Pic: BNPS.CO.UK

This London reports that the Cerne Abbas Giant has suffered as a result of the increase in wet weather we are getting here in the UK. As you can see from the picture to the left, the archetypal image of the Dagda (if that is who he represents), has almost disappeared under the rapidly growing grass. And thanks to a decline in sheep farming in the surrounding area, the flock that traditionally graze on the site have been unavailable to provide the giant figure with its annual trim.

Traditionally the National Trust introduces local animals to the area near the Dorset village of Cerne Abbas during the spring and summer months to keep the grass down.

Environmentalists are now calling on the National Trust to find replacement sheep for the hillside or have it cut back by human hands.

Pic: BNPS.CO.UK

They report that Rodney Legg, chairman of the Open Spaces Society, said: We have had a very wet start to the summer and the grass and weeds have grown vigorously. This year the giant has gone from being a white icon, through a green man stage, into the invisible man. We need more sheep on the site or it needs the village to take him into their care by trimming the grass, weeding the trenches and whitewashing them.

Its original purpose is also unclear but traditionally it has been viewed as a fertility symbol.

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