This was made in the days before the English Heritage folks decided to give up trying to control all the various groups from celebrating the Summer Solstice inside the circle. Having visited Stonehenge about a dozen times since 1988, I have to say that English Heritage have improved the experience over the decades. Now if they would just implement the new road alignment plan . . .
I hear from a chap who posts his filmed motor cycle enduros across Wiltshire that there is in fact a way in without having to pay. As a boy, our house in Wiltshire was about a half-hour by car from Stonehenge. If I walked for about two miles, I could pick up the express country bus from Devizes to Andover. There was a request stop at the Henge. It took a little longer but was well worth my saved pocket money. One of my jobs in the village was to fetch and carry jerrycans of paraffin from the local garage to the old people, who used it for their heaters and who would occasionally give me some pocket money for my pains. I would sneak out of the house, ride to the Henge, enjoy an hour to two there and then take the bus home... and no one ever knew! You just got off the bus and walked across open fields. There was nothing and no one there.
ReplyDeleteOne Summer, we had some Swedish friends call, who were very keen to visit the Henge. We were surprised, because Stonehenge really wasn't on the tourist trail in those days. It appears that Swedish TV had broadcasted a Japanese series on ancient monoliths - of which there a lot in Japan - and this was also aired in America, which visited the sites in Wiltshire in some detail. It was this that kicked off the interest. Until then, the place was deserted time out of mind. Then the New Agers got hold of the idea - Wiltshire in the 70s and 80s was very New Agey - of celebrating the solstices there - and for some odd reason, the Thatcher government dug its heals in and banned everyone from the site. So, it really is a very recent phenomenon. Stonehenge is only an hour-and-a-half from London on the motorway, and you can now book a day trip, which takes in a fleeting visit to Bath and the late Summer afternoon at the Henge. But you should see it in the Winter light, with the mists on the chalky soil and a hoar frost on the stones as dusk falls... I don't think there's anything quite so atmospheric.
Bear and I enjoyed an after hours visit inside the circle in 2014. It cost extra and had to be booked months in advance, but the sunset was amazing.
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