Well this weekend turned out to be much better than we had anticipated as the weather forecast for the weekend was awful with thundery rain showers forecast. On the Saturday morning as I drove there it was initially through some heavy rain but I was please to see the rain got less the closer I got to the Naze. On arrival there was just a slight drizzle which by 11.00am was gone. The thundery showers were non existent but we did have a very overcast sky and a rather blustery westerly wind. At least the wind meant we could get some kites in the sky. Soon the Pyro Deltas were up and an there was an outing for the dragon kites which always do well in blustery conditions. Mid afternoon saw a mild panic as the central bridle on the sled lifter broke and brought the whole lot crashing down. A quick swap of the lifter and everything was back up in place. Unfortunately the weather inland had obviously put the public off and there was little activity in the kite workshop that day.
Sunday saw a better forecast, although with overcast skies but there was no rain forecast. Unfortunately we still had the fresh westerly wind but it seemed a lot more stable than the day before. We soon had some kites in the sky. As the wind was a bit smoother than yesterday I changed to a Sutton Flow form as the lifter and the large seahorses came out for an airing, much to everyones delight. With the kite arches proving popular with the public the area was soon filling with children flying their own colourful workshop kites and it was great to see them all enjoying themselves. By midday the kite workshop had proved very popular as they had began to run out of kites and Pete was sent home to get some more. Colin amused and amazed the public with his accurate and precision Rev flying.
We finished of the day with a couple of very successful sweet drops which were very enjoyed by about 40 children, all of whom we made sure didn’t go home empty handed.
Despite the weather it was another successful Kite weekend at the Naze. The Essex Wildlife Trust were very pleased as that had a lot of visitors to the centre and they had done a roaring trade at their cafe.