THE Rotary Club of Westbury recently handed over a cheque for £5,000 to support English Heritage’s efforts to keep the Westbury White Horse clean.
The White Horse was last cleaned in July of last year and English Heritage, which is responsible for the cleaning of the local landmark, says it estimates that the restorative work costs in the region of £70,000.\
The Rotary Club says, “At a recent meeting we had a presentation by Ed McGregor. Ed is the English Heritage free sites partnership manager, for the West of England.
“Ed talked about the history of the White Horse, the recent and historical cleaning efforts, the methodology of cleaning and maintaining the White Horse and how Rotary can help in the future. He was questioned about the viability of the current cleaning regime and the expected longevity of the new whitened surface. The current surface is expected to last a long time with a preventative clean in five years.
“Ed did explain how the current surface of the horse had to adhere to stringent ecological constraints as the area is a site of special scientific interest. Following the most informative talk, the president of Westbury Rotary, Elizabeth Webbe, presented Ed with a cheque for £5,000.
“This will go a long way in offsetting the cost of the restorative work which was estimated by Ed to be in the region of £70,000. The cheque was presented with the Westbury mayor Mike Sutton in attendance. Ed travelled from Bristol to give the talk and was accompanied by his two young children who were extremely well behaved!”
