The history of hot-air and gas ballooning is important and fascinating, but it is fast in danger of being lost. The BBM&L was formed in 1979 with the purpose of trying to preserve the many items associated with this very popular activity.
As a registered charity, it is run entirely by volunteers and is funded by subscriptions from Friends and some donations.
We have saved dozens of historic balloons and built up a large collection of equipment such as balloon burners, baskets, instruments and a wide range of ballooning memorabilia such as stamps, posters, prints, cards, models, photographs, trophies, badges etc.
There is also a comprehensive collection of books, technical papers and magazines held for us at Cranfield University, and there are displays in the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology while one of our items is on display at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation at Woodley. The BBM&L also has a mobile display unit which can be taken to events, schools, colleges and displays to further peoples thirst for ballooning history.