From what I've read, it would be unobservable if it weren't for
volunteers who go out every once in a while and scratch it back into
whiteness. It had almost disappeared a while ago. Looks like it's been
re-done recently in your photo, a bit dirty from the satellite.
Wikipedia:
Up until the late 19th century the horse was scoured every seven years
as part of a more general local fair held on the hill. However, when
the regular cleaning is halted the figure quickly becomes obscured. It
has always needed frequent work for the figure to remain visible.
On Jun 12, 2009, at 15:19 , Graydon wrote:
On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 03:05:01PM -0700, Rick Womer scripsit:
The Uffington White Horse is a figure dug into a chalk hillside in
Oxfordshire about 3000 years ago, for reasons unknown. A curious
feature is that the only complete view is from the air. We hiked
up there last weekend, on a wet and blustery morning, with my niece
and her husband.
The flat-topped hill to the left is where (legend has it) St.
George slew the dragon.
http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=9329132&size=lg
(K10D, DA 16-45)
“Before the gods that made the gods
Had seen their sunrise pass,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was cut out of the grass.
Before the gods that made the gods
Had drunk at dawn their fill,
The White Horse of the White Horse Vale
Was hoary on the hill."
One of the very cool things about this list is that people keep
posting
pictures of things I've heard of but which are matters of distant
legend. (The White Horse, the Southern Hemisphere... :)
I'm with Cotty on the presence of the individual in the blue jacket,
but
there's a distant sort of oomph in it anyway.
If it doesn’t excite you,
This thing that you see,
Why in the world,
Would it excite me?
—Jay Maisel
Joseph McAllister
pentax...@mac.com
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