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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Where is Phil now? 
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