This evening our balloon flight proved to be a little quicker than our forecasters suggested. The wind was coming from the northeast so the ideal launch location was the villages of Gooderstone. As this would keep us away from Stanford Battle Area who were busy. A big thank you to Mick from Crow Hall Farm who unlocked and Mr Bartlett for allowing us to use his facility. A call to RAF Lakenheath confirmed the weather and wind speed we good to go and they were happy about the hot air balloon being in close proximity to their airspace. Inflating the air balloon was quite a handful as the wind was a steady 10 knots. Take off was 19.40 hrs and we quickly ascended to 1,500 feet. We passed over Oxborough Hall built in the 15th century now administered by the National Trust. If you get a chance you should visit this moated masterpiece, the gardens are beautifully maintained too and well worth a look. The air was crisp and clean all of the wash was well defined along with the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coastline. We fly just to the east of Stoke Ferry and get a good view of the aqueduct and the river Wissey. Ely cathedral is always such a prominent landmark in this part of the world, we can also see the rive nene running all the way back to Peterborough. After an hour aloft we spot a cut hay field west of Hilgay. The ideal place to land and celebrate our flight.
To Robert and Claire
Thank you for making my parents balloon flight so memorable dad is still talking about it. It was well worth the wait.
Jill Peters