Away With the Wind

Beginning with a newspaper announcement for Expo Sussex '68's balloon race we're whisked off to Ardingly where various balloons are being unpacked, rolled out and prepared for filling with hydrogen gas. Sandbags are filled and baskets are readied for flying while spectators watch. Despite the warning signs some smokers risk a sneaky cigarette. Crews and passengers board their balloons, some trailing national flags, and they float up, up and away as the race begins.

New Zealand born Beryl Armstrong began making films while living in India in the early 1960s. For the next thirty years her output was prolific and Beryl’s films, which often captured aspects of rural life in Sussex and Hampshire, appeared at local amateur film making festivals and competitions, where they won trophies and certificates of merit. She also wrote articles for film magazines and taught her sons Richard and Anthony, who often appeared in her productions, the art of filmmaking. Both went on to create their own collections of short documentaries, comedies and animations. Beryl is also a successful author, publishing twelve novels as well as a book about designing and building doll's houses.