it looks beautiful where you are, geeta, tell us where you are and what is behind you. it’s geeta, tell us where you are and what is behind you. it s stunning, not a bad place what is behind you. it s stunning, not a bad place to what is behind you. it s stunning, not a bad place to be what is behind you. it s stunning, not a bad place to be first - what is behind you. it s stunning, not a bad place to be first thing l what is behind you. it s stunning, | not a bad place to be first thing on a bank holiday monday. this is the uffington white horse in oxfordshire, considered to be the oldest chalk figure in britain, dating back to the bronze age, almost 3000 years old. what are they doing behind me? they are part of a tradition which dates back centuries. every year, people flock here to help with the annual re chalking of the white horse. it has been shrinking, losing weight. i will be telling you why that has been happening and saying why that is so special. first, the news, t
and admiring them. this looking at things from a distance and admiring them. and admiring them. this is an amazin: and admiring them. this is an amazing opportunity - and admiring them. this is an amazing opportunity to i and admiring them. this is an amazing opportunity to get i and admiring them. this is an | amazing opportunity to get up and admiring them. this is an i amazing opportunity to get up close and personal with a scheduled ancient monument. it is important it is done in this way because it has been done for centuries by the community surrounding it. i understand with concerns about it shrinking, you have had more people coming to take part. we shrinking, you have had more people coming to take part. coming to take part. we have been incredibly busy. coming to take part. we have been incredibly busy, people coming to take part. we have been incredibly busy, people have i coming to take part. we have been incredibly busy, people have come| incredibly busy, people have
distance. seen from miles away, the uffington white horse in oxfordshire is considered britain s oldest chalk figure. leaping across the head of the ridgeway slope, it s thought to date back to the late bronze age, around 3,000 years old. and it s thanks to the annual work of volunteers on the ground that means we can still see this ancient animal marking. yes, a bitjust over there. using around 15 tonnes of chalk extracted from a local quarry, volunteers have travelled from near and far to help with the weeding and re chalking. my wife grew up in a village just down there and i grew up on the other side of the world, but i remember reading books about the white horse and it s amazing to be able to add something to it. i m researching a book on british art and this is 3,000 years old. so i thought what better way to get
aerial photograph overlaid one on the other and that said to us that in 80 years, the figure had diminished by almost 50%. so it is important to take steps to start rectifying that. for the time being, though, keeping the uffington horse white is the task at hand, or, if you re feeling a bit sleepy, a task for dad. it was lovely to see people of different ages and from far afield coming to do the re chalking. as we heard in the film, the white horse is shrinking and to find out more, i am joined by is shrinking and to find out more, i amjoined by adrian, an archaeologist for the national trust. why is it shrinking and what do you plan to do about it. the head and neck are do you plan to do about it. the head and neck are shrinking do you plan to do about it. the head and neck are shrinking a do you plan to do about it. the head and neck are shrinking a little - do you plan to do about it. the head and neck are shrinking a little bit - and neck are shrinking a little bit over
There have been at least 20 horse figures carved into chalk hills in England, but none are as old as the one at Uffington in Oxfordshire. MailOnline takes a closer look at their original purpose.