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That Sometimes Fence Around Stonehenge

MrRING

MrRING

Android Futureman
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When I visited England circa 1990, there was an annoying fence around Stonehenge. Most of the time when I see coverage of the famed megalithic site, the fence is still there. However, when watching a recent special called Ghosts of Stonehenge there were tons of aerial shots where there wasn't signs of fenceposts, much less the fence! The fence did reappear in a few far-off shots where it was way in the background, so obviously it is still there.

So my question is: do they sometimes take the fence entirely down for events or just for filming of overhead shots? If they do so, how to they not leave signs of where the fence once was? Or do they CGI it away?
 
MrRING said:
When I visited England circa 1990, there was an annoying fence around Stonehenge. Most of the time when I see coverage of the famed megalithic site, the fence is still there. However, when watching a recent special called Ghosts of Stonehenge there were tons of aerial shots where there wasn't signs of fenceposts, much less the fence! The fence did reappear in a few far-off shots where it was way in the background, so obviously it is still there.

So my question is: do they sometimes take the fence entirely down for events or just for filming of overhead shots? If they do so, how to they not leave signs of where the fence once was? Or do they CGI it away?
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Yeah, I'm curious what any locals have to say, too, cause my brother reported the same thing. Big ugly fence that does not appear to be there in pictures.
 
Mythopoeika said:
I remember being able to go right up to the stones and touch them. Days long gone.
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It does seem a bit extreme to fence in some rocks, but you know what people can be like these days. Someone would probably spray paint graffiti gang signs if given the chance.
 
These days there is no fence, but you have to stay on the path that doesn't actually go near the stones. The henge is at least a mile from the museum, and you have to walk, or catch a land-train affair.
article-2290601-04C4FEC30000044D-298_634x418.jpg


The land train
24795444-stonehenge-visitor-centre-and-road-train-shuttle-bus-transporting-visitors-to-the-historic-stones.jpg


We walked, because we wanted to look at the Cursus and some of the barrows.
 
henry said:
hm, i thought it was bigger
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For some reason, a lot of people also seem to think it's near the sea (I heard someone say that last time I went there - they wanted to know why it wasn't near a cliff-edge. That and its comparative compactness apparently made it massively disappointing.)
 
stuneville said:
For some reason, a lot of people also seem to think it's near the sea (I heard someone say that last time I went there - they wanted to know why it wasn't near a cliff-edge. That and its comparative compactness apparently made it massively disappointing.)
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Were they, perhaps, confusing it with some of the stone circles up on Orkney? Although those aren't on a cliff edge either, to my knowledge, but some are near the sea.
 
i knew it wasnt by the sea, im harking back to my english literature a level text, tess of the d'urbervilles ... it was certainly portrayed as a huge sweeping widespread circle ... or at least it was on the cover !
 
henry said:
i knew it wasnt by the sea, im harking back to my english literature a level text, tess of the d'urbervilles ... it was certainly portrayed as a huge sweeping widespread circle ... or at least it was on the cover !
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IMO, it's the photos give the wrong impression of scale, as with most things. The most common complaint about Mount Rushmore in the US is that it's so tiny...except, of course, technically it's not. It's a matter of perception.

Don't know where the idea that Stonehenge is near the sea comes from though.
 
henry said:
hm, i thought it was bigger
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I think everyone I've ever been to Stonehenge with has said the same!

Totally agree with Ulalume; it's nearly always photographed from low down which makes it look much more 'looming'. It is more impressive from up close or inside though; I was lucky enough to be taken there by my grandparents the summer before it was fenced off, so I would have been seven, and I've never forgotten it (I'm sure me being so small helped, tbf!).

I know you can still get inside at summer solstice, but it's so crowded then you can't get a good sense of the place, IMO.
 
When I was there this summer there was a fence, but it was green and lightweight, so not too Intrusive and perhaps it can easily be removed for filming purposes or to let the hippies dance.
 
Shady said:
I thought Niagara Falls was huge, but it wasn't, I discovered that most of the time they would use the Horseshoe Falls and say it was Niagara in clips
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I haven't been there since I was 12 but, I thought it was big. Which side did you visit, US or Canada?
 
Canada, even the taxi drivers said everyone was amazed that the Falls were not as impressive as they thought, i think they turn them down a lil to slow corrosion, the Horseshoe Falls are amazing, and I have seen clips where they show the mighty Niagara Falls, and I know damn well it aint
 
Was at Niagra Falls last years. From the land it looks very "well is that it?". It's only when you get in one of the boats that sail through and past it from the river that you get the "wow!" of it.
 
catseye said:
Were they, perhaps, confusing it with some of the stone circles up on Orkney? Although those aren't on a cliff edge either, to my knowledge, but some are near the sea.
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I've just found my original post about it :).
stuneville said:
I accompanied some American relatives there on Thursday. They'd been all geared up to see Stonehenge, and I don't think were disappointed as I'd warned them in advance that it wasn't quite what they'd probably been expecting: a lot of tourists seem to think it's going to be bathed in dramatic sunshine, in breath-taking scenery,and about the size of St Pauls Cathedral. One sulky looking teenage girl in a huge puffa-jacket was whining loudly to her video-camera toting mother that "That's it? It's waaay small! And it's supposed to be by the sea! Why's it not near the frickin' sea? What a dump!!" And she was English, by the way ;).

Archaeology does have a lot to answer for on the site - I remember someone describing the reconstruction in the 19th Century as being analagous to the model dinosaurs in (?) Hyde Park - iguanadons with horns on their noses, cos that's what the reconstructors thought they should look like. Sorting out what the circle actually originally looked like should be their first priority.
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It's an interesting thread that one. Some rather intriguing theories.
 
Could be. Also there are a few new-agey paintings knocking around with generic, colossal stone circles in dramatic landscapes, as opposed to the size of a large bungalow off a dual carriageway. Easily conflated, I'd imagine.
 
Re: the size of Stonehenge - in documentaries about the subject, the weight of the stones is always discussed at length - as in "how could such massively heavy stones have been transported" etc etc. Might give one the impression of something roughly the size of the Great Pyramid (which is probably also smaller than it is in pictures. ;)).
 
We were at Stonehenge a few years back. There was a rope fence strung between small metal bars/posts around the henge. No-one could go near the henge. The image above showing the footpath is as close as you could get. The rope followd the path making it obvious that you shouldn't stray from it with occassional signs saying not to climb over.

EDIT: And even though the stones aren't gigantic, they are still bloody massive.
 
still impressive dont get me wrong ... theyve been moved a little though havent they ? didnt someone rearrange the furniture a while back
 
eburacum said:
These days there is no fence, but you have to stay on the path that doesn't actually go near the stones. The henge is at least a mile from the museum, and you have to walk, or catch a land-train affair.
article-2290601-04C4FEC30000044D-298_634x418.jpg
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For the most part this is how it looked in the documentary, except for a few far shots which showed the same chain-link fence that was there when I saw it! So I wonder if they put the fence back up occasionally then for various reasons?
 
The Wee Free Men do it
And didnt they put a fence there because people were chipping bits of the stone off?
 
Shady said:
Canada, even the taxi drivers said everyone was amazed that the Falls were not as impressive as they thought, i think they turn them down a lil to slow corrosion, the Horseshoe Falls are amazing, and I have seen clips where they show the mighty Niagara Falls, and I know damn well it aint
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Uh, I don't think there's any way to turn the spigot on the falls.
 
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