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On Saturday29th September we drove back from an
enjoyable morning visit to Cirencester when H spotted what appeared to be big
inflatable animals hovering on the outskirts of Lechlade.
We decided to investigate!
In a field near the cricket pavilion we found members of the
White Horse Kite Flyers Club holding a Fun Weekend. As members of the public were welcome, we
thought we’d just pop across the field, dodge the muddy puddles and have a quick
look at the kites. We ended up staying a
good couple of hours!
This was a weekend set up by the club for the club as an
alternative to the previous Swindon Kite Festival which they've organised for
the past number of years. The amount of
‘red tape’ has become so burdensome that they’d completely down-scaled to
several smaller events throughout the year instead. This Fun Weekend was an opportunity for them
to enjoy some kite flying in the grounds of the Manor House, without much
up-front effort. This meant that they
were welcoming members of the public at their own risk to join them. Did I mention the mud?!
Passionate for their hobby, they are a friendly bunch and
even allowed us to have a go!
Some of the members are experienced at making their own
kites where they can exercise some originality and, whilst the wind conditions
were not particularly strong enough, we had the opportunity to see several
unique designs in the air such as the polar bear family, a butterfly, several
frogs and even a large pig in saucy underwear, stockings and suspenders!
The white tailed kite had a single line as opposed to a two-line
stunt kite and was easy to fly. If the
wind drops you just gently tug at the cord and it responds. No need for all that running up and down malarkey
like a sweaty, breathy nutter apparently.
I hadn't expected to be flying a kite at any time soon and, to be
honest, I’d been hesitant when the chap kindly offered. However, the afternoon was balmy; the wind
was light, white fluffy clouds drifted on a clear blue sky and the sun starting
to set behind us, lit up the tree line all golden. It was extremely relaxing! I could have stayed flying that kite all
afternoon.
Then I got neck ache. I asked the flyers how they cope. The answer is to get it flying and tether it,
pull up your deck chair under your waterproof gazebo and share a flask of tea
and sandwiches with the family while you gaze peacefully aloft. I looked behind me. Several tents and gazebos were pitched like a
line of temporary beach huts, some with various other club and family members
milling around, preparing or packing kites of all shapes and sizes.
We filed up the field where CPT was honoured with a stint at
flying the multi-coloured Aztec bird.
This had a 4 metre-wing span and had been purchased from the USA.
We’d been intrigued by a small, almost insignificant kite,
snagged high up in an Oak branch. We met
its former owner who introduced us to the concept of Indonesian ‘fighting’
kites. These are small, unstable, with a
single line to control it. The line is
often coated with a mixture of ground glass and resin so that an opponent’s
kite can be cut.
The line made a
significant mark when rubbed along the edge of a pound coin!
Popular from Brazil to Japan and especially
in India, the object of a kite fight is to bring down your opponent’s kite so
you win it. There is almost an art in
controlling the direction of these and beginners can add stabilising ‘tails’ to
help and the big tip was not to pull the line if the ‘leading edge’ of the kite
– aka the front pointy bit – is heading downwards. This just makes it speed up and crash to the
ground! Members of the club had prepared their own fighting kites and presented us with
a few so we hope to find a breezy field on a suitable day and have a go
soon.
Probably give the cutting line a
miss first off though.
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