A Welsh Scout group on a camping trip near Bristol found themselves unexpectedly drafted into an unusual mission: helping to land a hot air balloon.
The 1st Beddau Scout Group had just arrived at their campsite in Tockington when pilot Peter De Herdt called upon the boys for assistance.
His balloon was one of approximately 50 taking part in a mass ascent during the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta on Saturday evening.
After a flight of around 50 minutes from the Ashton Court Estate, the annual fiesta's base, the group of 13 boys used a rope to aid in deflating the craft as it touched down.
“(For some of the boys) this is their first Scout camp as well, so this is the first time they’ve been away from their parents for some of them,” Helen Williams, the treasurer of the Scout group, said.
“It’s flat around here, but where we are, it’s a bit more mountainous. You might get the paragliders and things like that, but we don’t see hot air balloons, and the kids don’t tend to see hot air balloons.”
Ms Williams said it was “100 per cent” an experience the boys, aged between 11 and 14, would remember for a long time.
Scout leader Matthew Bailey said it was a “great start” to the week-long trip.
The fiesta, which is in its 48th year, is attended by balloonists from across the world, including Switzerland, Germany, Mexico and the US.
Mr De Herdt, from Antwerp, flew an orange and brown balloon for the Belgian shoe shop Tim’s.
It was one of 125 balloons at the fiesta this year.
The Scouts pulled a rope attached to the balloon, which was carrying seven people, on direction from Mr De Herdt and his daughter Fleur, to help deflate it.
The pilot said: “When we were in the approach of the landing, we passed the camp, the scouting camp, and we saw all the boys.
“I always invite people to come closer to the basket because often they’ve never seen a hot air balloon from that close.
“In this case, with the boys, it was really nice to have them close to the basket because they’re very enthusiastic.
“You can let them pull the balloon and for deflation it saves us effort, and they will never forget.
“So it was really nice to give them the opportunity to do this for us.”
