An other item of news that I gathered from this week's Herald Express was the news that the Hiflyer, Torquay's somewhat controversial helium balloon, is unlikely to fly again this year. The balloon was tethered in Abbey Gardens on the sea front and was disliked by many here in Torquay as an intrusion. A big fat white elephant which was situated in the windiest part of Torbay and it could not fly if the wind was above 12 knots, it seemed to spend most of it's time on the ground instead of 400 feet up in the air. Anyway a few months ago there was a bit of a storm and one of the ropes holding it down snapped and flew into the side of the balloon and punctured it. The balloon was a write-off. The company who own the balloon hoped to be up and flying by April but are having problems finding a new balloon, they don't just grow on trees you know.
At present the gondola and the ticket office is all that is there to show a balloon ever flew from here. The gondola has been wrapped in what remained of the balloon to protect it from the weather. Looks like it has a longer job to do than was expected.
Someone has suggested that instead of replacing the balloon we should get a big wheel a bit like the London Eye but I have a feeling that would cost much more than a new balloon.
2 comments:
I think its much better without the ballon, we can see more of Torbay on the webcam without the baloon
Hi Ken, Lots of people here in Torquay agree with you about the balloon, including me.
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