From Edbrooke Road, 4th April 2010

A very similar shot to the last, a tethered black pair aloft on a fine sunny spring day. It was Easter day too, which meant that a slew of the larger local shops were shut, turning what should have been a simple trip into a wearying trudge around various small shops. These two drifted high over the road as we were just arriving home at the end of it all, which would have been welcome enough even without them.

From Granby Street, Leicester, 21st March 2010

If snagged balloons are now deemed too unfleeting for the future, too easy to snap and compose in their entrapment, the airborne remain the most difficult, and remain. The sunlit brickwork and clear blue sky make this, for me, prettier than many of the snatched shots of the windblown. It was a truly warm spring day and my last trip to Leicester for a while, and I hope the new season brings the balloons out in London.

Upper King Street, Leicester, 24th February 2010

I've been in Leicester a lot recently, but I didn't take this one myself. The one person who could draw me there every other weekend from my London idyll is now the fifth to send me a balloon. London suffered a dearth of Valentine's Day balloons compared to previous years (or perhaps the denizens of Maida Vale are not so keen to declare love in such a manner, or lose their tokens so carelessly to the air if they do), so it was good to learn that that paucity wasn't universal.

It has been a winter of balloons snagged in bare branches. I suspect their relative abundance is due to their stability and longevity, two features that set them apart from the other balloons here. Not fleeting, and with their fragility out of reach, they've lost their appeal, their challenge and their joy. So this will be the last snagged balloon. I toyed with the idea of deleting the others, but a few of them are favourites for various reasons, so they remain, but end here, at 45.

Glenelg Road, 19th February 2010

Back for a night visiting friends on my old road, I was greeted on my arrival by this free-standing brown, whose helium content was just enough to keep it upright on its plastic pedestal, but not enough to lift it aloft. As such it hopped and dragged itself along on the gentle breeze, almost falling over as it went only to be righted by buoyancy each time. It didn't hop too far either - when I left later on it had made it just a few metres, and had retained its proud posture to boot.

Off Waterloo Way, Leicester, 12th February 2010

I had barely left the station when Leicester's prolific streak was extended. This white had clearly rolled through something pretty sticky on its way to this secluded corner, and as there was no obvious tar pit around it must have rolled some distance from it too. To remain on the surface of the balloon in such a discrete line the substance must have been fairly viscous, which means that the balloon itself must have been travelling quite quickly to have made it through it at all. Most odd. This one, then, will go down as one of the mysteries.

Wingate Road, 4th February 2010

And finally, the first grounded balloon for months! This yellow was not an easy capture - I spotted it rolling around in front of some garages and stooped to snap, but the waft of a passing car picked it up and tumbled it roadwards. I stalked after it but had lost it, and wandered around curious awhile, sure it hadn't been popped under tyre, when I saw it hiding highlighted by the headlights of a passing car. It was too dark for anything other than to wait for another to illuminate the elusive escape, but happily the road was busy and the subsequent shot straightforward.

Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester, 30th January 2010

The northenmost balloon to date and the first not snagged for a while, on a day that looks like spring but was bitterly cold. Piccadilly was heaving on this sunny Saturday afternoon, and the crowds and blue sky had an air of balloon about them, so this was almost expected. Still a pleasure though, especially after so many dark ensnared Londoners this winter. Seasons change, then, although the skeletal branches remain.

Monmouth Street, 29th January 2010

Back in central London for the second day in a row, I wandered between parties beneath these, yet more snagged in winter branches. The colours say "St Patrick's Day" but the celebrations have never started that early before. They were snagged outside a lively pub, so I suspect that was their source. I'll be surprised if the sighting's not repeated come 17th March.

Charing Cross Road, 28th January 2010

The theme of silhouetted branches continues, although reversed by the bright lights and only relatively dark skies of central London at night. Regardless of the illumination it does seem to have been a winter of snagged balloons, with none just rolling around pavements the last couple of months. Bring on the spring, then.

High Street, Leicester, 23rd January 2010

And another nigh on identical. This one, rather oddly, was joined in its tree by some clothing and sundry detritus.

New Walk, Leicester, 23rd January 2010

Two clusters in one tree, a novelty. Although that said, there seem to have been a lot of snagged balloons this winter, and the image of silhouetted branches feels familiar.

Belvedere Road, 14th January 2010

And more, spotted just a few metres from the ones below. At least these have a hint of hue about them, although their colour and the spidery silhouettes of the branches hardly do much to conceal the chill wintry feel.

From Belvedere Road, 14th January 2010

Another flat January shot, whose desaturated bleakness echoes one taken just over a year ago. Once again the colour seen in real life was lost en route to the camera's CCD, but one of these was red, believe me.

Incidentally, back then I noted Pantone's colour of the year was Mimosa. This year, they went the other way.

Harrow Road, from 36 bus, 11th January 2010

Heading back to work after a meeting, the photo reveals nothing of the weather conditions. In Oxford, where I'd been, there was still a good depth of snow off the roads and the pavements were white and icy. London, as usual, is warmer and greyer than its surrounds.

I've seen plenty of balloons around this area, which is a mystery to me, as it doesn't strike me as a balloon stretch of road. Shows how much I know.

Montpellier Street, Cheltenham, 22nd December 2009

It had been a week of bitterly cold weather but this sharp bright day was the last of the real freeze. Still, beneath these cold-shrivelled balloons the street was edged with dirty snow, and the pavements off the main roads were evilly slippery rinks. After the blizzards and fog the sky had a pure clean look, and its colours graded evenly down from the deep zenith blue to a peach horizon. The low yellow evening light gave false warmth to the buildings, and far far further above caught the thin arc of a dusk moon.

High Street Kensington, 19th December 2009

Shades of deja vu - last year at a similar time of year I'd seen a similar cluster in a similar tree on the same street. I prefer this shot though, largely thanks to the lights.

Vere Street, 13th December 2009

One of those windy evenings that flips between cold and clear and sweeping rain frequently and with little pattern. It was unfortunate that I came across this one during one of the wet episodes. Not wanting to dwell on this I took a couple and hurried on, although looking at the ugly blur of this I think I should have stayed longer in the rain.

Northdown Street, 8th December 2009

This pink star was snagged in a far corner of London outside the King Charles I pub, to which this was my first visit (it had a 12.1% stout and the mounted front half of a monitor lizard on the wall). It was a dark road on a slick night, and without a serious flash this was always going to be a murky shot. To the eye, though, the star added a cheery note to a gloomy night (and I mean gloomy solely in reference to the weather).