Month: August 2024

The Avebury Stones

Sunday 21 July 2024 – Avebury

I’ve a loose interest in standing stones and the other ancient sites that are scattered all over the UK. The standing stones are easier to be fascinated in than say, Iron Age forts, as there is actually something to see, and in the case of Avebury, and unlike Stonehenge, something you can touch as well.

DSCF3728

DSCF3727

As I mentioned in the Stonehenge post I love it that even with all our modern smarts we don’t fully understand what the stones were for and why they are where they are. Just this week it was revealed that the huge alter stone in Stonehenge actually came from 500 miles away in the north east of Scotland (I will walk 500 miles etc, etc) rather than from the far closer, but still a long way, Welsh coast, as had been previously thought.

These stones have been here for 5000 years, why then are they still so mysterious? It’s that mystery that attracts me and many thousands of others to these places. When facts are missing, myths fill the gaps, and where myths exists there is room for all sorts of weird, wonderful and often magical stories. I mean, I even posted a piece of weird fiction I wrote back in June 2021 – The Barrow. While this is not set around standing stones it is set close to here, and barrows are very much a feature of this landscape. Sadly, due to the unsupportive nature of the map I was using in the rental car I didn’t make it to any of the barrows.

DSCF3729

DSCF3726

Unlike Stonehenge, Avebury is free to access, though the official car park is not cheap and is definitely aimed at people like me who haven’t done a huge amount of research. There are other places to park not too far away if you know where to go.

PXL_20240721_095308123.RAW-01.COVER

Firstly I should describe what a henge is, as it has nothing to do with stones. A henge is a circular or oval enclosure made of earth banks and ditches. A henge encloses a sacred space and they date back to the Neolithic period; from 4000 – 5000 years ago.

DSCF3740

Avebury is the largest known henge in Britain, and it cuts through the small and gentile village of the same name. I liked it. I liked it because though it’s a sacred site and one of international importance, and a key component of the local economy, there are sheep wandering around the stones. The area is treated with reverence and respect, but also practically and likely as it would have been thousands of years ago.

DSCF3719

DSCF3720

DSCF3722

As you can see from this short film made by Derek Jarman in 1971 as he walked towards the circles a large number of the stones were still lying where they had fallen over the hundreds of years since they were first erected. A programme to re-erect the stones began in 1931 when the land was bought by Alexander Keiler, the heir to the Keiler marmalade fortune.

DSCF3725

DSCF3739

DSCF3724

It is quite a special place to visit.

Glastonbury town

Saturday 20 July 2024 – Glastonbury

Glastonbury is a weird town, and yes it is a town, not just some middleclass version of a music festival. It’s an old town, a very old town, with ties back to King Arthur and the weird and magical time he lived in, and then even back further than that. It is very pre-Christian and pagan and attracts a lot of interest from local and overseas visitors who want to walk this ancient and spiritual land, and then buy the book, a t-shirt, some beads and maybe a cup.

With this in mind driving into the town is a bit disconcerting as there a lot of 60s and 70s housing estates. It’s a weird town but very typical of these large rural towns with no train connection to anywhere else. It feels isolated in so many ways. I’m not sure I liked it, though I didn’t dislike it. Not all the town was that modern, there are some very old parts and some lovely and not so lovely buildings.

PXL_20240720_092922516

PXL_20240720_093158801

It’s very hippy and woo-woo and other than a small CO-OP supermarket all the other shops around the high street sell ‘hippy shit’ or do soul readings or some such thing. You can tell I’m a cynic, but each to their own. I’m learning to be a better person. There was an old Stik street-art work that hadn’t been vandalised which was cool.

PXL_20240720_074543288

PXL_20240720_075106056

PXL_20240720_074410587.MP

I’m here Wrong Speed Fest, for a small music festival of bands associated with the Wrong Speed Records label, it’s taking place in the back room of the King Arthur pub, which turned out to be a five minute walk from where I’m staying on Friday and Saturday night. I may post some photos from the gig, I certainly took enough. I’ve shared a bunch on my Instagram if you are interested.

PXL_20240719_180122575

The show didn’t start until 1:00 pm on Saturday so I used the time to visit the highlights of the town; namely the world-famous Tor and an abbey ruin. I was up early but had to wait until 9:00 to get breakfast, though the chips were some of the best I’ve ever had and were well worth the wait.

The Tor (a high craggy hill) is about a kilometre from town and from the direction I approached it, pretty much straight up. It was quite warm and humid under the cloud but significantly cooler than yesterday, thankfully. That was brutal.

DSCF3434

DSCF3436

It’s said that deep beneath Glastonbury Tor lies a cave that is the entrance into the fairy realm, I’m not 100% sure I believe that, but I’m sure some who come here do. Today I was more interested in what was on top of the hill. The 14th century tower is all the remains of the Church of St Michael which collapsed in an earthquake. The tower has a grisly past with the last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey being hung, drawn and quartered here in 1539 when Thomas Cromwell, under the orders of King Henry VIII, suppressed and destroyed all the monasteries and abbeys in England.

DSCF3443

The view over Somerset was lovely.

DSCF3440

It’s a popular spot and there were a lot of people walking up as I walked back down a much easier path.

DSCF3447

I’m a sucker for a ruined abbey, or a ruined anything to be fair, and Glastonbury has a very good ruined abbey; thanks to that suppression of the monasteries back in 1539.

DSCF3462

The abbey was founded in the 8th century and enlarged in the 10th. It was destroyed by a major fire in 1184, but subsequently rebuilt and by the 14th century was one of the richest and most powerful monasteries in England.

DSCF3475

DSCF3471

DSCF3480

Renovations after the great fire of 1184 to a grave being discovered that local people said was that of the famous King Arthur and his wife Queen Guinevere. No-one dispelled the rumour and though it has never been proven it’s a good story and one that improved the popularity of the abbey from then until now. It was getting quite busy as I left, as was the whole of Glastonbury town.

DSCF3468

I loved the abbey and spent a good hour wandering around and touching the old stones. Every ancient site I visit I’m in awe of the craftsmanship and skill of the people who designed and built these magnificent buildings with the most rudimentary of tools and technology.

DSCF3459

DSCF3454

DSCF3484

DSCF3467

I’m glad I came to Glastonbury, I’ve been wanting to visit for a while, but I’m not sure if I want to come back. I didn’t find it an especially welcoming place, though as I said above I’m cynical of all the spiritual stuff that has taken over the town, so maybe my body language made people not welcoming, anyway the gig was friendly and welcoming which was the main thing and overall I had a good time.

Stonehenge

Friday 19 July 2024 – Stonehenge

Other than the odd trip to my flat before I rented it in April 2023 (Thanks to Tory Prime Minister Liz Truss fucking up the UK economy and therefore my mortgage repayments) this is the first time I’ve been away for a solo weekend since Covid. I think. If only I had blog I could look back on.

I’m on my way to Glastonbury for a music festival, but not ‘Glasto’ if you know what I mean, I couldn’t imagine anything worse. I’m here for Wrong Speed Record Fest; a small local record label that releases records by some of the noisy psychedelic rock bands that I like. I’m fairly certain I will do a post of band photos, but will see how they work out. I’ve not used the Fuji camera at a gig before.

I’ve hired a car for this trip so have taken the opportunity to stop at Stonehenge on the way. I’ve driven past it a few a times but have never stopped, though I’ve been meaning too. Entry is not cheap, but it’s one of those places you almost HAVE to see at some stage in your life.

It’s brutally hot, when I arrived at Stonehenge the temperature gauge on the almost new car I’m driving tells me it is 34 degrees. The hottest day of the year so far and I’m not really prepared for it.

It’s a good test though. I’m planning on spending a few days in India early next year on the way back to New Zealand to see family and friends. I’ve kind of forgotten how to travel, be on my own and enjoy the moment. I’m too used to being around Eleanor all the time and I really need to break that habit before I spend 10-14 days in India by myself. I don’t want to mope my way around.

Today was also a good test of walking a couple of kilometres in brutal heat, under a strong sun with almost no shade to see a world renowned ancient ruin. Something I plan to do a lot of India and exactly what I did when I travelled all those years ago. The walk to Stonehenge from the entry gate was just like many of those  I did in SE Asia, though it’s far less humid than those walks were.

The car park was almost full and there were quite a few tour buses as well, I had visions of there being thousands of people around the site, but it wasn’t really like that. Once through the gate, I’d wisely pre-booked so avoided the big day ticket queue, you can either walk or catch a free bus to the stones, which are about a kilometre away. Like many others I chose to walk rather queue for the limited number of spaces on the buses. It was a pretty dull, though very hot, walk alongside the private road the buses use. It does spread the visitors out though, which I guess is the intent.

DSCF3213

DSCF3212

Visitors are separated from the stones by a few yards and a small knee high rope, this prevents people from touching and damaging the stones as well as affording everyone a decent view. It worked well; but… one idiot jumped the fence and went running towards the stones. She was stopped by a security guard and a yelling match ensued, apparently God had told her it was her right to be able to touch the stones. The security staff were unbelievers and they were still at it when I left  the site 30 minutes later.

DSCF3214

The stones are impressive; they have been standing for potentially 5000 years and we really don’t know exactly what they were for or symbolised. I really like that there is still some mystery to these ancient places. Mysteries leave space for myth and legend and weird stories to bloom. It is my view that these are as important as anything else in recording and understanding our history. Not everything needs to be certain.

DSCF3216

DSCF3220

DSCF3224

DSCF3222

DSCF3225

Once I’d circuited the stones I walked back to the café via a path through the fields and under a small grove of trees. I’d seen a small number of people using this path on the way in and it was much nicer than walking on the baking tarmac.

DSCF3228

Back at the café I bought myself a cold drink and took a seat in the shade to cool down before heading back on the road for the hour long drive to my final destination, Glastonbury.

It’s absolutely worth visiting Stonehenge, as I said at the start it’s a ‘must see’ if you’re visiting southern England.