Cerne Abbas, from the far side

I had been hoping to visit Dorset for many months and today I set off. One of my oldest friends, who was at school with me in my teens, lives in a delightful thatched cottage in a hamlet near Frampton, just a few miles from Dorchester. He tolerates my invasion every so often, as most of the time he has his writer's hat on and prefers a more solitary life.

I didn't set off until the afternoon after a few council related issues surfaced which I needed to attend to. I chose the shorter route via Bath, Shepton Mallet, and Yeovil rather than a longer but quicker motorway run. I'm glad I did as the countryside looked wondrous as I pottered up and down over the hills and valleys of Gloucestershire, Somerset, and eventually Dorsetshire, as it once was known, whilst good music shuffled on my iPod.

It was after 5pm as I neared my right turn off to Maiden Newton, when I suddenly decided to turn left instead and to head just a couple of miles down tiny back roads towards Cerne Abbas, as I had an idea for a blip. A steep drop led down to a ford through Sydling Water, before an equally steep climb up the other side took me to the next valley. When I reached the top of the hill I stopped in a field entrance and got out of the car to look across to the the Cerne Giant, which is spread across fields above the village of Cerne Abbas.

I took a few shots to give me some choice, and this empty school bus noisily climbing up towards me, seems to show what I want. I have just searched for some info about the Giant and found a news report from this morning that two school buses had a collision on the road from Cerne Abbas to Charminster just a couple of miles south of here! How odd.

I have added a closer view of the Giant to my Blipfolio, which I hope doesn't get censored by Blipcentral, for those who haven't seen it before.


From Wiki:
The Cerne Abbas Giant is a hill figure near the village of Cerne Abbas made by a turf-cut outline which is filled with chalk, depicting a large, naked man, typically described as a giant, wielding a club. The figure is listed as a scheduled monument in the United Kingdom and the site where he stands is owned by the National Trust.
The figure has been the subject of much study and speculation, but its origin and age are unclear. It is often thought of as an ancient construction, though the earliest mention of it dates to the late 17th century. Early antiquarians associated it, on little evidence, with a Saxon deity, while other scholars sought to identify it with a Celtic British figure or the Roman Hercules, or some syncretization of the two.

Archaeological evidence that parts of the drawing have been lost over time strengthen the Hercules identification. However the lack of earlier descriptions leads modern scholars to conclude that it may date from the 17th century, and perhaps originated as political satire. Regardless of its age, the Cerne Abbas Giant has become an important part of local culture and folklore, which often associates it with fertility. It is one of England's best known hill figures and is a major visitor attraction in the region.