We do receive a lot of random letters and emails from our readers, most of which go in the recycling bin. But on this occasion, we got a lovely little letter from a couple that wanted to share their experience with the Long Man of Wilmington. Intrigued? Well here is the letter in its entirety.
The Long Man (aka The Wilmington Giant) is perched on the side of Windover Hill along the A27 just outside Lewes and stands at 72m (235 feet) tall. He is etched in chalk is believed to have existed before the Saxons arrived, however no one has proof of his age.
“We pass the Long Man every day when travelling to work by train. We often gaze out of the carriage window and catch a glimpse of him staring down at us and have often wondered why he is there. On this particular day, the curiosity of this figure got the better of us and we decided to pay him a visit. He was surprisingly busy on the day and found we were not the only ones interested in meeting him.
There aren’t many car parks around so we pulled up at the roadside and ventured across a farmers field. It took us about 15 minutes to get to the foot of Windover Hill and there are some lovely views across the downs to be had on the way.
When you reach the foot of the hill there is a small information board at the bottom and a barbed wire fence to prevent trespassers. We took an adjacent pass and ascended up the side to take a look at him to close up. It was nice to sit alongside Mr Wilmington and look across the South Downs at all the activity. It was quite breezy too and getting a few lung fulls of that lovely fresh air made the effort worthwhile. If you haven’t already, you should go to meet him sometime. He’s not the best conversationalist but is happy to share his views with you, anytime!”
