh with clear views. This morning ‘ticked all the boxes' Our passengers were all quite local from Norwich, Fakenham and north Norfolk. A very keen and enthusiastic group of people, helping the crew prepare the balloon for inflation.

Just after 6.00 a.m. we were airborne and it was obvious that the early start was going to be well worth the effort. The surface wind to 1,000 feet was a gentle 5m.p.h. taking us towards the town of Dereham. However once we ascended above 3,000 feet the wind was taking back towards Barnham Broom and Norwich!! Many of our customers think that the wind flows in one consistent straight line, but it does not. Every flight is completely different. We stayed high for about twenty minutes or so. This enabled everyone to view Norfolk from a completely different angle; it's also helpful to have a local pilot who is able to explain where the towns and villages are located.

We started our decent Near Kimberly and our direction changed, we were now heading back to Mattishall. We flew over the villages of Whinburgh, and Reymerston. We had a very gentle landing close to Shipdham. One of our passengers Mr Cullen who is a keen amateur photographer commented ‘I took some great photos the whole experience was professionally done, a very enjoyable and memorable morning Thank you'

Today we would be launching from the Ken Stimpson playing field at Werrington Sports Centre. Our passengers arrived and were all very excited about the flight. It takes about an hour to get the balloon prepared for flight and conduct the safety brief for passengers and then family and friends who wish to follow. The wind was flowing a bit quicker than our forecasters had suggested, although still, within safe limits we knew inflating the balloon was going to be a ‘bit of a handful'.The balloon being flown today is 250,000 cubic feet in volume and about 100' tall making it and any hot air balloon for that matter very wind sensitive. Any thing more than 12 M.P.H. can prove to be too much. Once aloft the balloon travels with the wind and is completely stable, in fact the basket does not move at all in flight.

The wind started to drop and we launched at 6.45 p.m. The higher we climbed today the slower the wind became. The city of Peterborough was in clear view with Whittlesy and March out to our south east. We headed over Newborough and on over Crowland and Postland towards Holbeach. After an hour Fenland airfield was to our front. A radio call to their air traffic control to ask can we land? Mr Sean Cooper who helps run this busy private airfield replied ‘It will be good to see you'

With a gentle bump and a drag we came to rest in the centre of the airfield.

The weather was warm and with a very gentle breeze this evening proved to be quite magical. We decided to launch from Newborborough, adjacent to the city of Peterborough. A big thank to Mr Clarke of Clarke's Garage for allowing us to use his Paddocks. We inflated the balloon and had a very gentle launch at 6.30 p.m. Although the wind speed was slow at no more than 6 M.P.H. the visibility was unusually crisp and clear with no haze. We started a steady climb and rounded out at 5,400 feet. And what a view! The wash was clear with Hunstanton and Boston in view. Across to Kings Lynn Ely and Cambridge. Out to the west Rutland water and RAF Wittering were clearly defined.

We then started slow descent down to 500 feet and started to look for somewhere to land. We were heading to Whaplode Drove but the wind direction at low altitude had increased slightly and had turned left by 40 degrees. The balloon came to a gentle rest in the parish of Postland.

The crew and family followers soon arrived and we quickly packed the balloon away to watch a stunning sunset. One of our passengers Ben Cousins remarked that he was a little nervous at the thought of being one mile above the earth in a wicker basket before we launched, however said it was a stunning experience.