“They never cancel the annual Icicle Balloon meet but that does not mean that something always happens.” That was the view of one hot air balloonist at the early morning briefing in the rugby club on Saturday (January 4.)
The meet has come to Marlborough Common from nearby Warren Farm – a move initiated by Mayor Guy Loosmore. And he and the Mayoress were there to welcome the balloonists: “It’s the world’s longest running balloon meet and we hope Marlborough Common will become its new home.”
It will certainly make a welcome addition to Marlborough’s calendar and the balloonists were pleased with the site, if not with the weather.
All eyes were on the meet’s meteorological expert, John Crawford. He reported that the wind should drop to about 5 knots on Saturday afternoon: “It’s an improving picture – it all depends whether the wind drops down enough for us to use it.”
But – and there is always a ‘but’ with the present run of weather – he mentioned the next depression coming in from the Atlantic. On the weather map it does not look promising: “It’s the biggest dartboard you’ve ever seen.”
From the point of view of the weather, there may be a chance to fly on Saturday afternoon (“It looks as though there’ll be a two to three o’clock window”) and there may be a chance on Sunday morning – assuming that depressions slows down a bit.
By 8.30 am eleven balloon teams had registered for the meet. Among them was Richard Parry from Stroud.
With his Chelsea Financial Services sponsored balloon Richard Parry won last summer’s Queen’s Cup Balloon Race – the United Kingdom’s oldest sporting trophy. He flew 199 miles from Bristol to Great Yarmouth.
He thinks a flight this weekend is “Just possible.”
However, it is not just the weather – wind and rain – that worries the balloonists. When they land in water-logged farm fields, they will have to carry their equipment out: “Not even the friendliest farmer will let you drive onto his fields in these conditions.”
The balloonists have lots of things to miss as they fly eastwards from Marlborough Common: Membury mast, a busy weekend for shoots and Lambourn’s gallops among them.
There are prizes to be won: including a prize for the balloon that lands on (well, nearly ‘on’) a six figure grid reference whose digits add up to 42.
It is, after all, the 42nd Icicle Meet. And icicles would be very welcome indeed in place of the rain.
