Stonehenge

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Jay and I have been looking forward to seeing Stonehenge for years. I'd been telling my art appreciation students about the history of the place - there were actually three different versions (formations of stone) in history and a wooden version (Woodhenge) before that. I felt like a bit of a fraud telling people about a place I had never seen.

We now had our chance. The rolling hills of around Stonehenge have so many shades of green. Some of the fields are planted with barley and wheat. Small herds of sheep and horses dot the countryside. The stones looks huge and looming from the road. We followed the sign and pulled into the parking lot. There were tour buses and people standing around, blocking the parking lot.

We waited in line to pay the entrance fee. Across from the ticket booth was the souvenir shop. It was crammed with people buying posters, calendars, and snow globe replicas of Stonehenge. Next to souvenir shop was a food and drink stand. To the right of the food and drink was an ice cream stand. We didn't have to wait long to get our tickets. With the price of admission comes a free audio guide, which I happily took because at the moment I couldn't recall all the facts about Stonehenge which I'd told the students every semester- CRS. We had to go up a ramp lined with murals showing how an artist imagined the human rituals performed at Stonehenge during Neolithic times.

The ring of stones is smaller than it looks in photos - just like movie stars are smaller in real life than they look on screen. I was disappointed that most of the tourists seemed to be there only for a photo opportunity. They didn't even bother to listen to the free audio guides. Jay and I were eagerly listening to the info on the audio tour. I honestly wanted the other people to go away so we could try to imagine what it was like for the Ancient Britons to stand there. I've concluded that no matter how hard I try, it's impossible to really feel how awed the original spectators/participants must have been. I tried how to shut out the chatter around me. Jay is better at ignoring the other tourists - some of whom actually hoped for a spiritual experience.

I once read that "tourism is to a city what prostitution is to love." I am really put off by the commercialism in this place, but the money the British Trust collects for admission helps to preserve the site. I learned from the audio guide that about 40 percent of the original stones are missing. The ones that remain have been chipped on by tourists of years past. It used to be possible to rent a hammer from local blacksmiths to chip on the stones. At least now people are prevented from doing that.
The British Trust is planning to build a tunnel near Stonehenge and move the road to it. When they are finished you won't be able to see paved highways nearby. That will make the area look more like it did originally.

We had just finished the tour when three groups of dancers showed up to perform in front of the stones. You can see a photo of them waiting to perform. One of the tourists who went up to the group to photograph them was wearing a short brown sundress with a ruffled hem. The wind blew her dress up to reveal her bare bottom. Jay saw this first and pointed the woman out to me. I waited behind her with camera in hand, hoping for the wind to catch her skirt again. One of the male dancers noticed saw the first moon shot and sat down on the grass, hoping for a better view the next time it happened. We waited, with no luck. Realizing what was happening, the woman held her dress down and got out of the wind by joining the crowd around the dancers. What a pity. That would have been quite the moment to show on this blog!

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Photos

Stonehenge
The clouds were just the right formation and color to add a little drama

Stonehenge2
The sheep grazing gave the whole scene a timeless, peaceful quality. This is what you expect rural England to look like

Heelstone
This is one of the large stones outside the henge.

Crowds
Here you can see all the crowds that circle the henge.

Dancers
These dancers are waiting to perform in front of the henge. Their costumes were vintage hippy or local colors, not reminiscent of ancient pagan ritual