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Stonehenge
We drove along twisty roads to get through the Mendips, then on a faster, wider road through the rolling country around Stonehenge, bound for a country inn on the fringes of Salisbury that could take us in on a Saturday night. In August, this part of England really fills up. | ||
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 Our favorite deli lunch
photo credit: Chad Abramson |
We saw Stonehenge beside the highway as we drove past about eight miles before our inn, and it looked as magical as expected. We checked in, organized a deli lunch at the Amesbury Coop, and then drove back to "the 'Henge" where we and others picnicked happily in the car-park, soaking up the Stonehenge vibe.
It's easy to understand why The Builders chose this spot: it's wild, isolated, high, and magnificent. We ignored the black clouds building to the southwest. Lunch was delicious! |
We worked our way through the queue to pay and under the highway past the inevitable National Trust giftshop -- no blame, they keep the place open! -- picked up our information wands, gazed at scholarly recreations of who erected the stones and how they looked ... and then we were at the foot of the Stones.
One index of how big and impressive the stones are is that the hundreds of visitors seem to fade into the grass -- avidly listening to their information wands, standing around in slack-jawed, awed silence, admiring the Stones, and wondering at the "experts'" explanations of who set the stones and why. I can't think that it much matters, especially in that that truth is essentially unknowable. The Builders might just as well be Venusians... |
 up close, the stones are awesomely huge |
 people wondering about the Stones |
People used to wander amongst the Stones, scratching their names in them and chipping bits off to take home. Now the National Trust directs you around the circle at a respectful distance, reasoning that it's better to look at the Stones without mobs of people amongst them ... logic that works for me.
Before we'd quite made it a quarter way around the stones, a rain squall blew by, and thinned out the crowd. It was short, and we continued through rain-washed air in the brief flash of bright sun that followed. |
Archaeologists have been all over this site and the surrounding countryside trying to puzzle out the how and why. Based on evidence still present, we know that these stones, from a quarry in Wales, were barged to a point in the river below the site, then dragged up a gentle slope to the hilltop. Without being here and seeing the slope and the river below, such explanations aren't very satisfying, but standing here seeing the obvious path sent shivers up my spine. |
 another happy wonderer
photo credit: Chad Abramson |
people are dwarfed by the stones | |
 the heavens opened
photo credit: Chad Abramson |
We'd barely made it all the way around the circle when the sky unleashed a deluge that was commented on right across the south of England the next day. Rain came down in buckets. Rochelle made it to the giftshop, and I took refuge in the lee of the wall leading to the tunnel with some other hardy folks. After snapping this picture, Chad joined me and we waited the squall out. |
We listened to the expert explanations of Why, but they were clearly the culturally prejudiced opinions of modern men. Based on his research, Chad explained that this was obviously a sporting arena, and proceeded to concoct a much more logical theory. |
 Chad explains the ancient sport of Stone-upping
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 moving the stones |
The evidence shows that Stonehenge was built at least three times, more massively each time. Many of the original bluestone sarsens are still erect within the newer, larger circle that was completed in about 2400 B.C. The whole operation took place about the time that The Builders -- the official name for the unknown people who erected the stones -- settled into an agrarian lifestyle in this rich part of England. |
The Builders probably lived in nearby protected valleys, farming lower fields ... and wondered, during lengthening nights, what patterns could be found in the movement of the stars and planets to predict the sun's return. As an agrarian people, the knowledge of the solstices was the most important clue they could have for planning their storage of grain to last through the winter. |
 what they think the ring looked like |
 the intersection of major forces |
The first stones perfected prediction of the solstices, and the later, larger stones formalized this understanding and furthered the study of less important celestial events, and so the circle was elaborated again and again over at least 1,500 years. It must have been quite an exciting place to gather and admire the majesty of seasons, weather, and their own handiwork. |
Because of the utilitarian and seemingly magical ability to identify the day on which the nights started to get shorter -- even today we observe this date with relief and celebration -- Stonehenge became a center of awareness that has now been gathering authority for over three millennia. Of course we had to visit ...and, of course, we were awed. |
 sunrise on the winter solstice |
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This being our fourth Saturday (albeit our first August Saturday) in the British Isles, we were dismayed to find that not only were all the B&Bs in England being booked, so were all the restaurants. After being turned away at several local restaurants near our inn, we drove 12 miles into Salisbury in the forlorn hope that the bigger town would be less booked. Most everything that wasn't closed was mobbed. We finally managed to prevail on a kindly restauranteuse who pushed two deuces together and fed us a lovely meal. |
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