Mark Davies tells Stroud Local History Society about the first hot air balloon flights from Stroud

FOR our February Gala Afternoon in The Old Town Hall, we had a fascinating talk by Mark Davies about the first hot air balloon flights from Stroud.

Paul Hawkins Fisher, the Stroud Historian, witnessed James Sadler make the first ever balloon ascent from Stroud in 1785, and William Capel, owner of The Grove (now Hawkwood), recorded in his diary that he saw Mr Green's ascent in 1834.

James Sadler was a pastry cook and confectioner who became the first Englishman to build and fly a hot-air balloon - in Oxford in 1784 - and the first person to cross the Bristol Channel by air.

He was a man of many talents and skills and Mark Davies has written his extraordinary story.

Find out more here: amberley-books.com/king-of-all-balloons.html

If you would like Mark to talk to your group, please email: contact@stroudlocalhistorysociety.org.uk

The talk was accompanied by displays from Marion and Barry, Pauline and Marion's model hot air balloon, then afternoon tea.