Saturday, the 21st of June was a great day for me as I left with friend Pat, to go from Worcester to Stonehenge, with a couple of stops along the way. Pat is an American friend of ours here in England. She has been aching to go down for this annual event for some seven years now, but knowing it would be much a concert like atmosphere, she did not want to go alone. I was the perfect candidate because I am so fearless, or brainless, whichever! What follows is the slide show you would be getting on my wall if this trip had occurred before the Internet.
We made our first stop in Stroud to see a scenic overlook there, then made way for Cirencester to see what remains of a Roman Amphitheatre there. Now it is just a pair of banana shaped mounds of dirt covered with grass, but the idea was to be able to understand the scale of the place and see something that has been here since the Romans invaded some two thousand years ago.
We also went to see one of the hill side horses, but of them, there could only be one to point the car at, and that was at Uffington White horse. It is the original white horse, and has been around since the Neolithic people decided that the birds needed to be the only things to see a work of art.
Since I could not see the horse too well, I sat on the Manger, a hill with a flat top, and looked down to see the scene pictured above. I had to get a photo of the light dancing across the grassy hillsides.
Thirsty, we then made way to a pub for a quick drink in the garden. Over the road we saw this cottage arrangement which looked kind of funny with a palm tree superimposed in front of it. It just seemed a little out of place, like Americans in England.
Sillbury Hill is just south of Avebury, and is the largest manmade hill in Europe. It was originally constructed in the Neolithic period, and has been explored in the 18th Century, and in the 20th Century. No clues have been found to indicate the reason it was actually built!
At the top of the hill in this picture, you can see a man on the right side of the flat spot, giving you some idea of just how big of a hill that seems to have been built for no apparent reason.
Passing under this rail bridge, we got the impression that they wanted us to see that it was there.
After passing through a firing range where the British Army practices with their tanks, we got to this. When I say passing through the range, I really mean we were going over tank crossing signs and past warnings not to enter if the big red flags were on display, as they were that day. Anyway, we wondered of course if we were far enough away by the time we got in line to go into the parking for the big event at Stonehenge. We did not get blown up, so we think we were okay.
After entering the car park as the 1.123rd car to enter, we looked back to see the sun was soon going to set over the very long queue that still remained. In all, some 6,500 cars filled the lot that night. So we were early!
The sun is getting closer to the horizon, and we were not yet in a hurry to get out to the Henge.
When we did get there, we found someone who could answer our question about what time the sun would come up. as it was, I asked none other than Merlin, who is the Magician and time keeper in the modern Druid world. He is also number 2 in the Stonehenge Druids. If you look carefully, you can probably guess which one he is in this picture.
Stonehenge itself was filled with a Rave all night long. There were drums being banged non-stop literally all night. The atmosphere was energetic and I found it easy to stay up all night. Especially as we were asked twice if we had any drugs for sale. I have too much camera gear to fall asleep with it at my side in this place!
People were peeing everywhere because of how long the queues were to the loo’s. In fact, a girl slid into the ditch right in front of us and debagged and did her business while people walked around her. It was astounding!
Pat suggested I go into the Henge to get some photos, and experience the real focus of the all night event. Well, that is what I came here for!
In addition to the provided lighting, someone brought a flare.
What an amazing place to be! People are only allowed in to the actual stones four times a year. Few visitors ever get to touch the stones themselves. As for me, I set my camera on one to get these photos. Apart from that, I made sure to keep off them. The results were at times amazing!
There is no question where this picture was taken.
Did I tell you the queues to the loo’s were long? This was only the smaller of the two sets, and the line was shorter here.
0; It was a favourite place of ours.
Pat chilling after a nap, and enjoying the atmosphere of one of the greatest nights ever, but not really fitting in…
…as you can plainly see. These girls were fairly typical of the revellers. Many were dressed in clothes one might consider not wearing to meet the parents in.
King Arthur dressed as King Arthur does, and who is going to question or criticize that? After all, he is the number one guy in the Stonehenge Druids.
After watching the Sunrise Ceremony and taking the Druidian Oath, we made our way back to Sillbury Hill and neighbouring West Kennet Longbarrow. Ancient Druids were buried here, and flowers are still placed on the gravesite today. Sorry for just sort of skipping to this, but surely you are getting tired!
Pat was so happy that at West Kennet Longbarrow, someone had nicely put in a crop circle. She wanted her picture with it, and I wanted pictures of it, so that worked out kind of nicely.
What a nice touch for our Solstice Celebration! You can see a guy in the bottom of the circle. He nicely stood there to again give you some scale. I am not one who subscribes to the idea that aliens did it. Someone is laughing hard today! Ockham’s Razor!
I hope that you enjoyed the photos! Of course, I have put them up for sale on my website, if you are interested!
By the way, I slept most of the way home. Thanks to Pat Gildea! This was one hell of a trip!