The Ham Nomads

23 Sep 2014. <GB-ENG> Salisbury Plain (Stonehenge), Wilts —

Bizarre! That's the word for it. We woke at 5am, got ourselves moving, and then drove through the dark and fog towards Stonehenge. As we arrived at the site, there were people on the road issuing parking permits for the byway just beside the stone circle. We drove the 2 miles in and found — a motley crowd, parked along the road and then milling excitedly. There were witches and wizards, druids, even a girl dressed as an American Indian! It was dark and foggy, so torchlight and the headlights (and taillights) of the arriving cars provided the only light, with the frequent punctuation of camera flashes going off.

At 6.15 the stones were opened up to the assembled crowd, and we moved in to the inner circle of the stones themselves. The whole ceremony, as ceremony it was, was run by the Druid Uther Pendragon. It was all quite entertaining, to the sound of drums. The skies slowly lightened, but the sun was hidden in the mist. Nevertheless, the proceedings went on. There were invocations for peace, there was chanting, there were naming ceremonies, there was a handfasting ceremony. All to the strangely familiar scent of burning hemp being wafted about the place. Not our neolithic picture of stonehenge, nor even a fully druidic one, but somewhat wiccan. By the way, someone filming around the stones caught your two intrepid trippers in his movie! We also appear in this photo album on Flickr.

But we got to walk amid the stones, for the first time appreciating how truly huge — H-U-U-U-U-G-E — they are! We were able look closely at some of the fallen lintel stones — in one we could see the mortise (the hole) into which the stone tenon would have fitted. We walked, wandered, wondered for about an hour and a half, until the festivities drew to a close and the cold started to penetrate, at which time we returned to the van and left for our layby again (it really was close), until the main carpark opened at 9am.

Susie surveying the Cursus

The Long Barrow

The Cursus from the Long Barrow

We came back to Stonehenge for its general opening at 9.30, but instead of making for the stone circle this time we went over to the Cursus, the 2-mile long structure defined by earthen banks. We walked its length, up to the Long Barrow at the end, and then across King Barrow Ridge, and then back along the Avenue, coming up towards Stonehenge on the ancient processional route. A fascinating walk — about 4 miles of it — which really gives you a feel for the extent of the Stonehenge site. You also get to see the henge from different angles!

The Henge from the Cursus

Approaching the Henge via the Avenue

Vale Stonehenge

We left and went up to Trowbridge for a little Macca's time, then went back to a deep layby we had noticed a couple of miles south.

Distance driven — today, 14 miles ( 23 km ); to date, 7,965 miles ( 12,819 km )