As organiser, what can I say, except a very BIG Thank You to everyone who attended the 18th BBM&L Inflation Day held on David Hopkin’s land at Manor Farm at Pidley (we aren’t at Lakeside any more that was pre-Covid) on Saturday 25th April 2026. What a day, the weather was magnificent, which significantly added to the success, blue skies, no wind and certainly no mention of rain what more could one ask for! Appreciation to all pilots and hard-working crews for attending, with at least three crews making in excess of ten inflations each, what an effort! Having seen a couple of attendance lists today and including 11 models, the balloons that were on show comes to 100, excluding Cardington it becomes the second highest attendance (no models previously) second only to 2016 at Pidley (105) – another hot day!
A big thank you to the people immediately around me who helped ‘draw it all together’ for the enjoyable (exhausting) day we had, Angela Lickorish and family did a sterling job at the display van, the caterers just manged to keep pace with demand, the ladies on the gate, not only taking the entrance money but giving a very welcoming approach to people on arrival! My event briefing team, Pete for the pilots brief, John Crawford for the brilliant weather he brought along (I was going to cut his wages for the day as he had so little to say), Andy Austin stepping in late for the job of my Safety Officer (glad to say no safety issues were raised – appreciate the pilots and crews for keeping things safe) and not to forget the very generous sponsorship from the enthusiasts club LAAS International, we seriously appreciate your support! I asked LAASI Chairman Rob Jemmett to execute a short survey to select which balloon they, as enthusiasts, consider to be the ‘most wanted/likeable balloon’ on show! The eventual selection (and there were plenty of nominations) was the very attractive Blue Peter balloon G-BXXL which I think was brought along by Chris Dunkley and inflated by Gary Davis – a full list of winners will ultimately be published in Trailrope!
My final call of appreciation goes to my close support team for the event, mainly my son Martyn (with his family members split around two of the inflation teams), Neil Ivison, Damian Busby, Chris Butler with Jonathan Harris being the only one able to keep count of the number of inflations he completed (10) – a fantastic contribution to a very successful day!
The ‘topping off’ news of the day came just prior to prize giving when I was talking to David Hopkins over the success of the event! The topic of where the next Inflation Day was likely be held and what David said next nearly knocked me over! David casually said during the conversation that “if you haven’t found anywhere else, come back to Manor Farm” – music to my ears – that certainly was ‘the best news of the day for me and to follow such a successful day, he did say he couldn’t guarantee the same weather but brilliant news never-the-less – thank you David my dream has come true!
From that statement here’s looking forward to the next Inflation Day:
Where: Manor Farm, Pidley, Huntingdon, PE28 3DD
When: Spring 2028
Tim Turner
Inflation Day Co-Ordinator
