6 replies to this topic

[Arran and Emma]

It hasn't been discussed here, at least not in recent months, but we were keen to gauge reactions on the proposed Folkstone White Horse. This planned action has been ongoing for quite a few years now, but would appear to have gone further than the millennium non-rolling blue stone fiasco.

In brief, the White Horse will be one of the first things that passengers from France see when entering the UK via the Channel Tunnel. But there are huge objections from various environmental groups due to the damage it will do to an area of specific scientific interest (see here).

The design is truly awesome. In the abstract tradition of Uffington rather than the puritan Victorian designs, it harks back to a Celtic legacy that is long missed.

And for those that have not yet read it, here is the late Spike Milligan's poem on the white horse:

There is a lone hill somewhere,
Without an elephant on it,
People yearned for an elephant on that hill,
In time their prayer was answered by a young equestrian artist who intended to draw a horse on that very site.
A horse is no substitute for an elephant,
But nothing is.
The young equestrian artist was horrified when people objected to him drawing a horse on their hill.
They said it obstructed their view if they lay down.
At this moment in time one hundred local councils are fighting out his rights to leave the horse where it is,
The rest goes into the mists of time.

Now Spike was an avid environmentalist, and we like to think we are too. Can anyone help us justify our strong wish for this to take place and remove the heavy burden of guilt that such a wish brings?

[Nigel]

You are hereby relieved of all guilt. I too have thought this was a wonderful idea. And yes, I am an environmentalist and think the downland surroundings of the Uffington Horse shouldn't be touched, but THIS project, in THIS position... well, I wouldn't mind it being made of Panda skins it's so exciting.

Basically, it just ought to be there, plain and simple. The hill was made for it.

(Perhaps we could get the circlemakers to cut it out for us one night!!)

[Nigel]

Arran and Emma, when I expressed such strong support for the Folkestone Horse I didn't click on your link showing the design. Now, the thing has been completed...

http://news.bbc.co.u...ent/2955158.stm

... and I think it's HORRIBLE!
Soul-less, contrived, offensive. So I take it all back. They shouldn't have been allowed to get away with such vandalism!

We think we've made progress in the modern age, but the people who fashioned the Uffington Horse knew far more than us.

(Just an opinion!)

[Jimit]

I rather like it actually, it has the flowing lines of Uffington and is drawn in outline in the same way. The amount of surface damage is thereby minimised. This compares with some of the more lumpen chalk horses carved in the past where the whole horse is comprised of stripped grassland. A heresy to say it but most of the horses are pretty uninspiring and even we have no idea what the original Uffington figure looked like or even what it represented!
I like the new figure's joie de vie and animation, my only criticism is the jagged line under it. Is it suposed to represent water? If so a couple of interlocking sinuous lines would be more in keeping with the overall design.

[Arran and Emma]

As we said in our first post, "The design is truly awesome. In the abstract tradition of Uffington rather than the puritan Victorian designs, it harks back to a Celtic legacy that is long missed." What were you wanting Nigel? An acurate representation of a horse? A dull, lifeless figure of an animal that, when free, is full of life and brings joy to all?

[Nigel]

It's too smart, too perfect, too clever, too modern. It looks as if it has been done with PaintShop Pro by someone with a Diploma in Graphic Design. It looks as if the words Horse.com should be printed underneath it....

I want imperfection, erosion, uncertainty, mystery. England is the country of White Horses. We should signal the fact to new arrivals by something that gives a sense of the best of them. A copy of Uffington would do. Instead of a white horse we're giving them a Corporate Logo that happens to be in the form of a white horse. Grumble grumble grumble.

[Arran and Emma]

What came first? The image or the logo? This is a work of art to rival the Angel of the North. You’ll grow to love it.

Incidentally, I just read on the BBC’s site that the horse will be the last thing you see before you leave… make what you may of that Nigel!