This totally unique 90-minute historical walking tour will treat you to an entertaining part of Oxford’s history that is rarely mentioned on traditional walking tours. Walking through city centre locations including Christ Church Meadow and Oxford High Street, you will see the history of the first ever aerial flight by an English man, James Sadler, come to life in the green spaces and bustling streets of Oxford city centre, almost 240 years to the day that Sadler took flight.

Sadler’s fascinating story – one time pastry cook, naval chemist, laboratory technician and hot-air balloonist – will be revealed as you tour locations in the city associated with his eventful life. Find out how this ‘King of All Balloons’, who designed engines, guns and ‘Philosophical Fireworks’, was disparaged by Oxford University academics and ultimately died impoverished.

You will also discover the story of the first English woman ever to fly and the first British woman to fly solo, Margaret Graham. Find out about her hot-air balloon flight from Oxford and the many ballooning accidents she was involved in across her colourful career.

As part of the tour, you will see: Christ Church Meadow; the sites of famous experiments by Sadler; a view into the University of Oxford Botanic Garden, the site of the first manned balloon launches; Sadler’s family pastry shop on the High Street; Sadler’s final resting place – plus more historic Oxford locations.

£10