Roy Fritchley and daughter Evelyn were returning home to Udimore Road on Friday 23 July at around 8.30 pm and saw two balloons approaching Tilling Green playing field, they looked as if both were going to land, but only one did, the other one carried on and appears to have landing on the Salts. A crowd of inquisitive locals gathered and a carnival atmosphere prevailed. The balloonists were soon collected by their support vehicle, the balloon and basket were loaded up and taken away.
Photographs Courtesy of Roy Fritchley
The event brought back memories of the 1960’s when there were several hot air balloon record attempts starting from The Salts. There were usually cross channel records set but the one that had it sights set on Paris failed. The lifeboat was launched from Dungeness when it began to drop towards the sea but it was successfully brought under control and reached Calais safely before it was forced to land when the propane gas ran out.
From Rye’s Own August 2004
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