Market trader

It has been a busy busy weekend! I was up early on Saturday morning to make my pitch at Andover Market. I had nearly 500 balloons to sell for a balloon race on Sunday! I am not a natural sales woman, and I knew it was a numbers game, but we shy retiring British are not generally good at approaching people to encourage them to part with their money … albeit the princely some of £1 / balloon! I had some fantastic help from Lorna, who was much better at selling than me, by lunch time we were making good progress, that was until Lorna, who had very kindly given up her Saturday morning, had to go. Left on my own, sales slowed down considerably, but I think I performed better than my husband, John (who does work in sales!) when he came down for a quick support stint.

I was well supplied with coffee and lunch. and by close of play I had sold around 350 balloons! I am not sure I could make a living as a market trader! I was not going to be left with 150 balloons, so once I got home, I sent out a barrage of texts ….. within a few hours I had sold all 500 balloons from the Andover release, and by the time I had completed the tyre pull at 4.30pm Sunday, I had sold a  proportion of the Salisbury release balloons as well. People were very generous and amazingly supportive!

Support Team

It was an even earlier start on Sunday morning with 500 balloons to inflate by 8.00am. We had a good team of workers, and soon got into routine, identifying peoples strengths. It is hard work tie-ing knots in balloons – and very sore on the fingers. It was rather a gusty dawn, so we did loose the odd balloon before it could be tagged, and we had the occasional early escapee!

By 8.00am, we were ready! The John Russell pub kindly provided us all with teas, coffees, and use of their facilities …. essential really before a twenty mile hike! My walking team arrived, Neil Haskins from Nordic Walking UK, planned and mapped out the route, his wife Heather, was the back-up car and emergency support vehicle! After brief discussions on the best way to release the balloons from the net, we were ready to let the balloon race start, and get the tyre pull underway!

Balloon Release

Checking the route

After the balloon release Neil and I had a quick review of the route, then the challenge began! It was just coming up 8.30am and we were right on time. The route took us along the river and out of town to Upper Clatford. We had a good sighting of a Kingfisher as we left town, which lifted our spirits even higher!

We made good progress in the morning, completing just under 10 miles, and reaching Jacks Bush before midday. We did a few circuits in the Winterslows (there are 3 of them!) before picking up the correct route on the Clarendon Way. This took us across a very windy ridge to Pitton. The next stretch was much calmer and quieter, as we trekked through the woods, past the ruins of Clarendon Castle, and down into Salisbury. It was decidedly damper in Wiltshire, with a fine drizzle for the last couple of hours!

We picked up the pace, as we navigated our way through the streets of Salisbury to the Cathedral and into Cathedral Close where we were warmly welcomed by family, a very supportive contingent of the Trussell Trust, and a few locals who were out for a breath of fresh air on a rather dank Sunday! We celebrated our mammoth tyre pull, by releasing another 500 balloons into the Southern Skies!

Balloon Release Salisbury

I know people think that I am a little balmy; and pulling a tyre 21 miles across country is not the normal way to spend Sunday, but I really enjoyed it! Neil and I completed a walk we had not done before, finding some great public foot paths and byways. There were a couple of challenging hills, but I felt really good, damp …. but fit. I had no sore joints, no blisters (apart from a couple on my fingers from knotting balloons!), no aches or pains!

After a much needed relaxing hot bath (I am making the most of this luxury), we had a drink with my ever supportive parents! Followed by roast chicken supper, cooked by my fantastic husband!

I have yet to finalise the money raised for the event, which is being split three ways between Arctic-Mummy, The Jamie G Trust and The Trussell Trust, but I think it will be around a thousand pounds …. not bad for a training walk, and a few balloons! I never ceased to be amazed by peoples generosity. When I was ‘selling’ the balloons on Andover Market, it was often the people with the least money that gave the most.

Kodak have kindly provided me with a video camera to record my training, and the race out in the Arctic. I will upload to youtube the video taken on Sunday. ….. If it is any good!

I am going to have a slightly quieter week. It is only 7 weeks until we leave, and I feel that I still have so much to do!

Pictures were kindly taken by Mimi and Nicola Dunning.

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