Many people around the world are aware that the chalky plains and hills of southern England are famous for neolithic stone-circles, burial mounds, barrows and chalk-horses but there are few monuments as enigmatic as the Cerne Abbas Giant.
He stands at 180 feet tall and is the largest chalk hill figure in these islands. His origins are lost in the mists of time. Is it an ancient symbol of spirituality? Or a likeness of the Greco-Roman hero Hercules? Or a mockery of Oliver Cromwell? Local folklore has long held it be an aid to fertility which perhaps is understandable when you see him.
Above the Giant is a rectangular earthwork enclosure, known as the Trendle. Like the Giant, the Trendle is of unknown origin, but is believed to date back to the Iron Age. The most likely theory is that the giant depicts Hercules, the god with super- human strength and was possibly created as a pagan idol during the Iron Age period of Britain.
There is some evidence that the Giant may once have carried a cloak over his left arm and a severed head in his hand.
The Giant was given to the National Trust nearly 100 years ago, in 1920 and like those famous white horses needs to be regularly maintained for it is is created by the green turf being pulled away to reveal the natural white chalk beneath. Left uncared for then the white chalk would become full of weeds and grass and be totally lost in just a few decades which makes it all the more remarkable that he has survived to this day.
Over the weekend it’s become clear that the giant is now wearing a white mask in public and no doubt is club will come in hand in dealing with other giants who don’t maintain social-distancing.
It should be said that the giant is a protected and extremely precious ancient monument and though the mask has been added for the best of reasons and can likely be easily removed; defacing or modifying historic monuments is usually a terrible crime.
**Incidentally, Saturday 25h April saw my largest number of readers in a day with 2100 people reading. I might be self-isolating but the blog certainly isn’t. Thank-you for lending me a few minutes every now and then these last 7 years!**
Stephen Liddell 
2100 in a day, Wow! Congratulations. It is all thanks to the interesting stuff you dish out. Hope you are able to generate some ad revenue.
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Thankyou! I make enough to cover my domain and wordpress charges and then a bit more. I should probably self-host my blog and make quite a bit more as I think the standard setup sees most of the revenues going to everyone else but me! I’m sure there must be professional sites that would love to have 150k+ readers a year. Still it is nice to have a hobby that pays back.
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Always enjoy reading your blogs! Hope you are getting out and doing well! Miss you on Facebook!
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Great number in one day…all your hard work paying off!
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Yes, it’s incredible. I need to persuade them to buy a book or book a holiday lol
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Maybe turn some excerpts out of your books into a podcast, essentially this could be an ad for your tours and books
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Sorry I couldn’t help myself with marketing advice…I work in marketing 😊
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My original thought was to do 10 minute podcasts; I even thought after 7 years of blogs I probably have almost unlimited material with these alone 🙂 I’m not very good with marketing, hence my total lack of books and tours on here or social media!
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Yeah you could take and just repeat any of your blogs…all you need is a podcasting mic like a blue yeti. I got one a month ago intending to do a podcast too, but just got flat out busy with work since the lockdown, I work for a charity it has been flat out over this time.
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Do you work with homeless people?
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Yeah I work for the Salvation Army in NZ, I work for the emergency accommodation and addictions part of it, this area has been flat out since the lock down.
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10 min is a good length bite sized, you could also try some longer ones too 20-30 min
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Yes I thought so too, if I could do a subscription channel then some could be like a bonus for monthly membership. I will look into those microphones as I’d imagine I’d need something like that anyway. I don’t think my virtual tour plans for London will work with a voiceover on the streets with all the noise so they’d need to be recorded separately onto the footage.
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Yeah you would get a smoother sounding result that way I would say, you could then turn down the audio for the street video so that it would be minor compared to your voice 😉 The blue yeti works wonderfully, it makes people’s voices very soothing to listen to, just love it, was worth what I spent on it
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The next thing is to pick the right 360 degree camera, there is such a variety and the prices go from relatively cheap to more expensive than my car!
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That is another great one to have, you could upload them to Google places and link this back to your tours website…free publicity is everywhere 😉
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Me goes off to find out what Google Places is 🙂
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Would like one too…a cheap one for work, it would be handy
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I’ll probably get a one for around £100 or a little more. Most people will watch the videos on a phone or tablet so it’s not like it will end up on a 60 inch tv screen. I think the country can do without me putting a £4k camera on my business expenses!
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😉 good on u
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