White Horse Hill & Uffington Castle

(A.K.A. - Is this the "best view?")

Well, on Lisa's third day in country we felt the need to check out White Horse Hill. For those who are unfamiliar with this site, it is the place of a LARGE chalk outline of a horse dating back to before the Iron Age. The grass and dirt was scraped away to expose the chalk of this hill and filled in with additional chalk blocks long before anyone can remember why. It is Britain's oldest chalk hill figure and is the second largest measuring 360 ft by 126 ft. Reasoning excluded, it is truly a site to behold as it is also the highest point in all of Oxfordshire. That being said and the GPS programmed in, off we went to the English Countryside!

Once we ventured off the A and B roads, the roads narrowed considerably and by the time we were getting close to the hill, the roads were little more than 1 car wide and considerably steep with the occasional "pass-by" for you to pull off into should you find another car coming the other way. Danielle concentrated on driving with both hands firmly (perhaps even a little white knuckled) on the wheel while Lisa kept an eye out for the mythic horse. We finally rested the vehicle in the public car park and carefully read the history board presented by National Trust in the car park area. This site being unstaffed, we were on our own for our tour but with map firmly in hand and the confidence that we couldn't miss the large chalk figure we set out on the footpath for open access. We confidently crossed into the sheep fields and stood confused by the signage.

The map claimed that there was a location for a "Best View" clearly indicated on the map .. however we reviewed the map in DETAIL over the next adventure (many times) and NEVER found said "clear indication". (that red dot you see on the map above to the left hand side is the North indicator on that map, not a Best Viewpoint location). That being said - there were signs that pointed slightly downhill from the horse location which said "Best Viewpoint 0.15 miles". So off we head in that direction despite a lack of true foot path.

The fields are kept mown by sheep herds and here Danielle points out that we need to watch our step. That safety tip being acknowledged we forged forward to find the "best viewpoint".

Down the hill, we found our path obscured by a fence line but we saw a sign down the way a bit and thought it must state that we'd found the "best viewpoint". Alas, the sign noted the cattle enclosure and we promptly saw the cattle and the electric fence. We continued along the fence, thinking surely we'd travelled more than 0.15 miles and should see, anytime now, the "Best Viewpoint." Our path became obscured by yet another electric fence and so we made a sharp right hand turn and followed the new fence line up hill. When the hill started sloping too close to the electric fence for us to trust our balance, we moved a little further into the grassland wherein Lisa found this lovely thistle. Now the English would ask why we took a picture of a weed, but yet it is the national flower of Scotland so that just proves beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Within a short amount of time we see a footpath (more obvious by the shorter grass and gravel) crossing our "cross country" route. Since the uphill walk had taxed us a little by then we were thankful to at least not have the weeds pulling on us or the now large patches of thistles brushing Lisa's legs (she wore Capri's for this expedition). This lovely footpath took us to the road we had arrived in on but couldn't park anywhere near and we crossed to take the bridleway thinking that since the instructions had said that the horse could be best seen from the sky, perhaps the "Best viewpoint" was actually above the horse itself.

As we walked this path we had a great view of Dragon Hill and could see the steps going to the top of the hill at the bottom of the deep ravine which falls at the bottom of the White Horse. We looked at each other and said "It would be lovely, but we are not climbing down that far. Besides at this point I don't think I could do those steps."

At this point, Lisa looked back . . . And saw where we'd started and just had to photograph it for posterity's sake. But it does make for a magnificent view of the English Countryside. For those of you who were not there, the copse of trees in the FAR distance, is the car park. Please note that this picture has NOT been zoomed and although the picture looks straight back, we actually followed 2 fence lines at the mid line of this hill before reaching this photographic spot. But we still had not found the "Best Viewpoint".

As we crested the LARGE hill near the horse's nose we saw a sign in the distance and elatedly read it thinking it must indicate the "best viewpoint" but instead we found it to basically state that the horse was fragile and we shouldn't touch or walk on it. Never-the-less, we could see parts of the horse from this location. And therefore took a picture in case we never found the elusive "Best Viewpoint".

Seeing the large hill behind us and thinking the "Best viewpoint" must be the highest, we climbed that hill (known as Burial Mounds) and saw what looked like a monument. With less energy than enthusiasm, but still in good humor we found that it read that it was not a monument but a GPS signal point. But this was an even better viewpoint, but still not the best.

Slightly downhill from where we were, but behind us and further away from the horse we saw another sign in the distance. This sign notified us that we were at Uffington Castle. Although Uffington was something we were going to see on the "way back" we found ourselves there long before we found the "best viewpoint" for the White Horse and thought, why not we're already here. The entrance to the castle (really an Iron Age Hill Fort) was evident and there was a great set of stairs built into the wall so you could walk the "wall" or large hills. Hmmm, we thought, perhaps, since the castle was thought to support the maintenance of the Horse, they might have the best view from their walls. And so we walked, the wind trying desperately to knock us off this high point and attempting to avoid disturbing the bumble bees too much. As the castle wall wound it's way away from White Horse, we realized that the castle was actually at a lower elevation and slightly offset to see the Horse correctly. No wonder rumor has it that the Horse leaves occasionally to graze in the Manger down below his lofty residence as you can see parts of him here or there but take two steps and you lose track of him altogether. He was proving to be as elusive as the "Best Viewpoint". As I edit this blog and review our photos, I notice that Lisa took a lot of photos of where we'd been and in particular where the truck and our lunch was parked. So for your enlightenment, I've noted those locations . . laugh as you will, we had a great walk. This notated picture was taken from on top of Uffington Castle wall (note the deep ditch in the foreground). Now that I think of it, I should have noted on this picture our ACTUAL walking path but this blog is already too extensive and we have yet to find the "best viewpoint" so onward and upward.

The map shows a lovely clear darkly lined road or footpath along The Ridgeway on the backside of the Castle and the Hill and since the front side of the hill had not produced the "Best Viewpoint" and we'd spent a little over an hour looking for it, we opted to try our luck on with the "tourist path". So actually, onward and downward, then more upward .. well, you get the picture as we are deep in the hills by this point. The path provided the walkway of least resistance . . at first. Once the path turned away from The Ridgeway to go back down the side of White Horse Hill, we stood debating whether or not we were supposed to take the left turn indicated by the "footpath" signage. Someone had carefully laid out chalk rocks on the footpath step to guide weary travellers and we definitely met that parameter. So, with trepidation we followed yet another SIGN. The upper circle is the "Public Footpath" Sign and the lower circle is our rock arrow.

Once we climbed the fence we had further debate as there was NO evident foot path, foot traffic, sheep dung or anything else to indicate that this would be a well traveled path as was boldly indicated would be present on the "useless" map. We followed the fence line downhill for some time while we debated if we were supposed to be on the path which had appeared on the other side of the fence between the slight hill on which the fence rested and the hill of dung and straw to the other side. The debate was ended when the path ended in a large pile of dung and we thanked the person who had thought to leave the rock arrow to avoid this smelly dead end. With map in hand, Danielle chose to go downhill following the fence line while Lisa chose to head cross country uphill again where she was looking for any signs of life or previous traffic or intended guidance. Danielle's route was cut short when Lisa noted she saw a mowed grass area that could be considered a path. This seemed slightly encouraging especially since it would move us closer to the Horse but on the side we'd not seen yet. Said path was not to be, as it led back to the "don't walk" signs at the Horse's head and the Burial Mounds. So we followed the slightly trafficked "path" along the Horses back down his tail, where the rope separated us from actually touching him. CERTAINLY, we thought to ourselves, this must lead below him and to the "Best Viewpoint". We had already been every bit of higher on this hill and so the Best Viewpoint must be lower. Believing we were still on the yellow path since we could not find any other indication of human traffic and since the map had been useless thus far, we decided to go to where the definitive footpath met the road we had driven up, knowing that we had seen what quite probably could have been the best view from the truck LONG before we parked. Danielle with shin splints and Lisa with her "issues" headed down this path where we quickly realized we needed to be sheep or billy goats to survive the descent. By the time we made this realization, it would have been just as far to go back up as to keep heading down. So, down the hill we went! For your understanding, I've drawn a pink line down our path taken. This picture was taken only 1/2 way down the Hill. Note the arrow of the other tourists at the Horse's head reading "don't walk, etc." . . I've wondered all day, did they find the "best viewpoint?"

Well, will you look at that . . . This path puts us as the base of Dragon Hill. At least Dragon Hill has steps which is more than we can say for White Horse Hill. And look, there is another sign. Well, the sign was simply a "keep off the grass" with a lot of other words that weren't really necessary, kind of like this blog is starting to be. Well, perhaps, although not likely, the "best viewpoint" can be found on top of Dragon Hill. If nothing else we will have been somewhere we could have been photographed at. So climb the steps we must. As we got to the top, low and behold, the best pictures we could get so far and having given up completely on seeing the "best viewpoint" we decided to get these photos and cut our losses, after all our parking permit was due to expire soon and we still had 2 more sites to see today (yeah, right!). So, we took the requisite "we've been here" pictures and if you look really close you can see some small white lines towards the top of the hill behind us .. that would be the White Horse, or as close we could see. Let me apologize that they are not the best looking pictures, but we've walked for over 2 hours all over this hill and it's surrounding hills and the wind was attempting to blow us off Dragon Hill even as we photographed each other. And we still have to look forward to our walk back to the car park (see previous photo with indicator).

Well, the road, at this point, is the easiest route back to the car park and so we set off. While walking along this one lane road with its "pass-bys" Danielle decided that walking on the small footpath to the immediate right of the road might be slightly safer. As the road cut down a bit and the footpath cut up a bit, the thought came that perhaps, just perhaps, with bated breath and hope, we might as we are now directly below White Horse Hill, be able to see him fully and so Danielle looked over her shoulder and saw . . . . . . The BEST Viewpoint so far. Photos were taken and we started heading back to the car park wherein we noted we were going to hook back up with the original footpath we were evidently supposed to take but missed and saw a lady stop and take a photo. Guesstimating that her stopped location might be the elusive 0.15 miles from the misdirecting sign at the start of our trip, we turned to see what her camera saw on her mark and found the Best Viewpoint so far today. More pictures were taken. I'd share them here, but wait, there's more.

Well, Lisa wanted to see the English countryside and I believe this trip has occupied that wish. There is a lot of history in England in the form of Castles, Abbeys and Cathedrals. But what is England known for? Wool . . and where does Wool come from . . Sheep of course. Since one of the other sites we had planned for today was the Cotswold Woolen Weavers, we decided to see the source . . besides they were wandering throughout this trek we had taken. Sheep are skittish and wouldn't let Lisa near enough to them to get a good picture and once they were comfortable with their distance we couldn't even get one to look up from their meal for a good picture. So, we've opted for this one.

So how far did we walk all told to find the "Best Viewpoint"? Lisa used the "useless" map to measure and based on their scale, we walked approximately 3300 meters or 2 miles and 88.92 yards to find the "best viewpoint" which was only to be 0.15 miles from our starting location. And do you know what we came to understand during this walk and as we re-reviewed the signage at our starting location? The 'Best Viewpoint" didn't have a marker and must be subjective to the viewer, just like the beauty of the thistle.

Having been as close as we thought we could get to the the "best viewpoint pictures", exhausted, hungry and in need of a bathroom we headed back to the truck to wind back down the hill and towards civilization. After eating a quick granola bar for lunch we headed back down Lambourne Valley Way and saw through a gap in the trees at Circle Path what certainly was intended to be the "best viewpoint". Luckily there was no traffic and so we stopped long enough for Lisa to take a photo.

Continuing on with GPS guiding the way, we passed through Uffington (town of) and at the lowest point across the meadows we saw it . . truly, most definately, and much further down hill than 0.15 miles . . . The Best Viewpoint of the White Horse to be found on earth!

So, I know you're asking yourself . . "Are you two done yet?" Well yes and no. It must be mentioned that the two other locations on the agenda for the day were the Cotswold Woolen Weavers (lovely and we enjoyed the wool) and the Roman Amphatheater in Cirenceister which would have consisted of more hills. Needless to say, our bodies are thanking us that we ran out of time before reaching the Amphatheater.

Upon typing this, I realized that the "best viewpoint" truly was a subjective statement and specific to the viewer and found myself thinking that perhaps, we'd seen what the National Trust had determined was the "best view" all day long - the English Countryside known as Oxfordshire. After all, the horse can be seen from miles away, but this location was the highest point to view all the villages and boroughs nearby.

And with that, we'll close. We hope you found as many laughs in our misadventure as we did.

Danielle & Lisa

P.S. Tomorrow the Welsh Countryside!

P.S.S. For those interested in seeing the ENTIRE grouping of pictures, please view the following slideshow. Lisa and I have our pictures combined in this photo album so you'll see things from two perspectives.