Hot Air Balloon Rides Over Bedfordshire

Hot Air Balloon Flights in Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire lies in the middle of the basin of the Great Ouser River which enters the county in the northwest, traverses the rich and beautiful Vale of Bedford with a serpentine course past the county town of Bedford and then continues on to the northeastern corner at St Neots. The fourth smallest county in England, its county town boasts the largest population of Italian immigrants in the UK. Indeed, until 2008, Bedford had its own Italian vice-consulate!

You can take a balloon flight from the village of Biddenham just west of Bedford with locally based balloon rides provider The Ballooning Business. As you rise up into the sky on balloon rides from Biddenham you will see the Great Ouse River, the Bedford Castle Mound, Bedford Park, quaint thatched houses and churches including the principle church of St Pauls. With the wind in the right direction, many other attractions of Bedfordshire become visible including the Bedford Levels, Wooburn Abbey, Wrest Park Gardens, Cardington Airship hangars, Shuttleworth Airfield and Whipsnade Zoo on the Dunstable Downs.

The name of Bedford is derived from a Saxon chief called Beda and the town can trace its borough charter back to 1166. There is a long standing sporting heritage in Bedford with four rugby union teams, one rugby league team and a Town Football Club. Rowing is also a major part of the sports scene with a number of regatta events hosted throughout the year. The River Great Ouse became navigable as far as Bedford in 1689 and prompted the town since 1978 to hold a River Festival biannually on the banks of the River, which has become the second largest free outdoor event after the Nottinghill Carnival.