Kites: Index > Intro

A brief history of my kite flying, the early days...

I was first introduced to kite flying when only aged about 6 - a Peter Powell stunt kite - in the open fields of Alton Towers (when it was still just a ruined stately home, with beautiful gardens and a camp site, many years before it became the adventure park it is today; in fact where we camped was roughly where the car parks are now). In my formative years I designed, built and sometimes even flew many different kites - some worked, some didn't; but that's normal in playing around with kites, isn't it?

The kites that rekindled my interest were an 8 foot Flexi-foil and a Powerhouse Blade (which I eventually bought), while I was working at SurfAce Watersports in 1991 - a sailing and outdoor pursuits shop based at Whitwell on the north shore of Rutland water. The Powerhouse Blade was a powerful, 2 line delta which was most noticeable for its noise in strong winds (I was regularly asked what engine was fitted to it!); it eventually took one heavy landing too many a couple of years ago and was not worth re-building.

It was while tidying up in the car park at Whitwell one quiet summer evening a gentleman came wandering over holding a wooden kite reel with a single cotton line on it; looking round I eventually found his kite - some 300m distant, circling over a moored boat below us! After chatting for a while to the flyer, and watching this wonderful kite 'dance' round the boats and trees below us, he introduced himself as Stafford Wallace.  Not only did he sell me some of his wonderful 'fighter' kites - which I am still a novice at flying, so have to buy more regularly - but he introduced me to the Kite Society of Great Britain. For those of you who are not familiar with the kite society, they organise many of the events round the UK, and release a quarterly newsletter of the goings on in the kite world.

After several years of flying for fun, and getting various friends and family more into kite flying, I got very much into more interesting projects last year; which form a large part of this section of my website; and also joined my local kite club, the Solent Kite Flyers (after turning up to my local flying field, and finding them there having a  competition over 3 weekends last autumn, I felt obliged); but to keep life interesting, if not busy, I also joined the Midland Kite Flyers - my parents moved to Leicestershire late last year, and I'll visit them often (and buying a membership for their Christmas present at the same time was one less to worry about!).

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