Vauxhall Gardens poster, A Balloon Ascent. Balloon ascents were regular attractions at London's pleasure gardens. One of 19th-century London's most celebrated balloonists was Charles Green. On 19 July 1821, he ascended in honour of George IV's coronation. He wrote: 'on looking down at the vast assemblage of persons in Westminster, the delight I felt is out of my power to describe. The view presented one entire living mass of more than a million of human beings.'
