Barrage balloons being a means of protection against German aircraft, were prone to breaking adrift, for some reason or another.  And on one occasion, it must have been in the early 1940's, I was walking along Rush Green Road with friends, when we heard roof tiles falling, and there overhead about 50 feet or so above us was a barrage balloon drifting towards Roneo Corner, and trailing a considerable length of steel cable which snagged on roofs of houses, dislodging the tiles.  Our first thoughts were to try to grab the end of the cable and tie it to a tree.  On reflection It was a stupid idea, because had we managed to grab the cable, we would probably have ended up in hospital or worse.

Ray Smith, March 2001.