Talk:Willow Man

Foot and mouth disease
Just removed the following from this article: the arsonists having to cross Foot-and-mouth disease infected land to get to the figure.

and this comment

Please note the land the Willow Man stands on was NOT infected by Foot & Mouth Disease.

The BBC ref does mention foot and mouth disease but I'm guessing whoever left the comment has local knowledge. Not enough evidence to add this info but deletions don't need a reference. filceolaire (talk) 23:36, 9 February 2010 (UTC)


 * Interesting detail.
 * As is often the case, it is difficult to get documentation for such exotic information even when true.
 * Perhaps the local weekly newspaper?
 * Varlaam (talk) 16:10, 29 October 2011 (UTC)

The photo
The current photo suffers from having no scale.

Perhaps there could be another photo with an umbrella or a potted geranium or anything really, just to get a sense of the comparative height.

Varlaam (talk) 16:13, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * There is an electricity pylon and building in the background to give some idea of scale. if you are offering to go and take another one that would be great but access is difficult and there is now building work going on around it. I suspect this was taken out of a car window on the M5 motorway and I don't suggest anyone tries stopping on the motorway to take a photo.&mdash; Rod talk 16:56, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * There are now a few others in the Commons Category linked at the bottom right of the article. Do you think any of these would be any better?&mdash; Rod talk 18:38, 29 October 2011 (UTC)


 * The reverse angle of Photo 2 would be fine if we were looking at Willow Girl, but we're not. Willow Man gets a Birching?
 * I think Photo 4 is far and away the best. It's dramatic; you can see surface texturing which is not apparent in the others; the farmer's gate gives a good sense that you are seeing something large.
 * Photo 3 does not do it justice. It reminds me a little of the Royal Canadian Air Force memorial here in Toronto which is nicknamed "Gumby Goes to Heaven".
 * It's been a while since I was last in the West Country. I went to Cerne Abbas the last trip. Avebury and Silbury. One of the lesser White Horses. I would have driven round to Mr. Willow if I'd been aware of him.
 * Varlaam (talk) 06:21, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I've changed it to the one I think you mean.&mdash; Rod talk 08:16, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
 * ✅ Great. That is a more arresting image. Varlaam (talk) 18:06, 30 October 2011 (UTC)