Hendon ballooning
Note: This map only shows the position of Hendon within the UK. In those days Hendon was well outside of the London conurbation so this launching site could have been almost anywhere in this area. However, if somebody now knows of the site used, this advice will be most welcome.
HENDON: Balloon launching site
NOTES: In his excellent book RAF Hendon Andrew Renwick has this to say: “On the 20 August 1862 Henry Tracey Coxwell took a party of James Glaisher, Glaisher’s son, Captain Percival and Mr Ingelow on a balloon flight. Glaisher often flew with Coxwell for meteorological research. On some flights, such as this, he was a paying passenger and took a reduced set of instruments. The flight suffered from light winds and they only just reached a field near Mill Hill where they landed for the night.”
This suggests a flight covering only a mile or two. “Croxwell remained with the balloon while the others stayed overnight in the Greyhound Inn. They set off to walk the mile to the balloon at 4.00am and took off once more at 4.30, eventually reaching Biggleswade.” As Biggleswade is almost directly north of Mill Hill the southerly winds on that day were quite unusual for this part of the UK.
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