The weather here lurches from high summer to dramatic wind and rainstorms. At least the water table is a little recharged. The farmers will be pleased. The Manton formation is the first in barley. The first barley formation is often portentous; it sometimes carries a hint of the quality we might expect during the season. This reassures me. Manton was confident, beautifully made and quite large. First barley also signals goodbye to Oilseed Rape....
Read MoreThe Czech Republic formation at Uhřice (14th May 2012) seemed to me to be of great significance. It picks up the theme of nested arcs (particularly in Rape) demonstrated repeatedly over recent seasons. In 2010, on the 5th May, we had the complex Old Sarum formation which had six nested arcs. As Allan Brown was later to show, Old Sarum contained some remarkable number references. Then, on 16th May 2010 at Yarnbury, an enigmatic and exquisitely...
Read MoreHere it comes. The 2012 season has kicked off. And what a thoughtful start. A delicate double twelve-petalled flower. (Is it a yellow daisy?) I cannot remember an occasion when a date was so beautifully marked. The whole area seems to have been given over to Rape. Though much of it has not yet fully blossomed. The venerated East Field is wall-to-wall gold. I believe we will have another within days.
Read MoreI live in a little house below the northern shoulder of the charmed and charming Pewsey Vale. A ten minute drive to the east brings me to to Alton Barnes (a drive that passes dozens of historic crop circle locations) while a ten minute northward journey along the A361 will bring me to Avebury, again bypassing innumerable crop circle sites. This is an enchanted zone! Yet a mere fifteen minutes to the south will bring me onto Salisbury Plain, one...
Read MoreThe weather here is extraordinary. The rainfall has been low for months and there are hose-pipe bans in place in several areas but not yet in Wiltshire. The lovely river Kennet is low and flowing so slowly that its managers are concerned. Some farmers have decided simply not to sow some fields because of the water shortage. On a more optimistic note, we usually get our first formation in April and there is a general sense of excitement in the...
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