Elsenham Hall
ELSENHAM HALL: Early balloon ascents
Note: This picture was obtained from Google Earth ©
Location: Just SE of Elsenham village, just N of STANSTED and about 4.4nm NE of Bishop's Stortford town centre
Period of operation: Circa 1835
NOTES: In ESSEX, A Hidden Aviation History by Paul Bingley and Richard E Flagg, much to my delight, I discovered this. The more I look into our British aviation heritage, the more I have become fascinated by the largely now unknown history of ballooning before the 20th century. The U.K. certainly appears to have a heritage unequalled elsewhere in the entire world. Largely on the back of the industrial revolution and the establishment of gas-works providing a relatively cheap and ready source of a 'lifting agent'. Nowhere near as efficient as hydrogen of course, but much cheaper and easier to obtain.
However, this said, I cannot discover the 'lifting' source used in the following account. I suspect hydrogen?
"The first ascent by an Essex man took place nearly fifty years later, (My Note: After ascents in 1785), when scientist and astronomer George Nash of Elsenham Hall, near Bishop's Stortford, rose to a height of 19,000 feet (5,800 metres) to test his new barometer. Six days later, a second attempt saw Nash and British 'aeronaut' Charles Green achieve a record ascent of 27,146 feet (8,300 metres) - although both men suffered 'head swellings and bleedings from the eyes and ears' in the process."
Charles Green in those days was without much doubt, the most accomplished and highly experienced aeronaut in the U.K. Easily arguably - in the world.
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