The Uffington White Horse and Wayland's Smithy

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Landscapism L
Landscapism Dec 12, 2013 21:17:43

"I write with very cold hands, the White Horse twenty to thirty yards below me to my right ... and the sun breaks through suddenly and warms my aching soul. Long shadows across the man-made fortifications below - long shadows and a Blakean arc of rays cuts the cold and draws me into its eternal glow ... Earthworks abound and I cannot help but scan the horizon ... The shadows lengthen and more peace ... White chalk routes cut these hills and stalk out this endless greenery. Greenery. Ha, ha! A delirious man awake and awash in a sea of green."

So reads Julian Cope's entry for Uffington White Horse in his survey of the sites of Megalithic Britain, The Modern Antiquarian; and I share Cope's cold hands and sense of awakeness as I view the same scene on a day of equally long shadows and arcing sunlight.

Read full blog post at: http://landscapism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/landscape-in-particular-uffington-white.html

T tjj
tjj Dec 12, 2013 21:44:58
Replying to Landscapism

Landscapism wrote:
"I write with very cold hands, the White Horse twenty to thirty yards below me to my right ... and the sun breaks through suddenly and warms my aching soul. Long shadows across the man-made fortifications below - long shadows and a Blakean arc of rays cuts the cold and draws me into its eternal glow ... Earthworks abound and I cannot help but scan the horizon ... The shadows lengthen and more peace ... White chalk routes cut these hills and stalk out this endless greenery. Greenery. Ha, ha! A delirious man awake and awash in a sea of green."

So reads Julian Cope's entry for Uffington White Horse in his survey of the sites of Megalithic Britain, The Modern Antiquarian; and I share Cope's cold hands and sense of awakeness as I view the same scene on a day of equally long shadows and arcing sunlight.

Read full blog post at: http://landscapism.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/landscape-in-particular-uffington-white.html

I read your lovely blog entry a few days ago when it was posted by Moss http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/forum/?thread=55285&message=890200
One of my favourite places on the Planet Earth.

E Evergreen Dazed
Evergreen Dazed Dec 13, 2013 09:09:56
Replying to Landscapism

Interesting blog, cheers.
I love that area. My first visit to Waylands was when I was 17 and walking the ridgeway with some friends. I didn't have a clue or any interest in it then but a few years later I found myself becoming fascinated and started reading and visiting more places.
We went to the White Horse at Woolstone that day on the ridgeway too!

M moss
moss Dec 13, 2013 09:26:29
Replying to Landscapism

I love your blog, and this particular one captured a favourite place, once visited Wayland's Smithy in Autumn and the leaves lay in golden piles round the barrow and there is a photo of Moss the dog, sitting patiently under a tree willing me to start moving from my meditation of the barrow...