THE HISTORIC BALLOON LAUNCH EVENT Thursday 18 August 2022
Early on the morning of August 18th on the Lower Lawn of Berkeley Castle we recreated a special event in the life of Edward Jenner. His enquiring mind and continuous thirst for knowledge led him down many paths, exploring medical science, ornithology and interestingly, the new and emerging quest into humankinds lifelong desire to take to the skys. For this event local company Exclusive Balloons supplied the balloon.
One of the lesser known facts about Dr Edward Jenner, the pioneer of vaccination, was this scientific interest in ballooning sparked by the work of the Montgolfier brothers and others. The story goes that he launched an unmanned air balloon from the keep of Berkeley Castle in 1784, followed it on horseback until it landed in Kingscote Park which was owned at the time by Anthony Kingscote. The village is situated on the top of the Cotswolds Edge to the east of the town of Dursley. The landing is said to have caused local excitement in the village and when Jenner went to collect the balloon he met Catherine Kingscote, the daughter of the landowner. The romance blossomed into marriage.
Below is an image of the plaque in St Mary's Church, Berkeley celebrating Jenner's marriage to Catherine Kingscote in 1788. It is available on the Open Plaques website (the photograph by Brian Cooper) where it can be seen on Flickr. It has a creative commons licence.
Below is an image of the plaque in St Mary's Church, Berkeley celebrating Jenner's marriage to Catherine Kingscote in 1788. It is available on the Open Plaques website (the photograph by Brian Cooper) where it can be seen on Flickr. It has a creative commons licence.
From there it is said that he re-launched the balloon and it flew northwards along the Cotswold Edge to near the village of Birdlip which is just east of Cheltenham. The public house on the junction of the A417 is named The Air Balloon to commemorate the event. This photograph is from Gloucestershire Live.
Project Launch Dinner Held on Tuesday May 17th 2022
On Tuesday May 17th 2022, Dr Jenner's birthday, a launch dinner for The Jenner Project 2022-23 was held at The Barn at Berkeley
The evening started with welcome drinks, a sumptuous meal followed by a talk by Professor Adrian Hill of The Jenner Institute, Oxford. During the evening, guests listened to the premiere performance of excerpts of music by Dr Liz Lane dedicated to Dr Jenner and performed by the newly formed Jenner Community Choir, Flautist Nicola Woodward and members of the City of Bristol Brass Band.
The evening started with welcome drinks, a sumptuous meal followed by a talk by Professor Adrian Hill of The Jenner Institute, Oxford. During the evening, guests listened to the premiere performance of excerpts of music by Dr Liz Lane dedicated to Dr Jenner and performed by the newly formed Jenner Community Choir, Flautist Nicola Woodward and members of the City of Bristol Brass Band.
.Professor Adrian Hill
Professor Hill is Director of the Jenner Institute, which focuses on designing and developing vaccines for infectious diseases prevalent in developing countries, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. He also heads a group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics which studies genetic susceptibility factors for common bacterial diseases. He is a passionate believer in the power of molecular medicine to design and deliver new health care interventions that will improve the lives of the poorest billion in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. His own vaccine research programme has developed one of the most promising potential vaccines for malaria which is currently in large scale trials in infants in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014 his group led the first clinical trial of an Ebola virus vaccine targeting the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.
Expertise:
Professor Hill has extensive media experience, both print and broadcast and including live interviews. He has worked with local, national and international media.
Professor Hill is Director of the Jenner Institute, which focuses on designing and developing vaccines for infectious diseases prevalent in developing countries, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. He also heads a group at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics which studies genetic susceptibility factors for common bacterial diseases. He is a passionate believer in the power of molecular medicine to design and deliver new health care interventions that will improve the lives of the poorest billion in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. His own vaccine research programme has developed one of the most promising potential vaccines for malaria which is currently in large scale trials in infants in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014 his group led the first clinical trial of an Ebola virus vaccine targeting the outbreak of Ebola in West Africa.
Expertise:
- Vaccines for Ebola
- Vaccines for malaria
- Immunology and vaccinology of infectious diseases
- Human genetics of susceptibility to tuberculosis, leprosy, sepsis and other bacterial diseases
- Vaccines against intracellular pathogens
Professor Hill has extensive media experience, both print and broadcast and including live interviews. He has worked with local, national and international media.
Music & Performers
As part of Dr. Jenner's bicentenary project in 2022-23, the Jenner Project is commissioning a community musical celebration from accomplished local composer Dr. Liz Lane to celebrate Dr Jenner's incredible achievements.
The Musical Celebration is being developed throughout 2022-23 and will take inspiration from, and be developed in consultation with, the community of Berkeley Vale.
It is envisaged that music from the Celebration will be performed at events throughout Dr. Jenner's bicentenary year, including the January 2023 Memorial Service & Dinner, a grand scale May 2023 Outdoor Music Celebration Performance and October 2023 Indoor Chamber Performance. All these performances will be captured both aurally and visually, and made available both online and as an integral part of a lasting Heritage Trail throughout Berkeley, as a legacy of the project and enduring tribute from the community to one of their most famous sons.
The initial musical ideas and themes for the work were performed for the very first time at the Jenner Project Launch Dinner by City Of Bristol Brass Quintet, Jenner Community Choir and solo flautist Nicola Woodward.
Further information on Dr Liz Lane is available here
As part of Dr. Jenner's bicentenary project in 2022-23, the Jenner Project is commissioning a community musical celebration from accomplished local composer Dr. Liz Lane to celebrate Dr Jenner's incredible achievements.
The Musical Celebration is being developed throughout 2022-23 and will take inspiration from, and be developed in consultation with, the community of Berkeley Vale.
It is envisaged that music from the Celebration will be performed at events throughout Dr. Jenner's bicentenary year, including the January 2023 Memorial Service & Dinner, a grand scale May 2023 Outdoor Music Celebration Performance and October 2023 Indoor Chamber Performance. All these performances will be captured both aurally and visually, and made available both online and as an integral part of a lasting Heritage Trail throughout Berkeley, as a legacy of the project and enduring tribute from the community to one of their most famous sons.
The initial musical ideas and themes for the work were performed for the very first time at the Jenner Project Launch Dinner by City Of Bristol Brass Quintet, Jenner Community Choir and solo flautist Nicola Woodward.
Further information on Dr Liz Lane is available here