The platform art on the southbound Piccadilly line at Finsbury Park includes a series of six vintage balloons rising along the far platform wall.
The balloons are the work of artist Annabel Grey and was installed in 1983.
It was a case of mistaken identity. On 15 September 1784 at Finsbury Fields near Moorgate, Vincenzo Lunardi became the first human to fly in England. His hydrogen balloon ascended from an artillery ground – now the base of the Honourable Artillery Company.
Finsbury Park meanwhile has no connection to ballooning. Finsbury Park was created in 1869 by the Borough of Finsbury and was not Finsbury Fields. Wires got crossed in the London Transport artwork commissioning department.
