Equus

"The horse is constructed of quartz on Mormond hill. It is 162' long by 126' high. The slope is not steep but the design offers a good views of the horse. The horse was cleaned in 1937, 1949, 1968, 1970 and more recently in 1994.

There are many different stories as to the origin of the horse. One story and the most widely accepted is that the horse was cut by Captain Fraser (family of the laird of Strichen) whose horse was shot from under him in a Dutch battle in 1794. A sergeant Henderson offered him his horse but he was shot dead during this and upon his return Captin Fraser cut the horse as a memorial to him. Another account suggests that Captain Fraser saw the Uffington horse and on his return to Strichen he cut the horse. The exact date of construction is unknown but is around the late 1790s"

Had tea at Rachel and Stephen's and Ben came too. Poor Ollie has chickenpox but we took the boys out for a walk to see the ducks and passed this wall painting of the White Horse. Watched 'The Great British Bake Off' - I love Chetna - really sad to see her go.

Got notification of Steve's Health Service Pension with a bit of a surprise. Steve worked from his early 20s until 80 for the NHS but apparently if I remarry or cohabit I would lose my share of it. Nothing, nothing could be further from my mind - it just seems strange!

Collected Steve's ashes yesterday. It's odd - nice to have him home - but they're in a horrible black sweetie jar. Before he was ill I used to joke that I would have him made into a sand picture. Doesn't seem quite so funny now. I realise I thought he would never die!

P.S. I loved the play and film 'Equus'. Steve and I saw it together before we were married and the lady with whom I shared an office at the BBC, much older and a ballet, theatre and opera afficiando, gave me a copy for my birthday.