WITH ALWYN GAZE
Yesterday morning during my customary walk I happened to bump into my old friend Brian Medler. Medler’s Model Shop sits on the west side of the village green on Main Street but I found him heading down Pricking Lane towards Setchell’s Copse with a rather smart looking case. He informed me that within said case was a piece of technology that he was very excited about and was on his way to test it out.
As we entered the field beyond Setchell’s Copse Brian set down the case and disgorged its contents: a drone with a camera attached! Within minutes he had the thing buzzing like a jar of angry wasps and floating around us like a dragonfly and then up into the sky, where it whirled and dipped, occasionally hovering before returning like a well-trained hawk, gently back to the very spot it started from.
I must admit to have been transfixed! I knew about drones and how they had been used strategically by the armed forces, but had never seen one before. Such a marvel of technology and engineering! At this point I gave up on my walk and returned home for a cup of tea, and left Brian to enjoy his latest gadget!
After lunch, Brian called me and asked me to drop by his shop to see the images he had taken using the drone and I was there before the bacon grease had dried on my lips!
The aerial photos were excellent and showed a side of the village I had never seen before! But one photo revealed something that neither of us were prepared for. In the field opposite Setchell’s Copse a large symbol had been made in the wheat. This symbol is well known to us and has been with us since the beginning of the village. No-one is sure of its origins or what it means, but it is generally accepted that it represents the eight women and girls that were accused of being witches (the figure eight in a cauldren) and it has appeared everywhere, from stone markers within the church to an engraving on the Cricketball trophy.
The symbol is about 60 feet from top to bottom and displays all the hallmarks of other designs and crop circles across the country. Our finest minds are currently investigating this new addition to our village and we will keep you posted here.
This is Soddenham 