White Horses

Mysterious White Horses

Wiltshire being a chalky area is home to no less than 13 white horses carved in hilly terrain; apparently there are about 24 such features around the country. The chalk downs of Wiltshire are ideal places for such figures. Even after reading on them, I cannot actually tell why they existed except perhaps for some religious connotations or maybe a local pride and practice.

We saw some while in the countryside around Wiltshire, close to Vincie and BJ's residence ; to be exact at Chernhill and while passing through Westbury.

Dad came up with his own version; an eerie one. That the white figures appeared just overnight and the local folks woke up to see a new feature in the surrounding hills. That gave Esther a spooky feeling and she was uneasy trying to figure out the possibility of such an explanation. Of course he cannot be any nearer to the truth.

The white horse above I believe must be the one from Westbury. We did not stop but just drove past it.

This one is in Cherhill. Notice the tail structure of both the horses. They are different. Dad said we must STOP and climb the hills! They climbed but I had the privilege of resting at the foothills; one of the greatest regrets of my life. In Cambodia I could lead and climbed hundreds of steps to visit the local temple; here I tried to be funny and lost out in the end. It doesn't pay to be too individualistic at times. Follow the crowd.

They reached the peak of the hill and had a panoramic view of the county.

See how much I missed. Apparently, a ' mad doctor'; Dr. Christopher Alsop of Calne ordered the works by using a megaphone from a distance in the late 18th Century and perhaps carved to fulfill his dreams. The white horse though provide a story to the otherwise mundane landscape of rolling meadows and sheep grazing. However, we must admit that the perfect summer season and the beautiful air is a thing to remember for a long time to come.

It's so lovely up there. The rolling hills are a sight to behold and Grace is too busy meddling the modern equipment to really savour in the beauty. How come they never stop talking? The girls can survive with little food but never without the phone.

A photo for keeps for many years to come. Even if the girls do make a trip on their own in the future, they may not be able to move around without a concerted effort and we are glad that dad's insistence on the country roadshow added a lot of new knowledge and experience. So if you do visit the UK plan to move around the country side. London alone has no meaning.



A close shot of the white horse really shows the chalky nature of the soil. I read that a John Shortland said that as a child in the 50's, he and his cousins used the body of the white horse as a slide to hurl down the steep chalk slope on trays or even in sacks ! Such fun.

Of Wiltshire and her White Horses.
Try and see them when in the UK.