The Giant White Horse

He said:
A great day for walking, bright weather and no rain... helping us forget our sore feet... for a while. Yes, there were some interesting points on the path, like the large white horse on the hillside created on the side of an iron age fort.. But overall, the scenery today was nice, but rather boring being about 11 miles of the same thing; a road bordering a gigantic military live fire (keep out) area.
The Westbury White Horse was created long ago and maintained now to keep the proper color and shape. Originally exposed chalk on the side of a steep hill, it now seems to be covered with plaster or concrete and has a worn path just above it.
Hang gliders and paragliders were gathered for the strong, natural wind machine created on the top of that hillside. After a 30 minute break to watch the action and suitably chilled, we headed down to the small town of Bratton to see an old church and then meet a taxi to take us to our Hotel for the night.
cheers...

She said:
Giant, white puffy clouds and blue, blue sky. Mild wind, but perfect temp for walking. A sunscreen and chapstick day.
Back up to the Salisbury Plain and the gravel ring road around the military base. Being Monday, everyone was back at work and as we walked we heard the bombs exploding every minute or so. Also along the path we came across spent shell casings and targets near the woods.
Well, we wanted a rural route - be careful what you ask for. For the first four hours of our walk, we saw only eight people - 5 min. out of Littleton Panell we saw 3 kids playing in the woods, 2 dog walkers and 2 army guys near the base, and finally, a bike rider out of nowhere.
With only ourselves to entertain ourselves, the conversation (when it happened at all) ranged from the silly to the sublime.
The Silly:
(We saw a sign that said "Private Road, NO MOD."
Motors on Demand?
Men on Dairy?
Monkeys over Donuts?
Mothers on Demerol?
The Sublime:
I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree that looks to God each day and lifts its leafy arms to pray.
A tree that may in Springtime wear a nest of robins in her hair.
Blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah (OK, not so sublime)
For poems are made by fools like me -
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
On the (very) old turnpike from Salisbury (then called Sarum) to Bath we came across a large stone sign post dated 1757.
We ate our lunch (shout out to Tony and Rosemary from Summerhayes B&B for the delicious packed lunch - loved the tomato and cheese sandwiches and the homemade banana bread) overlooking the Westbury White Horse dating from the late 1600's.
We ended our walk for the day in Bratton and poked around in St. James Church, built in 1400.
The Garden House Hotel is spacious and comfortable - looking forward to a good sleep -
Cheers -
EB

May17 Photos