Crop circle at Hurn, nr Bournmouth, Dorset. Reported 19th May.

Hurn, nr Bournemouth, Dorset. Reported 19th May.
Updated Sunday 10th June 2001

SITE REPORT
By Dave Haith.

Reconstruction of the 2001 Hurn formation

Crop circles stories are often seen as fairy tales but now we have a formation officially linked to Alice in Wonderland's Maze and the Mad Hatters Tea party! It's on land owned by Russel Lucas-Rowe who runs the children's' attraction theme park - next to the field with the crop circle - just over the road from Bournemouth International Airport in Dorset, UK. The seven spurred wheel shape was spotted last Saturday in a field of young oilseed rape by Bournemouth Daily Echo photographer Richard Crease as he flew off from the airport in a helicopter on another assignment. Purely by chance he saw the formation and took this photograph published yesterday (May 22) in his newspaper. With a friend - and with the landowners permission - I went into the field today to examine the formation. But from the ground, even the 'tram' (tractor) lines are almost invisible so we thought we wouldn't trample the crop by actually walking into the circle and we have left it pristine for any serious investigators to take samples and do tests.

Looking at how the tram lines have the same indistinct quality as the formation - on the ground they are overgrown to be virtually invisible - my first thought was that this was an 'overgrow' from a previous year's crop circle. But Echo news reporter Robin Thompkins who is investigating the case told me the helicopter pilot had told him that he is reasonably certain it wasn't there before Friday or he would have noticed it. As the picture shows, the formation is right at the end of an airport runway in a field where incidentally a small aircraft overshot and crashed a few years ago. The landowner Mr. Lucas-Rowe, who said the field was planted with corn last year, thought it unlikely it was a formation which had now become visible with re-growth because with so many planes taking off, it would have been reported last year.

If anybody wants to take samples from the site please contact me by email.

There is no point in anyone going there to view the formation, unless you fly, because there is nothing to see from the ground.

I even persuaded a juggernaut driver to let me climb onto the top of his truck to take a photo and all I could see was the yellow bloom of the crop - but no circle.

(We like to thank Dave Haith for providing us with this field report. He say he is interested in contacting any 'croppies' or UFO enthusiasts living in the Bournemouth/Dorset area. Click here to email Dave HERE)

"One can't believe impossible things," Alice said. "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

UPDATE 28/05/2001

Here's an update on the Bournemouth International Airport crop circle at Hurn, near Christchurch. Today (May 28, 2001) I entered the formation - on land opposite the end of a runway - with Bournemouth based researcher Lynda Greaves and can confirm the
crop is indeed oilseed rape.

Although the formation is now more than a week old it is very visible once you battle through the five feet high crop to get there. The total diameter of the seven pointed star or wheel-like glyph - to the outer edge - is 152 feet with a 16 feet diameter centre circle and 32 feet radius arcs linking the curved 'spokes'. The crop lay is complex with foot wide swirls in opposing directions next to one another and then, beside them, sweeps at right angles to both of those. There was little sign of human damage although crop re-growth is now six or seven inches. The farmer Hugh Dampney told me the first he'd heard of the formation was when it appeared in the local newspaper. Lynda who has been visiting, measuring, photographing and filming UK formations for many years, has some still photos and pole video footage. She dowsed the formation and her rods, she said, certainly registered energy changes as she moved between the rings. I did take a couple of crop samples from inside and outside the formation if they are of use to anyone.

By Dave Haith.

FIRST SIGHTING

I've just had a call from a lady in Dorset stating that in the 22nd May edition of their local paper 'The Daily Echo' there is a photo of a formation which apparently appeared on Saturday19th May at Hurn in Dorset. There is no story with it, just a brief caption.

Click on thumbnail to enlarge

We must stress that The Bournemouth Daily Echo owns the copyright to this image and
permission must be require before it can be reproduce.

We like to thank Nick Rowe and Robin Thompkins (The Bournemouth Daily Echo)
for giving us permission to use this image and their help and assistance.

UPDATE: Apparently the farmer stated that the crop was some kind of Animal Feed. The formation is nearby to the Alice in wonderland Theme Park.

The formation is apparently a 7-spoked wheel with a 'doughnut' ring in the middle.

Reported by Andy Thomas

FIELD REPORT 2

Just to tell you that I excitedly visited the 1st circle of the season next to Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, earlier this morning (8/6) Access is quite easy, just park at the Alice in Wonderland Park, then there's a path leading into an adjoining field. Carry on and when you get to a large hedge, try to stand on some wood and look. I could just see a familiar depression in the crop and tried to get to it, but it was hard so I luckily found another path to it running from the South of the field. When I arrived my shoe came off in excitement! It definitely had a nice 'feel' to it The circle is directly opposite the end of the runway so use this as a guide. The circle is still quite visible and you can see it's in a star shape. The inner circle is in an anti-clockwise direction, yet in the outer the crop direction varies. I could safely tell you that this could not be from last year because the crops are new and the snapped ones are still green, showing that they are not broken from last season. There are a lot of snapped stems and I couldn't see any bent nodes. It's a not particularly neat lay due to the snapped crop but this is also due to the fact that its growing back, with some plants in the formation seemingly unaffected (probably grew back or were mysteriously unharmed!). However, contrary to earlier reports it is still quite visible and it certainly has a nice aura. When you arrive just make sure you stand on a raised position to see a little depression in the crop. The location is very near the airport and the area is quite spectacular due to its flatness and at the time, dramatic clouds. The airport was very busy with Chinooks, private aircraft and passenger planes flying in and out. Best method of approach: A338 then turn off to Hurn Airport and follow signs to Alice IN Wonderland. Something quite eerie was the fact that the music playing at the park was "Puff the magic dragon" and other creepy nursery rhymes that certainly add to the mysterious nature of the place. I didn't see any signs of farmers although there is a house overlooking the field. The crop can get quite high at times so be careful, its not easy to get to the formation without being on a footpath/tramline due to crop density. I hope there weren't F&M
restrictions, but I was unaware of any warning.

Report by Ben Compson.