Ground Report Uffington Castle 

I'm not sure it's on Woolstone Hill, it's on the flat ground at the bottom of Dragonhill Lane. i.e. the closest arable field to Uffington 'Castle' (iron age fort) 

Some people have tramped through the growing crop by the shortest route possible, from the junction of the Dragonhill road with the Lambourn valley by-way, where it's possible to park 2 or 3 cars. Please take an extra 2 minutes to walk along the by-way 50m to the gateway on the right. From there you can go straight in to the tramlines parallel with the road without causing any damage. Take the 2^nd tramline on the left after the field hedge to come straight into the formation.  

The formation is in well-advanced winter barley about 80cm tall and is softly laid to a variety of different degrees. Some parts are laid almost flat but most are laid at 'half-pressure' with many stalks still standing interspersed in the lay. Nearly all the half-laid stalks were bent from the base rather than the nodes, so the whole stalks were leaning at the same angle. Some nice features I saw and which you might be able to see on the photos, were the flow of interweaving stalks in the more fully  laid sections; the chequerboard effect of the 'half-laid' sections; and the smooth transitions between the two. The formation was very little trampled and in excellent condition at 17:00 on Sunday. 

The most unusual feature was where the rings cross the tramlines. Many people will have noticed in other formations that the less mature corn stalks growing in the tramlines are typically unaffected by the circle-making force where this crosses the tramlines, so that in a fresh circle these stalks remain standing while the crop on both sides is laid. I have always assumed this to be because of their immaturity and higher water content, rather than their position. However in this formation, there were hardly any stalks growing in the actual tramlines, but there were still very clear thin rows of upright stalks just where the circles crossed them. These thin strips are actually from the main blocks of crop and are as well grown as the rest. Somehow the laying force has started from the non-tramline side of them and has left them unaffected. Perhaps a portion of the force which 'should have' impacted these first rows of corn has been diverted down the tramlines and the process has recommenced thereafter. Has anyone seen this before? 

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