British Balloon Museum and Library

The British Balloon Museum and Library is the official museum of the British Balloon and Airship Club. It was formed in 1979 by a small group of balloonists, with the objective of preserving the many different items associated with and used in hot air and gas ballooning.

The museum is run entirely by volunteers – not all balloonists – and is funded by private and corporate donations and annual subscriptions of the “Friends“.

We aim include the preservation of items used in hot air and gas ballooning.

Items in the museum's collection are at a number of different locations and are displayed through the year at different balloon meets, and include pictures of balloon envelopes, gondolas and other items in the museum's collection.

The history of hot-air and gas ballooning is important and fascinating, but it is fast in danger of being lost. 

We have saved dozens of historic balloons and built up a large collection of equipment such as balloon burners, baskets, instruments and a wide range of ballooning memorabilia such as stamps, posters, prints, cards, models, photographs, trophies, badges etc.

There is also a comprehensive collection of books, technical papers and magazines held for us at Cranfield University, and there are displays in the Manchester Museum of Science and Technology while one of our items is on display at the Museum of Berkshire Aviation at Woodley.

The BBM&L also has a mobile display unit which can be taken to events, schools, colleges and displays to further peoples thirst for ballooning history.