General 
Up Up and Away – Joe Philp 8th October 1926 – 16th August 2013
Following the sad death of Joe Philp on Friday 16th August 2013 his funeral was held at St Paul’s Church, Upton Cross at 2.30pm on Wednesday September 4th 2013. The small church was overflowing to the extent that the Village Hall across the road was pressed into use and the service transmitted by the marvels… Read More ›
Bishy, Balloons and the Tally Ho!
We like our days out especially trips down to Zebedee Balloon Services just outside Hungerford. As there are usually a few balloons to inspect and a very nice pub up the road it seems the only responsible thing to do. To make matters even more pleasant we usually go down our local seaside road, the… Read More ›
Goodwood Festival of Speed- 20 years young (by Steve Roake)
Back in the summer of 1993, Lord March owner and caretaker of the Goodwood Estates, decided it would be a jolly good wheeze to put on a Hill Climb on the roads outside his house with some of his motorsport chums. It would be along the lines of a day out in the country with… Read More ›
Tee-off or Tea bag? – Pidley Shapes Up and its Thumbs Up
Now here’s a thing, the weather was perfect and the venue superb. With the trailer loaded up with the British Gas Flames we didn’t even need to leave at stupid o’clock to get to David Hopkins Pidley Golf Course for half ten. David’s new balloon was due its inspection and as the Flames had to… Read More ›
Stop the clonk – Westfalia damper replacement
Love them or hate them the Westfalia trailer has become part of the ballooning scene. A tad on the stylish side with the oft-copied clam lid, they are light and tow well, that can’t be denied but they do have their quirks. They are prone to bending drawbars, brakes locking up, frames lids breaking, tyres… Read More ›
A fine day out Shapes and Sunshine – a rare treat
The weather, early on, as we all know has been less than kind this year so the chances to get some shapes inspected had been few and far between but suddenly a smidgen of a possible weather-window opened and the grass at Black Horse deemed dry enough to drive on so we went for it…. Read More ›
Hallmarks and Temple Bars– Two go to Town
John Yarrow has been sewing balloons back together for as long as anyone cares to remember. Originally working with Thermal Aircraft, set up by Tony Patey shortly after Thunder Balloons became Thunder & Colt, few realise that John is a jeweller by profession and a very fine one at that. In the uppermost regions of… Read More ›
In the Wake of Poseidon
I was very kindly invited to give a talk at the Icicle Dinner this year. Having ‘ummed and ‘arred about exactly what I was going to ramble on about I decided to recount a few of the really daft things I’d done and got away with. Some events were amusing, some rather more serious but… Read More ›
Whatever happened to… all those heroes? – Joe Philp
Joe Philp is an icon in the world of Old & Rusty balloonists. He set the bench mark when it came to flying, or not, and had a great way of giving completely contrary advise. Deep intake of breath, “Crikey chaps, doesn’t look good, those flags are going two to the dozen.” he would declare,… Read More ›