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Party balloon flies 200 miles

Karen Britton
26/ 3/2008

RUBY wedding celebrations were flung far and wide when a Macclesfield couple’s party balloon was picked up in Suffolk.

Carole, 57, and Pete Jones, 60, made sure they spread the love when they let off their anniversary balloons into the sky after their party at the Pack Horse Bowling Club.

And they didn’t know where the balloons had ended up until they got a postcard from a surprised Suffolk farmer, saying he had retrieved one of them after its 200 mile journey.

The wayward balloon was nearly lost to the sea forever but landed at the most easterly point in the country just yards from the coast.

The postcard, from Tim Crick, of Beach Farm in Benacre, Beccles, read: "I hope you enjoyed your 40th wedding anniversary. One of your balloons landed on my farm just before the sea (200 yards away), which is the most easterly farm in the country."

We can only imagine what the baffling balloon must have seen on its voyage East, setting out over The Peaks, taking in the sights of port-town King’s Lynn and sailing over the sleepy East Anglia farmland before lowering into Lowestoft.

Carole and Pete’s long-distance party guest tracked them down from the details on the balloon.

Carole said: "We got a postcard from the farmer who found our balloon and were amazed. It made the anniversary all the more special finding out how far our balloon had flown.

"It could not have gone further without being lost and it really had done well to get there."

The happy couple, of Brooke Street, were married in 1968 and met in the Sun Inn pub, which they took over from Carole’s parents in 1979.

Their ruby wedding bash was a great success, with guests making donations for Christie Hospital totalling £1, 287.

Carole, an ex-Silk Queen, added: "I am Macclesfield born and bred and Pete was born in Yorkshire but moved here when he was 12.

"I think after 48 years here he can be called a Macclesfield man."

The couple, parents to Laura, 38, Lisa, 37, Carrie Archer, 27 and Lynsey, 26, are both retired now. But Carole used to work at Astra Zeneca and Pete was a window fitter for East Cheshire Glass for 18 years.

Carole added: "We had all our family and friends at the party, we packed out the room. Our nine grandchildren and four daughters were all there as well as friends from all over, from Tenerife, Belfast, and the south of England.

"It was a wonderful occasion."

Carole and Pete would like to thank all those who gave donations for the hospital.a