The wind is blowing a hoolie outside so to time to remember calmer winds and in particular the Old Buckenham Harvest Balloon Festival held recently where the BBM&L were invited to bring some of the museum balloons.
Museum secretary Tim Turner was there and writes… “Martyn Turner & Damian Busby did both night glows – Friday with G-MUSM and G-HOUS (G-BGOO being inflated as entertainment for the large crowd as a pre-amble to the glow) and on Saturday with G-HOME! We didn’t manage any free flying because we were determined to give the travelled balloons an airing, so Sunday was very busy from 06:00 till midday carrying out inflations! First out of the bag, belonging to Neil Ivison, was the Bertie Bassett shape G-BXAL (last out at Bristol in 2018) which subsequently received a big cheer on reaching it’s full inflation height, not to mention appreciation by the crowd on deflation (not a normal response) but assumed in acknowledgement of the effort of the hard work the team put in with the inflation – all 350 kgs of it! Bertie’s inflation was followed straight afterwards by the untying of another envelope bag (who’s in charge here, did they not know it was now breakfast time – not yet was the decision as it was only going to get hotter later – they weren’t wrong!) This next balloon came from joint owners Neil Ivison & Damian Busby – the special shape Whisky Bottle ZS-HZW balloon, this had not been seen in public in the UK for many years – a magnificent balloon! After a break for breakfast (finally) a move to the main arena (wasn’t big enough for the large shapes), to inflate the BBM&L balloons G-BBJB and G-PINT (with the banner on full display – even the DJ mentioned it so it must have been prominent), this was followed by a couple of part inflations it was only left for the organiser Dave Stagg to say a few ‘Thank You’s’ in appreciation of everyone coming, and all that was left were the good-byes, pack up tents and caravans and journeys home! A very well organised, friendly and ‘help anyone who needed help’ weekend. Thank you, BBM&L and Friends, for your efforts in attending, getting up early, and contributing to a very successful ballooning event – here’s to 2025!”
And Angela Lickorish reports: “In 2023 we took a pop up BBM&L stall to the event but this year the weather forecast was more positive so we didn’t bring a stall, concentrating instead on crewing for Peter. However, during the event we did hand out 2 boxes of old Aerostats, which helps keep the children entertained, and the adults loved them too. We also sold 36 of our Children’s Ballooning Packs (activity sheet, sheet explaining how a balloon works, sample of balloon fabric, postcard, sticker, crayons), when Peter had his basket out on Saturday afternoon, for kiddies to stand in, and when G-PINT was being inflated on Sunday. As Tim says, it was a successful event all round.”
