The glory of Wiltshire is its antiquity, the beauty of its landscape and the old-fashioned charm of its villages and market towns. But as the ancient monuments and the settlements show, this tranquil landscape has been used by human beings - farmed, worshipped, lived in - for all these long years.
This week the Defence Secretary made a statement to Parliament on the progress of the war in Ukraine. The most sobering fact he mentioned was that Russia is taking 1100 casualties a day; is it no wonder Moscow intends to call up 400,000 new recruits in the next 12 months.