Balloon Corner – a monument to early air travel (and an unhappy cat)

These days we take for granted the constant criss-crossing of our skies by different types of aircraft.
However, in 1784, local people have watched in fear and astonishment as a large, passenger carrying balloon passed overhead, as nothing like it had ever been seen in England.

On the afternoon of Wednesday 15 September 1784, North Mymms entered aviation history: the Italian balloonist, Vincenzo Lunardi, making the first manned aerial voyage over England, had to make an unusual pitstop in a cornfield near the parish border with Northaw…for the sake of a furry companion.
He took off in a hydrogen balloon from the grounds of the Royal Artillery in central London, with a dog, a cat, and a pigeon in a cage.
The balloon travelled northwards but the pilot had to make a stop due to his feline companion’s inability to take to air travel so well. The unwell cat was offloaded to be taken care of by a local woman, Mary Butterfield (she then apparently sold the cat to a man on horseback), and he set off again, eventually headed north-northeast and landing near Standon Green End.
His balloon was later displayed in the Pantheon on Oxford Circus, London, in an attempt to recoup costs from the expedition.

The inscription on the Balloon stone at Welham Green says:
“Near this spot at 3.30 in the afternoon on September 15th 1784, Vincenzo Lunardi, the Italian balloonist made his first landing while on his pioneer flight in the English atmosphere. Having handed out a cat and a dog, his partners of the flight from London, he re-ascended and continued north-eastward“.
As if to reinforce the fact a nearby road is called Vincenzo Close.

Either way, In September 1970 a hot air balloon was launched from Welham Green to commemorate the event but owing to lack of wind it returned immediately back to earth.

Images from web – Google Research