Kilted at Stonehenge

[Ancienne Alliance]

Thank you for sharing these.


Best,

Robert

[McClef]

That scene in Tess of the D'Urbevilles could never have taken place if English Heritage had been in charge at the time!

[Paul Henry]

I think we shouldn't be too hard on English Heritage, they have tried hard to allow greater access to the stones, the Stones can be seen from the road where the fences are wire so fairly reasonable views are allowed. Once inside the area , the only barrier is a low rope - at a suitable distance of course. Yes it is a shame it isn't completely open to everyone, but protection is also important

[McClef]

You could argue that they would get even greater protection if they were encased in a glass bubble and kept out of the weather (which even English Heritage cannot protect the stones from) and which has much more damaging potential.

The stones have managed pretty well for thousands of years without the assistance of well intentioned but over protectionist bodies such as this. There are many other such ancient sites that still survive despite not being mollycoddled against the visiting public.

Sorry but it's one of those things that gets me going!

[Paul Henry]

Trefor, protecting one's heritage is very important, and EH do a reasonable job, not perfect of course. Your point about the Henge surviving for thousands of years without mollycoddling isn't terribly accurate though, as it's only within the last fifty or so year that the site has had the sheer number of visitors.Any similar important site almost anywhere in world has restricitions on visitors- eg Athens, when I was there the restrictions were more more stringent.

The fact that Freelancer was so very keen to see the Stones and make arrangements to get close to them( not least travelling across the pond) and he was able to do so,speaks volumes at the progress that has been achieved from various official bodies.

[Chas]

I think we shouldn't be too hard on English Heritage, they have tried hard to allow greater access to the stones, the Stones can be seen from the road where the fences are wire so fairly reasonable views are allowed. Once inside the area , the only barrier is a low rope - at a suitable distance of course. Yes it is a shame it isn't completely open to everyone, but protection is also important

I have got to agree with Paul. I was a member of English Heritage for about 10 years. In that time, I often had occasion to question their access policy. Bluntly, the answer came back each time - the public cannot be trusted.

In spite of being told not to, they will -
Climb on the stones;
Get half way and fall and injure themselves;
Get all the way to the top and fall off and injure themselves;
Get all the way to the top and be pushed off by a 'friend' and injure themselves;
Get all the way to the top and think it is 'fun' to urinate on anyone below;
Get all the way to the top and strip naked to commune with nature;
Get all the way to the top with a person of the opposite gender for some procreation;
Get all the way to the top, freeze with terror and then have to be rescued by the emergency services;
Finally there are those that want to take souvenirs, like bits of the Berlin Wall.

It is a really hard job they've got - I wouldn't want to make the decisions.

Regards

Chas

[Bugbear]

Well, Chas... I do think that the archeologists have concluded there were ceremonies conducted at Stonehenge several thousand years ago...

[sydnie7]

I thoroughly agree on the need to protect many type of heritage sites from the ever-increasing mass of visitors, not all of whom understand the "take only pictures, leave only footprints" concept. And some sites, like Stonehenge, need protection even from footprints. I didn't know about the limited-access tours and think that is a thoughtful compromise between protection and access. On my visit, the site was thick with busloads of school-age kids, most of whom were paying zero attention to the stones. Just wish I had known about this opportunity.

Ah well, there's always the next lotto ticket

[Jack Daw]

Great pictures! I'd hate to have to mow around there, though.

[GMan]

Those are awesome!