James Street, Covent Garden, 22nd December 2007

Only idiocy and procrastination could drive me to central London on the last Saturday before Christmas, and Covent Garden was predictably teeming with shoppers. So prevalent were balloons amongst the other decorations of the season that it was almost a surprise that this was the only escape I saw, trapped in the fairy-lit branches of a tree above the hordes.

Brixton Road, 23rd November 2007

A small and deflated red one that had somehow run the gauntlet of the commuting crowds tramping to the stations. I doubt it lasted until they returned.

Regent Street, from 88 bus, 17th November 2007

As if the balloon-like shapes of the Regent Street Christmas decorations weren't enough, a clutch of genuine balloons had risen from the street to get ensnared by the decoration's support wire, where they hung like a bleak, if multicoloured, parody of the illuminated spheres.

Off Acre Lane, 7th October 2007

Oh my god, the mother lode! Evidently party survivors, I hadn't noticed them but a friend pointed them out after the front garden one below reminded her of the collection. Protected from street and residents (there are no front gardens at these flats) these could last a while. Even if not, these many-coloured escapes made my day, and it would have been a great day anyway.

Glenelg Road, 7th October 2007

In my own front garden. I initially though it was burst, and thus dead rather than doomed, but a quick squeeze revealed that it was in fact still entire, if almost totally deflated.

From The White Horse, Brixton Hill, 11th August 2007

Unusually, this one was just floating sideways up the hill, neither rising nor falling as it followed the road Streathamwards. The patio outside was heaving even in these early hours of Saturday morning, but the balloon passed without most noticing or caring. Although I must have looked somewhat odd holding my phone skywards at night, the action received as little attention as the balloon that prompted it.

From Rupert Street, 21st July 2007

An escape spotted flying high over the buildings in the very centre of London, immediately before a decent Malaysian meal at the nearby C & R restaurant.

Glenelg Road, 15th July 2007

And another, one that survived the night, although its deflation looks almost complete.

Glenelg Road, 14th July 2007

Our next door neighbours had covered their garden in balloons, likely for a child's party, and these must have been escapes. The day was punctuated at irregular intervals by their sudden and explosive pops.

From Gabriel's Wharf, 8th July 2007

The South Bank was in party mood, for the cloud-heavy backdrop to this last flight is misleading - it had been a sunny day and a sunny weekend, the first for a while. Plenty of people out, ice cream, children, street artists and many attendant balloons. I think this was a Giraffe one; the cafe/restaurant had some kind of promotion on, and had printed hundreds of orange balloons to give to wide-eyed toddlers. Not all could hold on.

Grand Union Canal, from Grand Union pub, , 4th July 2007

Another coincidence - not twenty minutes after seeing the one below, this one appeared. The coincidences ended there though; no red-garbed cyclist came past to raise eyebrows further.

Grand Union Canal, from Grand Union pub, 4th July 2007

Lovely pub garden, lousy view. This yellow brightened the grey and brick scene on a grey day. The cyclist, adding his own yellow, was a pure coincidence.

Old Home Farm, East Sussex, 1st July 2007

My birthday, although the balloon-festooned party the night before, from which this was an escape, was totally unrelated to that. It made it through the night in the pondside reed beds, but when I returned before leaving it had gone.

Clapham Common, 28th April 2007

It had been a hectic and chaotic day, but a few drinks in the afternoon sun overlooking the Common helped to relax us. We were wandering across the Common to the bus stop to head off in search of food when I spotted this one, a relic of the teeming crowds that had filled the Common until the Sun dipped below the fringing buildings.

Bayswater Road/Hyde Park, 15th April 2007

Hyde Park was absolutely heaving on the hottest day of the year so far, most doing exactly the same as me - drinking with friends on the grass. And on my way in I saw this one trapped in a tree. It clearly had enough helium in it to make it float, but its freedom evidently didn't last long before it was caught in the net of freshly-leaved branches of a large London plane tree.

It was lush in the park, everyone was in high spirits, and this one raised mine even higher than they would have otherwise been. But only a tiny bit.

Henry Dickens Court, St Ann's Road, 12th April 2007

If you believe the papers, London's estates are teeming with feral knife-wielding kids who'd sooner stick a blade in a teenager than buy some chips. How true that is remains debatable, but evidently bursting stray balloons wasn't high on the to-do list of the assorted bike gangs and Staffie owners milling around the streets that evening. Not while I was passing anyway.

New North Road, Reigate, Surrey, 1st April 2007

You have to love coincidences. I tell one other person about this, he looks out of his window the next morning, and guess what?

"If you didn't live in London, I'd suspect foul play"

Grand Union Canal, from Great Western Road, 11th January 2007

And this is the last one I've seen, at the time or writing/uploading, so it's been nearly three months. Now that I've set up this blog I hope my brain will be permanently pre-primed to notice them and that future additions will be more regular than over the last 21 months. I won't post unless I have a new photo.

I never expected it to come to this when I took the first few, or indeed the one above. I was prompted to create this site after reading in the Guardian Guide (31st March 2007) of a site called London Daily Photo. To the author of that site, and especially to his lucid instructions on how to do this, I doff my cap and raise my pint. I don't know this man, but I share his enthusiasm and I am very grateful for his unbidden help.