WESTBURY’S community effort to clean and paint the White Horse was recently aired to the nation, as part of Michael Portillo’s ‘Great British Railway Journeys’ on BBC2.
The documentary series sees the broadcaster, journalist, and former cabinet minister travel around the country by train. After arriving at Westbury Station, Michael Portillo donned a pair of overalls and joined volunteers to put the finishing touches to the White Horse. He also interviewed Steve Carrington, who led the Rotary project.
Speaking last week, Steve said, “It’s nice for Westbury to be featured and recognised, and for those people who knew nothing about Westbury, hopefully it will encourage them to come and have a look.”
Susan Hill-Bird, president of Westbury Rotary Club said, “I was slightly disappointed there wasn’t more made of the Rotary initiative and involvement, but the programme was about the railway rather than us.
“It’s always nice to see Westbury presented and recognised as a [railway] hub.”
Keeping the horse clean in the future
Further work on the jointing is anticipated to take place in May, and money has been set aside to ensure the horse can be maintained in the future.
Steve Carrington said, “We’ve got money in the fund, the council has set some money aside as well. Given that we’ve got a lot of the gear already, and there’s a reasonable amount of money, we’re quite well set.
“It will be interesting to see how the horse fares over the summer. The thing we have the biggest problem with is the algae, and that grows when it’s moist and warm. I hope the fact that we used high temperature steam will have killed the spores, and the naturally inhibiting nature of the paint, will keep it clean.”
