I pass this ancient monument every time I visit my Mum.....it is so close to the dreaded A303 that you get used to seeing it.......caught as it is between two major road junctions......it looks somehow insignificant.....a disappointment viewed from the comfy seat of you car.
Walking around it is also sadly a bit of an anticlimax......you come to it through a rather '60's underpass with strip lighting and unimaginative murals on the concrete....and you are then shepherded round the circle on a tarmac pavement....on entry you are given a handset which explains the different points you pass.....
( i have a problem with things like this.....the rebel....i don't like being told to listen to things!!!)....
however, I did listen to it and yes it did tell me a few things I didn't know but it was a juggling act with the camera as well....trying to stay out of peoples way as they took the obligatory photo of themselves against the stones.....
.and I couldn't help feeling that we were all just a band of sheep...handsets to our ears..going through the motions......not really feeling it.....
We went that day because someone staying with me over the bank holiday really wanted to go and we all enjoyed it but that morning as I walked The Lodger and the sun was just rising I thought ..this is when we should be at Stonehenge..to see it as the sun appears...clocking the days through the stones..to feel a tiny bit of the mystery and awe of a truly mysterious place.....
...but it didn't open 'til 9.30!!!!English Heritage..maybe one day a week you could open this wonderful site at sunrise???
The starlings made us all laugh at their chattering.....
The starlings made us all laugh at their chattering.....
2 comments:
kay i remember my visit to stonhenge being marred by the walkthorugh underpass. mercifully there were no headsets!!! i share your rebellious feelings. i want to be in and around those stones. i'll keep my hands to myself if i'm told but it's the experiencing of the sun, the moon, the transits, the point of the entire piece that i'm there for. there are similar instances of this all over the world and i am sure that like me you "get" why they're so protected. it's a bit of a shame though. thanks for the pics!!!! steven
I really do 'get' why these places are protected and i'm sure all those children ( and some adults)there would have loved clambering all over !!! Like you say its a shame..if you go a few miles to Avebury you can walk and touch and they are still standing?? But really its not the fact that you can't get to the stones its the fact that the people in charge are not doing their best for the site...they have spoiled it by planning or more to the point Not planning how to make this world reknowned place the best it can be. I'll shut up now!!
Post a Comment