Ride a cock-horse to... Wiltshire

“Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,
To see a fine lady upon a white horse...” Actually to see a white horse, you better go not to Banbury, but to Wiltshire. This English county, infamous for Stonehenge, has about 14 chalk carved stallions on its grassy slopes, which is far more than in any other county. Some of them weren’t spared by the time and weather, but the others are quite conspicuous. The white horse near Cherhill, the biggest one in Wiltshire, can be spotted not only from the A4, but from 30 miles (50 km) away. It owes its appearance to eccentric Dr Christopher Aslop, who was directing the process of cutting the horse in the old 1780s. Shouting the instructions through the megaphone at the distance of 1,5 miles (about 2,5 km), not only he gained the reputation of a weirdo, but also acquired the nickname “mad doctor”.

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