A Norfolk Balloon Flight is an ideal way to view this county. It covers over two thousand square miles and has great geographic diversity. Today we were to end our flight in the north of the county.
A steady breeze was coming from the south so Mattishall golf club was the ideal choice of launch site this evening. Aloft at 7.20 p.m. we were soon above the village and heading out towards North Elmham, crossing the A47 west of Dereham. Then on over the village of Swanton Morley. As we drifted over Robertson Barracks our thoughts and best wishes were with the men, woman and families of the Light Dragoons who are currently undertaking a very difficult active tour of duty in southern Afghanistan. At that point there was a moment of reflection, to realise just how lucky we are at home in the UK. However ‘onwards and upwards' we fly.

With higher altitude our heading has turned to the right by twenty degrees. We need to be high as we approach the village of Billingford and Bintree as there a number of outdoor livestock units in the area. Our descent was initiated just to the north of Guist. Flying parallel to the Fakenham road. Now we are looking for somewhere to land. Down low over hedges and tree tops no where was ideal. As we approached Little Ryburgh a fallow field came into view. The field was small so our approach would have to be ‘spot on'. Six feet over woodland for 300 metres, field in view. And after 1.35 minutes we're down. The view was stunning looking down the valley to Ryburgh and back to Gately It was a pleasure to meet the owner of Sennowe park estates Mr T.Cook. Who had watched us land and kindly gave our retrieve crew permission to collect the hot air balloon.

Dear Robert & Crew,

I just wanted to say thank you. The balloon flight was well worth the wait. From start to finish what a professional Company you are, I would not hesitate in recommending you. I have now fulfilled my life long dream to fly in a hot air balloon.

Kind Regards
Carol Thornhill

This was a lovely summer evening for our balloon ride over Peterborough. We greeted our passengers on the Ken Stimpson plying field behind Werrington sports centre. Most people were quite local; however we had the pleasure of flying the Grace family from Natal in South Africa who were enjoying a three week vacation in the UK. This adventure proved to be a perfect finale to the end of their holiday. The atmosphere on launch site was buzzing. As a large number of friends and family had turned out to watch and follow. The younger members really enjoyed helping the ground crew prepare the equipment for launch.

We were airborne at 7.30 p.m. amid shouts and cheers from our enthusiastic on lookers. Climbing out gently to 3,000 feet a spectacular view greeted us. The visibility was a good thirty five miles, so all four counties were in view. We soon spotted another hot air balloon high above us to the south. A quick radio call identified it was a charismatic gentleman by the name of Ian Warrington flying a small two man craft. I'm up at 12,000 feet at 25 knots coming down to join you replied Ian. It's always a bonus to be flying along side another balloon as it provides some great photo opportunities. After an hour we started to look for somewhere to land. Fortunately to surface wind speed had dropped to a gentle 2 M.P.H. flow and we landed on a farm track. All the kit was quickly packed away and we were joined by Ian Warrington and their crew. So we all toasted the flight watching a stunning Fenland sunset and listening to Ian's stories of ‘daring do'.

Dear Breckland Balloons

Just thought I'd drop you a quick email to thank you for our whole ballooning experience yesterday in Peterborough. I originally brought it as a present for Chrissy and I was only accompanying her so as she wasn't alone. If I'm honest, I was a little worried about being 2500 ft up in a wicker basket, but absolutely loved it!! Chrissy was over the moon and we both found the evening really enjoyable. Looks like you'll be getting a few more bookings in the future as the rest of the family are now on about doing it. Obviously, me and Chrissy will HAVE to come just to show them the ropes!! Thanks again
Stuart Adinall

A balloon ride over Norwich-Norfolk with views of the Norfolk Broads is always a gem. The flight this morning provided well balanced views of countryside and city. The one great advantage to flying early in the morning in the summer is that the air is normally very stable with light winds. Our passengers were very keen and arrived early. We soon prepared the balloon and completed the safety briefing. We launched from Mattishall Golf Club at 5.40 a.m. and quickly ascended to 3,000 feet. With pretty much all of the county in view. The villages of Barnham Broom and Bawburgh seemed to drift past under us. Looking out to the east Hickling and Barton broad could be seen shimmering in the morning sunrise.

It was clear that our track was taking us directly over the city, so a radio call to Norwich airport on 119.35 MHz. Permission was quickly given to us to over fly to city, wonderful. We passed overhead cosstessey and followed the line of the Dereham road. The city centre was just to our south. The Forum, castle and the magnificent cathedral well in view. Passing over mousehold heath we left the city still sleeping behind us. Wroxham broad was in view with some of the boats starting to stir making their way down to Ranworth.

We were now looking for somewhere to land, not much choice prior to harvest all wall to all wall crop. A few very tight spaces but not big enough for a hot air balloon the size of two family houses!! As we passed over the village of Rackheath a fallow field was spotted about a mile to our front. A radio call to our ground retrieve team confirmed that we would be landing. In open countryside down to 30 feet drifting over the tree tops we could see the crew waiting next to the field. We were down after 1 hour and 50 minutes in the air. Our passengers were all very chirpy chatting about our morning adventure.

Hi Robert. Just to say 'Thank You' for such a memorable balloon flight over the beautiful city of Norwich & it's surrounding countryside. Having recently experienced our first balloon flight in Egypt, we wondered if the Norfolk trip would provide the same magic & excitement. We were not disappointed!! Thanks to you Robert & your ground team, we had the most amazing morning & we thoroughly enjoyed being invited to assist you with the flight preparations, thus helping us to understand how the whole process comes together. It was great fun and well worth the wait for the 'perfect' morning.

We have no hesitation in recommending your company and the experience to others. We could not have wished for a more knowledgeable or friendlier team.

Regards, Paul & Sharon Munday

Dear Robert,

Thought I would write to you in verse:

5.30 a.m. and the weather's perfect
Go, go, go, is the welcome verdict
High in the sky in moments it seems
This really is the stuff of dreams

Robert, professional and chirpy throughout
Pointing out landmarks with never a doubt
You can tell he's done this all before
But it doesn't stop him wanting more

Flying low over Norwich, what a treat
You can see people getting to their feet
Give us a wave is what they say
Perhaps they'll be up here another day

Then the landing, all fields are in crop
Hard to find a perfect place to drop
But trusty Robert is in control
He won't put us down on telegraph poles!

Boomph! we've landed all in one piece
I really didn't want the trip to cease
Back to the launch site after some bubbly
Try ballooning for yourself, it's absolutely lovely!

With many thanks for such an unforgettable experience.
I would put Breckland Balloons above all others!
Best Wishes
Hilary (Miller)

This balloon trip over west Norfolk proved to be quite challenging from a pilots point of view. Our forecasts indicated that the wind would be very light this evening. Our passengers were all local to this part of the county so we launched from our base at Wendling. We were soon aloft at 7.20 p.m. on a lovely evening. Up to 1,000 feet we were heading 280 degrees at 10 m.ph. At 3,000 feet our track had changed to 030 degrees at 14 m.p.h. This is always very useful as it gives the pilot the ability to steer the balloon by altering your altitude. The knack is, to use this ‘steerage' to find the ideal field to land in. Which means at this time of year NOT A FARMERS CROP. We flew over Great Dunham and to the North of Swaffahm.

High above Castle Acre the Peddars Way was very clearly defined from North Pickenham all the way to Holme next the sea. This is the old Roman road that would have been the direct link to the Garrison town of Colchester. All of west Norfolk was well in view. Kings Lynn to our west and the Lincolnshire coast. Burnham Market, Holkham and Tring to mention but a few beautiful Norfolk villages. We remained high until we passed north of Great Massingham due to the density of outdoor livestock units. Every effort must be made not to frighten any livestock on the ground. Two fields were spotted three miles to our west which looked to be good. Descend now!! at 600 feet we had turned to the left by some 120 degrees we had lined up our fields perfectly, a harvested parsnip field and wet straw. We're down with a bump and a drag on top of a hill south of Harpley Dams.

We were about a mile or so away from the road so the retrieve would be tricky this evening. The farmer had been located and gave us permission to collect the balloon. The crew arrived and the balloon was packed up on the trailer. One thing we had not appreciated was how wet the field was, as there had been a lot of rain the day prior. Thank goodness we operate Land Rover defenders which got us of the field and down the muddy tracks with diff lock in, lots of engine revs and gritted teeth back to the road; and the awaiting families (JUST)

Hot air ballooning from Peterborough is an excellent choice of venue. The city is located in the county of Cambridgeshire, with an excellent road network; Werrington Centre is very easy to find the county boundaries of Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland are very close by. So if you're looking for varied scenery this is the launch site that has it all. Perfect for a top quality balloon ride.

On board this evening we had a gentleman called Tony Hill he is a TRE ( Type Rated Examiner) Every 13 months a commercial pilot has to undertake a flight test to ensure that the high standards of passenger flying are maintained in a safe and competent manner. This is always undertaken on a normal commercial flight with members of the public.

Mr Hill joined our safety brief and watched the crew prepare the balloon. No problems there. We launched soon after with a gentle breeze taking us towards Ufford and Stamford. We ascended to 3,000 feet and Stamford and Rutland Water were in clear view. At altitude the wind was taking us back down the west side of Peterborough so we descended to pick up the flow of wind from the south east. Mr Hill asked the pilot to make two low approaches to land and fly high again. After an hour our test was complete with the ‘thumbs up' from our examiner. We eventually landed south of the picturesque village of Ufford.

We greeted our balloon flight 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 hot air 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.