Stonehenge

[woodsieboy]

Looked at PC issue 412 at the weekend,''explore Europe in Britain'' feature, while the idea of the article was good , comparing Stonehenge with the Standing Stone sat Carnac is a non starter, the Carnac stones cover a far bigger area, are much more accessible and are close to the local town,the other is just a ring of stones in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere, can't see why anybody would go to there.

 

[Brasso530]

Called in to Stonehenge on the way to new forest a couple of years ago with my teenage kids,they couldn't understand why it was built so far from the visitors centre. :silly: 🙁

 

[otherclive]

It’s built away from the visitor Center to move towards having the stones in a more remote setting. The old road that went by the stones was right alongside them and the old Center was again very close. That road has been closed and grassed. The byway that ran from the A303 to the now closed road and old visitor Center has also been closed. It attracted quite a lot of hippy travellers who pitched up for weeks. But it was useful as a short cut on my off roading trips.

There’s a plan to drop the A303 into a tunnel as part of the longer term aim of giving the stones “ more space”.

Yes Carnac does have more stones. But I cannot understand what having a town nearby brings to it. After all the Ancients and their successors were hardly likely to manage their lives fir future caravan visitors. 🙂

To appreciate Stonehenge you need to walk the surrounding area and see Durrington Walls and the avenue up from the river towards Stonehenge. But even then its position has to be considered within the wider context of life in those times. This extends to Avebury, the Ridgeway Path, Woodhenge, Silbury Hill, the West Kennet long barrow, Tuckers Grave and the Uffington White Horse.

Having lived in Wiltshire I’ve walked all of these areas and it’s the extent of the ancient workings that make it so special. I must admit thought that we give Stonehenge a wide berth in anytime except winter unless we have visitors who are desperate to see it. Like Bath far too many tourists.

PS edit. It should be Adams Grave. Tuckers Grave was a pub I used to visit thatcsold delicious rough scrumpy. Hence the error brought back by fond memories, or perhaps failing ones. Problem is even a rough old country pub has gone touristy with a website and Trip Advisor reviews. Worth a visit still

https://www.tuckersgraveinn.co.uk/

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Clive, I mentioned the nearby town as I feel that as a tourist there is so much more to do in the Carnac area than Stonehenge, I agree that if you want to walk in Wiltshire then there is a case for Stonehenge and it's surroundings but for me the French option is so much better, additionally the French are nowhere near as ' precious ' about their stones, last time we went, access was easy and we could walk into the burial chambers.Now if only someone could explain the purpose of the stones?

 

[Craigyoung]

Bloody expensive to get in as well so we just walked around the fences and had a look me being a tight Geordie 😛

 

[ProfJohnL]

I am surprised by some of the comments on this thread, Any of the prehistoric stone circles have mystery, from the philosophic perspective, why were they built, scientifically what were they used form and from the engineering point how did they do it, They generally represent a level of understanding and construction abilities that we find hard to believe they had.

I find it hard to believe that tourist facilities are the basis on which these monuments are judged.

 

[Hutch]

Bloody expensive to get in as well so we just walked around the fences and had a look me being a tight Geordie 😛

A bit like Hadrians wall, try and find some of it.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hello Prof
You make an interesting point ref the stone circles although my post was about the comparison of Carnac with Stonehenge in the magazine,which was focussed on touring in the UK as opposed to Europe, so I think it is pertinent to consider the area in general from the tourist point of view. I should also make the point that Stonehenge as we see it today is the result of rebuilding and alteration since 1901, and during hot summers the concrete under the stones can be seen, as the turf shrinks back. The painting by Constable in 1835 shows a completely different image of the stones,which is nothing like we see them nowadays. the other stone circle nearby at Avebury was rebuilt in the 1920s so neither of these 'prehistoric attractions' can be considered authentic in my view, although the heritage industry will not let the truth get in the way of their chosen narrative.

 

[Brasso530]

Personally I thought Stonehenge was a good afternoon out,very informative visitor centre.We had English heritage for a year as we had several trips planned near their sites,so over the year was well worth it.If you ask my kids what they thought about it,reply would be"is this it!!!its just a pile of stones!!!" The youth of today eh.

 

[Thingy]

I have visited Stonehenge fairly recently and the sheer mass of visitors meant we couldnt get a feel for the place. And yes, very expensive.

Also having been lucky enough to visit Orkney and seen the Stones and Ness of Brodgar, Maes Howe, Tomb of the Eagles and Skara Brae, Stonehenge as a visitor attraction is a poor second. Thete also now seems to be strong evidence that Orkney was very much the centre of that world and predates Stonehenge by some way.

 

[Hutch]

I have visited Stonehenge fairly recently and the sheer mass of visitors meant we couldnt get a feel for the place. And yes, very expensive.

Also having been lucky enough to visit Orkney and seen the Stones and Ness of Brosgar, Maes Howe, Tomb of the Eagles and Skara Brae, Stonehenge as a visitor attraction is a poor second. Thete also now seems to be strong evidence that Orkney was very much the centre of that world and predates Stonehenge by some way.

There has been a new Tomb found in Egypt that has significance status to Women, The Sarcophagus, is coated in Cocoa powder and covered in crushed Hazel nuts that came from the UK, Its the tomb of Phaero Rohshas. :woohoo:

 

[Craigyoung]

I have visited Stonehenge fairly recently and the sheer mass of visitors meant we couldnt get a feel for the place. And yes, very expensive.

Also having been lucky enough to visit Orkney and seen the Stones and Ness of Brosgar, Maes Howe, Tomb of the Eagles and Skara Brae, Stonehenge as a visitor attraction is a poor second. Thete also now seems to be strong evidence that Orkney was very much the centre of that world and predates Stonehenge by some way.

There has been a new Tomb found in Egypt that has significance status to Women, The Sarcophagus, is coated in Cocoa powder and covered in crushed Hazel nuts that came from the UK, Its the tomb of Phaero Rohshas. :woohoo:

Get lost daft person !! :lol:

 

[Hutch]

I have visited Stonehenge fairly recently and the sheer mass of visitors meant we couldnt get a feel for the place. And yes, very expensive.

Also having been lucky enough to visit Orkney and seen the Stones and Ness of Brosgar, Maes Howe, Tomb of the Eagles and Skara Brae, Stonehenge as a visitor attraction is a poor second. Thete also now seems to be strong evidence that Orkney was very much the centre of that world and predates Stonehenge by some way.

There has been a new Tomb found in Egypt that has significance status to Women, The Sarcophagus, is coated in Cocoa powder and covered in crushed Hazel nuts that came from the UK, Its the tomb of Phaero Rohshas. :woohoo:

Get lost daft person !! :lol:

Craig I often do. 😱hmy:

 

[Hutch]

We were away one week near the Hook Norton Brewery, and ended up at the Rollright stones
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/rollright-stones/?utm_source=Google%20Business&utm_campaign=Local%20Listings&utm_medium=Google%20Business%20Profiles&utm_content=rollright%20stones&utm_source=Google%20Business&utm_campaign=Local%20Listings&utm_medium=Google%20Business%20Profiles&utm_content=rollright%20stones the whispering Knights stones, https://www.whisperingknights.org
whilst there was a full blown "Event" going on. Interesting

 

[RayS]

The proposal for a tunnel on A303 near Stonehenge has been kicking about for many many years and until the last bout has been totally ludicrous. It provided 4 lanes in the tunnel connecting to 4 lane to the east but then going down to two lane through the village to the west. Even now there is 'debate about the best route. Te concept is to return the landscape to as near as possible hwhat it is thought to have looked like when stones were placed. Whether or not this included prehistoric mobile phone mast, pig arks, army installations etc. ha not been made clear.

One thing the henge and Carnac stones (and those at Avebury have in common is the same basic measurement unit. This according to a Professor Thom who postulated a megalithic yard of around 39" as the basis of all the spacing's. Thiss theory was further developed and proposed this unit as the basis of many modern measurement including the metre. It also transpires that a pendulum of this length ha a period of as close to ones second as makes no odds - at least until recently. The cube of this length gives a cubic metre and hence the appropriate number of kilograms if filled with water.
It was claimed that other stone circles in the Middle East alo conformed to analysis showing this same basic unit..
It's a while since I studied this so I may have got some details a little wrong. The book ' Civilisation One' by Knight and Butler covers most of itand is a good if nerdish read.

 

[Gafferbill]

The proposal for a tunnel on A303 near Stonehenge has been kicking about for many many years and until the last bout has been totally ludicrous. It provided 4 lanes in the tunnel connecting to 4 lane to the east but then going down to two lane through the village to the west. Even now there is 'debate about the best route. Te concept is to return the landscape to as near as possible hwhat it is thought to have looked like when stones were placed. Whether or not this included prehistoric mobile phone mast, pig arks, army installations etc. ha not been made clear.

.

........the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down road improvement scheme is due to commence in 2021 and is a massive piece of road infrastructure.
It involves hiding a new dual carriageway in a tunnel where it passes the stones as well as a dual carriageway bypass for Winterbourne Stoke.
There will be several green bridges...new junctions and flyovers along the route.

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