Field report for East Kennett 26^th June 

Rather than driving down the private farm road which goes direct to the field we parked and walked along the Ridgeway which was a very nice way to arrive and gave great views of the formation and its orientation to the local monuments. The formation was being buzzed by a black R-44 from Thruxton helicopters for a long time so it was good to be out of the way also until they left about 6.30pm. We then had 15 minutes of peace before a very annoying drone arrived and buzzed us persistently until we decided to go home, at the same time as the other visitors there. 

In that short interlude, we enjoyed a very harmonious and balanced formation in well-grown wheat which had a crisp freshness and precision throughout. Some interesting features we noticed: 

1. The whole formation is precisely aligned with the tramlines, which thus become part of the design visually. The broken circle at the NE end starts on one tramline edge and finishes on the other. Very neat!

2. In several places a thin strip of wheat one stalk wide has been left standing on the edges of the tramline, as at Uffington a few weeks ago (q.v. my field report).

2. The ~1m-wide track which 'embraces' the circles is unicursal, i.e. it consists of a single 'brush-stroke' from start to finish. Flows beautifully round the tight right-angled corners also.

3. The shimmering effect on the solid circle at the SW end as seen from the air is created by alternate rings of circular swirling and radial lines.

4. The central circle has a standing centre. As we sat looking at this, we noticed a large cloud of flies circling above it in a neat column. No flies above the laid crop (not so surprising) but also no flies at all above the rest of the standing crop! Only in the centre of the central circle.

5. The compass on my smartphone is unreliable, so I would like someone else to check this, but… when I took it out it gave 20 degrees E of N for the alignment of the tramline and thus of the formation, which looks about right on the map. However when I passed it to my friend it flickered and settled on due North and stayed there even when I took the phone back. I wish I had checked the tramlines outside the formation but I forgot with the drone pestering us.