{"id":2402,"date":"2020-02-28T17:56:22","date_gmt":"2020-02-28T17:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/?p=2402"},"modified":"2020-02-28T18:09:33","modified_gmt":"2020-02-28T18:09:33","slug":"vale-of-the-white-horse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/vale-of-the-white-horse\/","title":{"rendered":"Vale of the White Horse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_83807\"  width=\"800\" height=\"450\"  data-origwidth=\"800\" data-origheight=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tC3cOHjVKr0?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;disablekb=0&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1192.2428927106575!2d-1.9790449457235992!3d51.37636732227928!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x0%3A0x56f7d189a58f059c!2sDevizes%20White%20Horse!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1582907235464!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vale of Pewsey and Wiltshire in general can boast of a number of white horses\u2014that is the outline of a horse revealed on the side of a down by scraping away the grass and topsoil and revealing the white chalk underneath. These white horse evoke a timeless sense, until you realize that many of them are of relatively recent vintage. But I don\u2019t think that detracts much from their appeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unfortunately I don\u2019t think any of the white horses are visible from the Kennet &amp; Avon Canal, certainly not from a canal boat or even from the towpath, but I suppose you might catch a glimpse from a bridge over the canal \u2026 maybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!4v1582868046709!6m8!1m7!1s8sqn9_0FCE8oe0R97RB29A!2m2!1d51.35301090065977!2d-1.851921012870059!3f6.2654276088290715!4f-13.533460225306072!5f0.7820865974627469\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Your best bet to see one from the canal is the <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Alton Barnes White Horse (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.visitpewseyvale.co.uk\/business-directory-2\/alton-barnes-white-horse-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alton Barnes White Horse<\/a><\/strong> on Milk Hill. This horse was cut in 1812 and you can see it looking north from the Honey Street Bridge over the canal. Honey Street is a hamlet 7.8 mi\/12.6 km west of Pewsey. You\u2019ll really have to zoom into the picture above (looking up the road) to see the horse, however. From the canal it\u2019s a 1.6 mi\/2.6 km walk or ride to the horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next horse you theoretically could see from the canal is the <strong><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Devizes White Horse (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hows.org.uk\/personal\/hillfigs\/devizes\/devizes.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Devizes White Horse<\/a><\/strong>, just north of the town of Devizes. You might be able to glimpse the horse where Horton Road crosses the canal (I doubt it). It will be about 1.5 mi\/2.4 km away to the west northwest. Luckily it\u2019s pretty easy to walk to the horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Leave the canal just east of the top lock of the Caen Hill flight of locks (the New Park Road bridge) and travel north northeast on Quakers Walk, a bridlepath that\u2019s also part of the Wessex Ridgeway long distance trail. You can also cycle the path, but please give right-of-way to the horses. They\u2019re bigger than you. It\u2019s about 1.80 mi\/2.90 km to the horse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is the newest white horse, however, cut in 1999 to celebrate the millennium, and is very near to a previous white horse, Snobs Horse, cut in 1845, but since faded to near obscurity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you walk to the Devizes White Horse, you might as well walk up nearby Oliver\u2019s Castle, an Iron Age hill fort on Roundway Down. This is also the site of the Battle of Roundway Down, when royalists defeated parliamentary forces during the English Civil War in 1643.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!4v1582907364436!6m8!1m7!1sCAoSLEFGMVFpcFBkNE5WT1hDTzlqenVZb3drNXh5cEx3OEtlSVAyT3Bhb21oemZq!2m2!1d51.32130112927747!2d-1.756503632780237!3f156.90583990874833!4f-20.555712002613262!5f0.4000000000000002\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.wiltshirewhitehorses.org.uk\/pewseynew.html\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Pewsey White Horse<\/strong><\/a> is probably the best known chalk figure, but I\u2019ve no idea if you can see it from the canal. I suspect you can\u2019t, but it does face the canal. This horse is also relatively new, cut in 1937, and also replaces an older white horse pretty much lost to view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can drive to the white horse, but it\u2019s best to park in Pewsey (there\u2019s free parking next to <a href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/Qtw9RkYNtmpQBGnB9\">Bouverie Hall<\/a>) and walk to it, about 1.8 mi\/2.9 km. From Pewsey Wharf on the canal it would be a 2.6 mi\/4.2 km walk or ride. Of course, then you need to walk back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d6466.4791276671085!2d-1.9329770115015703!3d51.424716098863094!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x487167487090cd95%3A0xec7b6081888397a1!2sCherhill%20White%20Horse!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1582908534123!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the white horses nearest to the canal and theoretically visible from the canal. If you make a side trip to Avebury, you might try to see the Cherhill White Horse, the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Preshute White Horse (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/8uraTLD2ptWxHd4Q9\" target=\"_blank\">Preshute White Horse<\/a> or the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Broad Town White Horse (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/iAJm7LQ7tJHTvREt6\" target=\"_blank\">Broad Town White Horse<\/a>. The oldest white horse in Wiltshire (earliest mention is 1742) is the Westbury or Bratton White Horse, but it\u2019s far south of the canal at Trowbridge. It\u2019s also a little disappointing in that it\u2019s been overlaid with concrete for easier maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d2075.417256882577!2d-2.14798311318684!3d51.26277207154784!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x4873d6dd913aae4b%3A0x3375194b7d27f1d9!2sBratton%20Camp%20and%20White%20Horse!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1582910908010!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>The most famous and oldest white horse in the south is the <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Uffington White Horse (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationaltrust.org.uk\/white-horse-hill\" target=\"_blank\">Uffington White Horse<\/a>, but as it\u2019s in Berkshire and about 10.5 mi\/16.9 km north of Hungerford and the canal, is probably too far for narrowboaters to visit without resorting to a bike, taxi or rideshare. It would be well worth the effort, however, because it may be <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"3,000 years old (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/history\/3000-year-old-uffington-horse-looms-over-english-countryside-180963968\/\" target=\"_blank\">3,000 years old<\/a>, there\u2019s also a nearby <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Iron Age hill fort (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.english-heritage.org.uk\/visit\/places\/uffington-castle-white-horse-and-dragon-hill\/\" target=\"_blank\">Iron Age hill fort<\/a> and the mysterious <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"Wayland\u2019s Smithy (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/goo.gl\/maps\/1smqCcYx3Ug6cBQX9\" target=\"_blank\">Wayland\u2019s Smithy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps\/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1607.6813842765114!2d-1.5672974478342903!3d51.57765494146184!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x487145d16b46908b%3A0xcb43953e11b852e3!2sUffington%20White%20Horse!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1582911397332!5m2!1sen!2sus\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:0;\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p>The Uffington White Horse is special because it\u2019s a highly stylized figure (great as jewelry or on a T-shirt) and best reflects the awe with which ancient humans must have regarded the horse. I hope to have time to ride to it on my upcoming trip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Vale of Pewsey and Wiltshire in general can boast of a number of white horses\u2014that is the outline of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p74kO9-CK","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2405,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402\/revisions\/2405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/narrowboatingforbeginners.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}