Coming soon: The Whiter Horse of Kilburn

CARVED into a hillside in the Vale of York, the White Horse of Kilburn has enthralled visitors and residents alike for more than 150 years.

It can be seen from as far afield as North Lincolnshire and the views from the top of the carving on Sutton Bank provide some of the most impressive panoramas of Yorkshire, taking in the Humber Bridge and the Pennines on a clear day.

But like any long-standing monument, the ravages of the elements and the passing of the years have left their mark on the famous horse, which lays claim to being the largest and most northerly in England.

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Contractors moved on site yesterday to begin its first re-painting in five years – although they had not bargained on the British summer's weather.

Work has had to be suspended until tomorrow to allow the cliff-face to dry out after a series of torrential downpours blighted the first day of work.

But last night the Kilburn White Horse Association remained optimistic the project, which is expected to take three days to complete, would be finished by the Bank Holiday weekend.

The association's chairman, John Bielby, has been involved with helping to maintain the horse since the early 1970s, and admitted yesterday was the first time maintenance work had to be halted because of the weather. Mr Bielby, 57, who lives in Barton-le-Street, near Malton, said: "The horse is an icon of Yorkshire, it means so much to so many people. But it is always a challenge to keep up with the maintenance – we are a charity and do not receive any funding from the Government or organisations like the Lottery.

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"Every penny we spend has to be raised by ourselves but the public have been very generous in the past to help pay for the work."

More than 2,000 litres of white masonry paint are being used to bring the horse back to its former glory, and a quarter of the supplies have been donated free of charge by PPG Architectural Coatings, which is based in Batley in West Yorkshire.

A team of contractors from another company, Instore Solutions, is working on the re-painting and members are having to use harnesses and winches to navigate the steep cliff. Managers from the Middleton Tyas-based industrial maintenance and cleaning firm have agreed to donate the labour free of charge.

The project will still cost more than 6,000, however, and the Kilburn White Horse Association has been planning it for the past year.

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Clare Mundy, operations manager for Instore Solutions, contacted the association when she heard another firm which was booked in had been forced to pull out.

"We wanted to help as it is such a well-known attraction in Yorkshire, although I have to say, it is one of the more unusual jobs which we have been involved in," she said.

"The lads who are helping out are really keen to get on with the job, as it makes a bit of a change from painting industrial units."

It will be the third time that the white horse has been re-painted after it was done up in 1999 and 2005. Chalk chippings had previously been used to patch up the horse, although this method had to be abandoned over concerns scree would fall down into the car park below.

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The upkeep of the horse at Kilburn presents its own challenges as it has been created on greyish sandstone rock – and not the white chalk found in southern England.

The annual maintenance of the North Yorkshire horse, which involves cutting back vegetation and clearing weeds from the carving, has turned into a family affair for Mr Bielby.

His daughter, Helen, is the Kilburn White Horse Association's vice-chairwoman, and both his wife, Sherlie, and son, Richard, help with fundraising and maintenance.

Anyone who would like to donate to the upkeep of the White Horse of Kilburn can contact Mr Bielby on 07533 423545.

Origin lies in Victorian times

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The White Horse of Kilburn was completed on November 4, 1857, after local volunteers were enrolled for the task.

A teacher, John Hodgson, and his pupils are said to have marked out the horse before a team of men cleared away the foliage and rock to expose scree that was then spread with lime.

Thomas Taylor, a native of Kilburn, is credited as one of the driving forces behind it after he was inspired by white horses elsewhere in the country during his travels as a buyer for a merchant.

The horse covers more than an acre and is 327ft long and 218ft high.

Throughout the years, the horse has faced falling into disrepair but its long-term future has been helped following the launch of the Kilburn White Horse Association in the 1960s.

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