This is the second of a recently-rediscovered collection of essays on Norfolk life, written in the 1980s, and republished by kind permission of the late author’s family.
Two hundred years ago a globe made of linen, measuring more than 100 ft round the circumference, was inflated over a fire of chopped straw. When it was released it rose rapidly to a great height, and before it sank to the ground had covered one and a half miles. The Montgolfier brothers had invented the world’s first hot air balloon at Annonay, in France.
Three months later Joseph-Michel Montgolfier repeated the experiment at Versailles before Louis XVI of France, and his queen, Marie Antoinette. This time, suspended beneath the balloon was a cage containing three passengers – the first aerial travellers. They were a cock, a duck and a sheep. The balloon rose to 1,500ft and floated for eight minutes. When it came to earth two miles away it was found that the record-breaking trio were quite unhurt. That is, except for the cock’s wing, which the sheep had kicked before take-off.
Within a month the first man had left the ground – Jean de Rozier, from Metz. Soon both hot air and hydrogen-filled balloons were being constructed in some numbers. The following year, 1784, saw the first successful ascent in London, when Vincent Lunardi astounded a huge number of spectators who had poured in to watch.
From Versailles to Norwich, the sky was the limit
Six months later ballooning came to Norfolk. The “Norwich Mercury” for 13 May 1785, carried an advertisement:
“Mr Dekker and his ROYAL BALLOON, from London, with its elegant GONDOLA or BOAT, on which stands a CHINESE TEMPLE is now to be seen at Quantrell’s Gardens, Norwich. Ladies, Gentlemen, etc., One Shilling each; Working People, Children, Servants, Sixpence each.”
This was the charge merely to stand and marvel at the amazing machine. On the “Day of Ascension” the price ascended, too. It cost the – for that time – very substantial sum of 10s. 6d. for the front seats, and 5s for the ones behind. The high prices charged for these displays might help to explain the crowd’s reaction some 30 years later, when Mr. Stewart took off from Prussia Gardens. His balloon, in two short hops, landed first in a nursery and then in a garden. The infuriated mob rushed up, tore the balloon to pieces, and were just about to do the same to the aviator when he was rescued by General Money.
Blown out to sea
This veteran of the Seven Years’ War and the American War of Independence had a natural sympathy with the unlucky flier. Only a few months after Mr Dekker’s high-priced flight in 1785, the General had made a similar ascent, but was blown out to sea. Luckily for him, the Revenue Cutter, HMS Argus, on the prowl for smugglers, spotted his basket afloat and rescued him.
Public interest, notwithstanding Mr Stewart’s feeble efforts, remained high. Later, in 1815, when he was about to take off from Ranelagh Gardens, it reached fever pitch. Through the previous night all roads into the city were thronged, and city traffic was at a standstill. Some people offered a guinea for a bed for the night. On the day the Bishop’s daughter presented him with a silk banner and this may have done the trick, for he remained aloft for just under an hour.
Parachuting cat
Ten years after that feat, Charles Green lifted off from Norwich Gasworks in his “Coronation” balloon. Over Catton, doubtless for some symbolic reason, he dropped a cat in a basket. Fortunately for the feline the basket was attached to a parachute and it landed safely. By this time balloons were getting bigger, for the following year Mr. Green took up six passengers on a flight from Norwich to Felbrigg.
A particularly spectacular flight was made on July 27th, 1849. Lt. Gale; RN, ascended at Pockthorpe in a balloon which had another car attached below the basket. When he was about a mile high, he lowered the second car 30 to 40 feet below the basket, and climbed down into it by means of a trap-door and rope ladder. Then he entertained the delighted spectators with a display of “shells and pyrotechnics” before landing near Coldham Hall.
In the 1860s, a Mr Simmons was the star attraction. He had more than one balloon, including his special large one. After a number of trips in the county, he exhibited it in the Market Place in Norwich. It made several ascents as a captive balloon, and he then, accompanied by a friend, rose to 10,000 feet in just two minutes. Unfortunately, at that height the winds were very strong and the craft headed for the coast. The two men struggled to lose height and managed to jump out just as they reached the shoreline. The balloon finally fell into the sea, two and a-half miles off Sheringham. The whole alarming trip lasted just 15 minutes.
Ballooning perils
Later, there were variations – novelties such as “fish” balloons, named after the shape, and daring young men, such as Mr. Grais in 1889, parachuted down from 3,000 ft. Their skill and courage cannot be doubted, for the sport was in its infancy and more than one balloonist came to an untimely end.
It seems wholly appropriate that Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee – that buoyant climax to a soaring 60 years’ reign – should have been celebrated in Norwich with, among other items, “frequent captive balloon ascents from the Cattle Market.” Surely, that would have amused her!
As a footnote as we approach the second centenary of man’s slipping the bonds that held him to earth, it is pleasant to see, after a lapse of years, those gaily-painted; elegant and somehow peaceful craft drifting effortlessly across the sky on a sunny evening.
