Berkeley Castle
BERKELEY CASTLE: Balloon launching site
The aerial picture was obtained from Google Earth ©. The local area and area views are from my Google Earth © derived database.
The area view is starting to look quite mad - with so many flying sites on it - but, not all the flying sites listed in this 'Guide' are on it! Far from it in fact.
Query? Have I got the position of the Inner Keep, where Dr Jenner ascended from, correct in the aerial picture above?
Operated by: Dr Edward Jenner (Founder of immunology)
Location: W of the A38, roughly 14nm SW of Gloucester city centre
Period of operation: 2nd September 1784
NOTES: We have Mr Graham Frost, a great friend of this 'Guide', to thank for pointing out this location.
This early era of ballooning in the U.K. is today, largely forgotten - which is a great pity. We really should be celebrating it despite obviously acknowledging that the French were the first of course. The very first example of ballooning in the U.K. I have found, are the ascents made by James Tytler at COMELY GARDENS in Edinburgh during August 1784, but these were made using a 'hot-air' balloon.
Here we have Dr Jenner using hydrogen as the lifting agent, and producing large quantities of that gas, in those days, to 'fuel' a balloon large enough to carry a man, was quite a feat in itself.
Balloon ascents in the U.K., as major public spectacles attracting huge crowds, soon came into its own leading the world by far, with the industrial revolution and the provision of coal gas being provided, mostly for lighting purposes in streets and the houses of the wealthy. Certainly not as efficient as hydrogen as a lifting agent, but much cheaper to produce.
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