Imber Ranges

I exercise my terriers on the edge of Imber Army Ranges. They used to bark at helicopters but take no notice now. Squaddies with huge back packs still send them demented. The mound is a prehistoric one. The Army looks after the numerous prehistoric sites very well with markers (which you can just see in this photograph) to keep out tanks and other heavy vehicles. The sites are all preserved but never likely to be excavated unless universal peace breaks out one day. The helicopter flew over me after I took this and maybe because I had. They are all rather twitchy up there - on another occasion the byway was blocked by a crash barrier. I parked before walking the dogs.. On leaving I had to drive my car briefly towards the barrier to reverse. The squaddie, with whom I had chatted earlier, pointed his very big gun at the car. Well I suppose they were on high alert and terrorists come in all forms including local dog walkers. Would he have shot me or just my tyres if I had continued?

Mediaeval wall painting Imber Church

Imber Village on Salisbury Plain, normally closed for army training, was open at the weekend and I went to see the recently restored traces of mediaeval wall paintings. The presence of these in such a remote tiny village in the Middle Ages points to their ubiquity. These images are said to represent Avarice. The man with a horn on his head is the Devil.