CFPR Field Reports

Barbury Castle, Nr Swindon, Wilts. 27/5/01

A field of young Barley, not far from the ever popular circle
site of Barbury Castle has become the venue for the first of
the seasons formations in this most pleasing of mediums.

Situated half mile or so from the actual site of Barbury Castle
lies the formation that, at a glance has the appearance of being
at least a couple of days old, this we can ascertain by the way
most of the crop that was originally laid down has now sprung
back up to its pre-circle position. With the aforementioned in
mind the reader can easily gather how much of a task it can be
to get an accurate understanding of what one is standing in.
However due to the relative simplicity of the design we were
able to get a good feel for this new arrival.

What we have is a set circles and triangles arranged in such a
way that one is rather reminded of the feel and flavor from a
couple of the previous seasons formations, namely Bishops
Cannings Down (A361) and the East Field harlequin. Overall
this new formation looks and feels good and I'm sure from an
aerial perspective the design will hang together in a very
pleasing way. Due to time constraints we were only able to
acquire scant measurements so all we can say is that the
formation spans some 200ft in diameter and is a rather
impressive undertaking that is sure to give observers of the
phenomenon a lift. A huge shame this one was not seen on
the day of arrival, the finesse of a true formation in young
barley can be absolutely stunning.

The hills are alive (and OPEN)

As we arrived at the formation we were very much expecting
to be greeted by a bunch of "Keep Out" notices, plastic tape
across the field entrance and an irate farmer with a shotgun!
However this was not the case at all. In fact the area was very
quiet with no restrictions to the formation at all, this was not to
last. Within a few hours the farmer had erected large signs
warning people to stay away from his field and out of the
formation. Why? Because of the risk of spreading F&M.
Although having sympathy for the farmers in general, I feel
this is little more than a flimsy excuse to keep people off the
farmland as much as possible.

Due to the nature of farming in the circle prone areas the risk
of spreading this terrible disease has to be considered near
zero. Common sense tells us that if there are live farm stocks
near-by they must be avoided and all care taken not to cross
areas where animals graze. The plain fact is that the vast
majority of crop circles can be accessed with no need to go
anywhere near farm animals.

One gets the feeling that a lot of farmers will be jumping on
the bandwagon this summer, but not all of them, so please
respect the sensitivities of the farming community and seek
permission before entering any crop circle - if possible.

According to Wiltshire Police and Wiltshire County Council the
land is very much open. For further info check out WCC web
site.

www.wiltshire.gov.uk

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