We launched from Mattishall golf club just after 6 p.m. Mr Basil Todd who owns both Mattishall and Wensum Valley hotel and golf club arrived to say hello to our passengers and watch the launch. We are very fortunate that we are able to have the use of these two excellent facilities. In fact if you fancy a round of golf or two you should really give them a look, the food and accommodation is of a high standard and very competitively priced.

The breeze was a gentle 8 m.p.h coming from the north east, unbroken skies and good visibility. We always give Norwich air traffic a call prior to launch and as always they are very helpful detailing our departure weather. Once airborne we climbed out to 1,000 feet and were heading out to Thruxton and Garvestone. In open country we descended to check the surface speed south of Smallburgh church. The wind had picked up a little! We then ascended to 4,000 the wind speed slowed down to 4.m.p.h. Our heading then changed turning left some 90 degrees. We were soon over Hingham. Down to 1,000 feet wind had increased and we turned to the right. We were looking to land close to Caston. Mr Peter Hall a local farmer allowed us to land and retrieve the balloon. We were soon sipping champagne and talking through our adventure, and looking forward to our next one!!

This balloon ride was quite interesting from a pilots point of view. The weather forecast was ‘Down the line' So we assembled our passengers at Mattishall golf club and launched in a very gentle 3mph breeze coming from the south west. Interestingly when we obtained our departure weather information from Norwich airport they were reporting the wind at 11mph coming from the south east, they are only nine miles away from Mattishall. So an onshore breeze had developed coming in from the coast. (A very common effect near to most coastlines.)

We climbed out to 3,000 feet and we were soon over head Mattishall and heading steadily towards Lenwade. There were two bonfires beneath us and we could see now that the surface wind direction had changed. So we descended and gradually changed direction and were now heading towards the village of Lyng and over the flood plain of the river Wensum. In this area we always remain high as there are outdoor livestock units so we make every effort not to disturb them. Once into open country we made our descent south of the village of Bintree. We continued on south of Guist with the magnificent Sennoew Hall in view. Over the village of Gately we made our approach and landed just before we crossed the B1146 Fakenham road. A big thank you to local farmer Mr Colin Palmer, who assisted us in packing up the balloon and was so helpful and friendly.

One of our passengers Mr Andrew Clarke who is a commercial fixed wing pilot and instructor commented ‘ I really enjoyed it, Brilliant I would do this again!!

We greeted our passengers under clear skies, a gentle breeze coming from the southwest; making this afternoon ideal for our balloon flight. Inflating the balloon was a very gentle and easy affair and we were soon airborne. The visibility was unusually crisp and clear. We started a gentle 5.mph drift towards the rural village of Gressenhall with the town of Dereham well defined. We then started a steady ascend up to 5,500 feet to savour the view. One of our passengers Mr Gordon Olley a professional photographer commented ‘ This is absolutely breathtaking!!'. The north Norfolk coast from Hunstanton to Cromer was in view. Even the Norfolk Broads out to the east could be viewed.The balloon continued on high over Swanton Morley North Elmham and Billingford.

The challenge of the flight today would be to find somewhere dry enough to land which would support the ground equipment which would be needed to retrieve the balloon as there had been several days of wet weather previously. We started our descend over Foxley water tower and were now down to 500 feet. To the south of Foulsham some grass paddocks came into view with no livestock in them. ‘This looks promising' now in open country down to 100 feet the surface wind was down to 3 mph, ideal for a gentle landing. We drifted past Mr & Mrs Gurneys farm house at Foulsham and asked if we could land of which they replied ‘YES' Touch down......... The crew were soon on the scene, balloon packed away and we all toasted the flight to view a beautiful spring sunset.

The balloon launched at 5.15pm from Thorney park adjacent to the city of Peterborough. We flew for two hours. The cloud base was quite scattered so we were able to climb out to 9,000 feet with the ground clearly visible, the cloud was rapidly melting away leaving breathtaking views. We could see the wash, Rutland water and the Norfolk coast at the same time! Also to our south the city of Cambridge was in clear view from the balloon it is at times like this ballooning in East Anglia seems quite a small place. The only down side to flying at this altitude and time of year, it was starting to get a little cold, so was started our descent. We had 5-8 mph on the surface. We landed at west Walton in a field owned by the editor of the fenland citizen paper! Very welcoming people and helped us with passion and excitement! A think everyone went home with a smile on their faces.

This balloon flight over Cambridgeshire launched from Thorney near Peterborough on Sunday afternoon. It was a lovely day with unbroken sunshine and a fresh spring fell in the air. The wind was a very gentle 6 M.P.H. coming from the North West. Once up at 3,000 feet Peterborough was in clear view with Oundle and Northamptonshire out to the west. To the north the wash was clearly visible as were the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coastline.

Out to the east Wisbech and Kings Lynn were clearly defined from the balloon. As the balloon ride continued Ely cathedral dominated the western horizon. The balloon gently landed in close to the Fenland market town of March.

It is very exciting when we start a new season with spring arriving. Over the winter the one thing that can prevent us from flying is if the ground conditions become too saturated with ground water. This can make handling the equipment on the ground difficult. However after a week of dry weather conditions are now perfect. We gently launched from our base near Dereham, the

surface layer of wind was very gentle at 3 M.P.H.

We decided to climb up to 4,500 feet and at that altitude the wind was flowing at 17 M.P.H. With an overall track towards Wymondham. The visibility was generally very good, about 30 miles. We were soon overhead the busy town of Dereham, with Attleborough and Norwich in view. The north Norfolk coastline was well defined with Blakney Point and Cromer in view. The balloon passed over Shipdham, Reymerstone and eventually landed close to the village of Hingham. As the sun was setting it was a wonderful opportunity to toast the flight with a glass of chilled champagne with pilot crew and passengers. And look forward to our next ballooning adventure.