A sunset flight over the Pewsey Vale offers some of the finest aerial views in Wiltshire, especially catching the golden hour light stretching across Walker’s Hill and Milk Hill.
Alton Barnes White Horse - Cut into the steep chalk slope in 1812, the white horse spans roughly 180 feet high and 160 feet wide. Commissioned by local tenant farmer Robert Pile of Manor Farm, it has a wonderfully quirky backstory. Pile paid £20 upfront to a painter named John Thorne to sketch and cut the design. Thorne promptly subcontracted the digging to a local man, took off with the money, and was later caught and hanged for various crimes—leaving Pile to pay twice to complete the job! Today, the horse remains one of Wiltshire’s cleanest and most striking hill figures, maintained over the centuries by dedicated local volunteers.
Adam’s Grave (Walker’s Hill) - Crowning the ridge just above the horse sits Adam’s Grave, an impressive Neolithic chambered long barrow dating back roughly 5,500 years (c. 3600 BC). From the air, its 70-metre-long trapezoidal spine and dramatic flanking quarry ditches stand out clearly against the contours of the hill. Later known to the Anglo-Saxons as Wōdnesbeorg (Woden’s Barrow), the site was a strategic prominence that played host to notable historical clashes in 592 and 715 AD.
The contrast between the parched summer grass, the crisp white chalk, and the sun dipping below the horizon across the downs makes this ancient landscape an absolute joy to capture from above.
Another fantastic location to fly around and shoot that I’m lucky to have virtually on my doorstep
