Yesterday we headed up to the Map of Australia for our last working picnic of the year and were delighted to be joined by Hannah and Tim from Channel 9 News Australia who wanted to film a piece about the Map of Australia and our work. Bearing in mind this is mid November, we were so lucky to have the weather on our side – freezing cold but at least sunny! The Map had a few weeds over the chalk, but our biggest issue at present is the long grass as the ground has not been grazed much this year.
Work is continuing by the Estate to remove the scrub, blackthorn and brambles which are on the downs, which unfortunately pose a hazard to the sheep who graze the ground. They get caught in the thorns, so without their help in grazing the land, our Map isn’t as visible from the A30 road as it should be. Clearance and the addition of new fencing will help, so we hope to welcome the sheep back up to the land surrounding the Map early next year!
We also have a large amount of re-chalking to do, so if you are interested in helping us on our working picnics in 2026, please get in touch via our email: ww1australiamap@gmail.com as we need all the help we can get.
The Map of Australia 