Christchurch Meadow, Oxford

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I chanced upon this memorial plaque whilst walking along the main path in Christchurch meadow. It is affixed to the wall of the garden of the very picturesque cottages there (see other picture) and commemorates, as you can see, an early balloonists exploits. Personally, I'd never heard of him until I saw this.

The website given shows a print of another one of his flights, coincidentally near where I live. He apparently gave up ballooning to concentrate on developing the steam engine!

If you want to find this, it's at the end of the meadow furthest away from the College building - just follow the path and it's on the wall on your left.

Take a stroll along the river. Pack a picnic and watch the rowing teams practice. Just be careful and don't get locked inside! They close the gates at dusk and if you're inside, good luck finding a way out. Needless to say, I learned this the hard way!