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Stonehenge

*sigh*
So different from when I was last there. Stonehenge Festival 1984.
 
I've never done the solstice at Stonehenge. I don't think I'd be a great fan of 'rules'.
But I've done it at Avebury, and God(s) willing I hope to again before I shuffle off this mortal coil - it was one of the best experiences of my life, despite the local scallies.
And yes, I do have a robe. Well a sort of magical cloak. OK, OK, it's more appropriate than turning up in my leathers.
 
Stormkhan said:
*sigh*
So different from when I was last there. Stonehenge Festival 1984.
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This is what it was like when Gordon first went; (That's the A303 the car is on).
stonehenge-and-cafe-1930s.jpg
 
Which is both good and bad.
Now we'll be able to drive past Stonehenge without getting stuck in ridiculous amounts of traffic.
But now we'll be able to drive past Stonehenge without seeing Stonehenge.
 
It's not just the tunnel(s) though - part of the plan will include a flyover at the Countess roundabout to allow easier travel for local traffic, also additional junctions, moved junctions, a new by-pass and viaduct, and additional improved access roads along a large stretch of the A303.
And the old road will be turned into a path for cyclists, riders and walkers.
 
Trevp666 said:
Which is both good and bad.
Now we'll be able to drive past Stonehenge without getting stuck in ridiculous amounts of traffic.
But now we'll be able to drive past Stonehenge without seeing Stonehenge.
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You forgot to mention it will take far longer than expected and then go way, way over budget.
 
kesavaross said:
You forgot to mention it will take far longer than expected and then go way, way over budget.
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Natch.
It's a given.
Some construction company will win a bid to build it for 'a monkey' by Christmas, but ultimately it will take 17 years and cost the equivalent of the GDP of Bolivia.
And it won't be up to a suitable standard for traffic to use.

Cynical? Me??
 
The source of the Altar Stone.

A team led by researchers at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK, has discovered a secret about Stonehenge stone 80, also known as the "Altar Stone," suggesting it did not come from the same source as other stones used in the construction. Many of the smaller stones are believed to be derived from a source 140 miles away from Stonehenge, but the Altar Stone is different and may be from a quarry much further away.

In a paper, "The Stonehenge Altar Stone was probably not sourced from the Old Red Sandstone of the Anglo-Welsh Basin: Time to broaden our geographic and stratigraphic horizons?," published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the research team details how newly acquired information is overturning a hundred-year-old theory.

The Altar Stone at Stonehenge is a unique stone among the bluestones of Stonehenge due to its sandstone composition, which contrasts with the predominantly igneous bluestones forming the inner circle of Stonehenge. Bluestone refers to the smaller stones at Stonehenge, which have a bluish hue when wet.

Previous theories suggested that the Altar Stone originated from the Old Red Sandstone formation of west Wales, similar to the other bluestones primarily from the Mynydd Preseli area in west Wales.

The Old Red Sandstone formation was created around 400 million years ago when what is today Europe and North America collided. Portions of the formation can be found on both sides of the Atlantic and as far north as Greenland and Norway.

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-stonehenge-upends-year-old-theory-discoveries.html
 
ramonmercado said:
The source of the Altar Stone.

A team led by researchers at the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, UK, has discovered a secret about Stonehenge stone 80, also known as the "Altar Stone," suggesting it did not come from the same source as other stones used in the construction. Many of the smaller stones are believed to be derived from a source 140 miles away from Stonehenge, but the Altar Stone is different and may be from a quarry much further away.

In a paper, "The Stonehenge Altar Stone was probably not sourced from the Old Red Sandstone of the Anglo-Welsh Basin: Time to broaden our geographic and stratigraphic horizons?," published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the research team details how newly acquired information is overturning a hundred-year-old theory.

The Altar Stone at Stonehenge is a unique stone among the bluestones of Stonehenge due to its sandstone composition, which contrasts with the predominantly igneous bluestones forming the inner circle of Stonehenge. Bluestone refers to the smaller stones at Stonehenge, which have a bluish hue when wet.

Previous theories suggested that the Altar Stone originated from the Old Red Sandstone formation of west Wales, similar to the other bluestones primarily from the Mynydd Preseli area in west Wales.

The Old Red Sandstone formation was created around 400 million years ago when what is today Europe and North America collided. Portions of the formation can be found on both sides of the Atlantic and as far north as Greenland and Norway.

https://phys.org/news/2023-10-stonehenge-upends-year-old-theory-discoveries.html
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Very Interesting RamonMercado - very similar to the Clach-na-Cinneamhain then?

Just imagine if both stones were from the same parent stone...
 
Crusties, Normies and Druids gather at Stonehenge.

Crowds have gathered at Stonehenge to welcome the sunrise for this year's winter solstice.

Marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year, the sun rose at 08:09 GMT and will set at 16:02 GMT on Friday. In the northern hemisphere, the Earth's axis is tilted at its furthest point from the sun on Friday. The solstice is one of the key occasions where English Heritage allows people near to the stones.

Celebrated by cultures all over the world for thousands of years, the winter solstice is also known as Yule, a celebration of light and the symbolic rebirth of the sun.

Rhiannon Vivian-Irving said she and her husband James decided to visit after experiencing a solstice at Stonehenge when she was pregnant with their young son.

"We kept saying we should come back," said Rhiannon. "I think the atmosphere here is lovely. It's very gentle and it just feels like everybody is here for a nice reason."

"It's a pretty special thing to come here," said James. "There's something very simple and honest about it because it's not got any societal or cultural trappings other than we're celebrating the turning of the sun coming to this point. It's just the basic nature and appreciation of it."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67799539
 
I was one of those who celebrated Summer Solstice at Stonehenge at the 1984 swansong.
I'm not a 'crusty', I'm not a 'normie', and I aint near a druid.
And I refuse to pay a bucketload of cash to go to Glasto ... even to establish my middle aged, middle class credentials.
 
Stormkhan said:
And I refuse to pay a bucketload of cash to go to Glasto ... even to establish my middle aged, middle class credentials.
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There is no MIDDLE class brother…you are either with us, or against us!

…Sorry about that, the company keep trying to send me to a project in Tooting and I come over all Wolfie Smith.

They know I get all shakey if they try to move me out of the City of London.
 
ramonmercado said:
Crusties, Normies and Druids gather at Stonehenge.

Crowds have gathered at Stonehenge to welcome the sunrise for this year's winter solstice.

Marking the shortest day and the longest night of the year, the sun rose at 08:09 GMT and will set at 16:02 GMT on Friday. In the northern hemisphere, the Earth's axis is tilted at its furthest point from the sun on Friday. The solstice is one of the key occasions where English Heritage allows people near to the stones.

Celebrated by cultures all over the world for thousands of years, the winter solstice is also known as Yule, a celebration of light and the symbolic rebirth of the sun.

Rhiannon Vivian-Irving said she and her husband James decided to visit after experiencing a solstice at Stonehenge when she was pregnant with their young son.

"We kept saying we should come back," said Rhiannon. "I think the atmosphere here is lovely. It's very gentle and it just feels like everybody is here for a nice reason."

"It's a pretty special thing to come here," said James. "There's something very simple and honest about it because it's not got any societal or cultural trappings other than we're celebrating the turning of the sun coming to this point. It's just the basic nature and appreciation of it."

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-wiltshire-67799539
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lt irks me that my wife and l paid £23.60 each to be allowed to walk to about 50 yards from Stonehenge (exit via the gift shop…), yet Scheherazade Smiff-Braahn, the rest of the Prius Postcodes, plus any other drug-addled freeloader who can crowbar himself out of his squat get to climb all over the stones twice a year free of charge.

And as to:

…it's not got any societal or cultural trappings..
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- l would suggest that little Rhiannon tries reading a book. You know, those things that are a bit like an iPhone XXVII, except that the pictures don’t get bigger and smaller and you can’t get cat videos on them.

maximus otter
 
maximus otter said:
lt irks me that my wife and l paid £23.60 each to be allowed to walk to about 50 yards from Stonehenge
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Yes, it's a bit steep.

To make sure we got our moneys worth we looked around the museum (it has an interesting section on Stonehenge's cultural effect and how it's image is used and what it evokes) took in the mock village, walked to the cursus (passed a small barrow complex) and approached the stones via the processional way (that was on my insistence) My mate had put the app on his phone so when you get to the information boards you scan the QR code and get info narrated through your phone.

In the museum I overheard an interaction between a druidy/wiccany sort of "guide" talking some one through an exercise in connecting with the earth by standing still with hands clasped over a stave. :headspinner:
 
maximus otter said:
lt irks me that my wife and l paid £23.60 each to be allowed to walk to about 50 yards from Stonehenge (exit via the gift shop…), yet Scheherazade Smiff-Braahn, the rest of the Prius Postcodes, plus any other drug-addled freeloader who can crowbar himself out of his squat get to climb all over the stones twice a year free of charge.
Click to expand...
Get yourselves some tie die T Shirts (or Hawkwind or Grateful Dead but you'll have to take some sandpaper then mud or coffee granules to those to age them), don't shower for a month and make some fake nose piercings (and tell anyone in earshot how you saw CRASS perform there in '80 and don't shut the fuck up about it):

I invented this technique :). It's a piece of piss. You will need:

A small roll of medium thickness soldering iron
A cigarette lighter
A sheet of kitchen tin foil
A small bottle of water soluble spirit gum
A clean and dry face

Carefully heat the tip of the soldering iron using the lighter over the sheet of tinfoil. The droplets that fall off become perfect hemispheres with flat bottoms that look exactly like shiny silver nose piercing studs. They cool and harden instantly.

Dab a bit of the spirit gum on the side of your nose then just stick one on.

I used to sell and apply them for 50p a time to students in the early 90's. I also gave my parents a shock one night by walking in wearing some for a prank laugh when they had some friends over for a meal.

Give it a go Max and go into your local wearing one but don't mention it and see how long it takes anyone to say anything then explain that you're expressing your individuality against the fascist state man.
 
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maximus otter said:
lt irks me that my wife and l paid £23.60 each to be allowed to walk to about 50 yards from Stonehenge (exit via the gift shop…), yet Scheherazade Smiff-Braahn, the rest of the Prius Postcodes, plus any other drug-addled freeloader who can crowbar himself out of his squat get to climb all over the stones twice a year free of charge.

And as to:



- l would suggest that little Rhiannon tries reading a book. You know, those things that are a bit like an iPhone XXVII, except that the pictures don’t get bigger and smaller and you can’t get cat videos on them.

maximus otter
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All you've got to do is put on your usual weekend attire;
 

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When I get "schooled" about paganism by an ex-GF, when I'd been into or 'enlightened' before I knew her, then I get a tad irritated.
She'd never gone to any solstice celebration at Stonehenge ... yet gladly posts about going to Glasto.
She tells me about when the solstice happens, the 'spiritual' meaning of all things pagan; she schools me about various rites and such ... but she's published some books on the subject so she's the go-to expert. In one social media post she proudly announced "well, a lot of pagans have thanked me for my advice ...
Listen, love. When we were together, you were interested in paganism and folklore. I was an initiate. No big deal, not important. But now you are schooling me on all things pagan? You're a 'teacher' 'cause you've had a couple books published?
I'm waiting with less than baited breath for her expert testimony regarding Stonehenge.

Please note: this isn't sour grapes or bitterness in general. I'm not exposing personal 'issues'. But I resent anyone who schools me on my own beliefs and ideas ... and I know their 'expertise' is recently gained.

If you wish, ignore this post and we all move on in the New Year.
 
Floyd1 said:
All you've got to do is put on your usual weekend attire.
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Yes and the wig needs raw shampoo applied but not washed out, just to 'gunk' it out a bit.. then a quick fly by with a hair dryer to complete the unwashed hair look. Soak yourself with heavy amounts of patchouli oil, a couple of spots of petrol or oil flicked about on their clothes here and there. Most of them are full of shit. never trust a hippy.
 
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