Stonehenge Stone Circle View all content for Stonehenge (323 posts)

Well my excursion to Stonehenge this morning (1st December) went very well. In spite of the weekends weather, Monday morning was turning out to be a fine if not very cold, day. My son and I had arranged a early 'Out of Hours' visit to the much maligned monument about a month ago. It was quite easy to do and involved an email or two, a quick phone call to reserve the day we wanted and then faxing an application form over to EH. We arrived about 15 minutes early and was met by a security guard whom on this occasion was very polite, friendly and helpful. He gave us a quick 'do's and don'ts' brief and we waited for every body to turn up. Until everybody was together we couldn't go in but that gave me an opportunity to take a couple of pic's as the sun was rising through the early morning cloud. The sun was just breaking the horizon and although it wasn't a spectacular event it was pleasant enough. Eventually we were allowed in and we made our way to the circle. It is easy to see why people are disappointed when they arrive. The stones look small and unimpressive from outside the roped off area. I took a couple of shots of the the sun poking through the uprights which was quite effective and then stepped into the cordoned off area. Its funny really as I felt I shouldn't be do what we were doing. The feeling of awkwardness and the inadequacies of the stones melted away rapidly as I stepped over the rope and approach the circle. Everything gets so much bigger and more impressive the closer you get. Eventually standing by the side of these stones you realise their enormity and the enormity of the task in hand for the ancient people who built this now very impressive structure. The 'rocks' are BIG and there are so many crammed in such a small area that everything bears down upon you. I sent my son off with the video camera while I took some shots with the DSLR. Before the visit I had done a little planning on what I was going to do but like every visit I make to such places, the excitement takes over and common sense is abandoned completely. The light was good and the sun was casting a nice warm glow onto the stones. Also t this point the circle was still relatively empty so I snapped away as quick as I could to take advantage of the situation. Eventually the circle filled up as the other early visitors arrived and it became difficult to get good clean shots. My eagerness to take pictures waned and I began to wander through the stones taking in what I could. The green mosses and lichens on the stones gave them an aged appearance. The black rooks (I assume they were rooks) fighting for position high up on one of the trilithons. Both the smooth and gnarled uprights pitted with deep holes. I think I lost myself for a while here just looking, thinking and sometimes feeling and the nearby traffic noise now drowned out by my own mind. With about 20 minutes left most people had now left. I guess it was the cold. The stones were almost empty again with maybe on 10 of us left giving me another opportunity to get some more relaxed photos taken. I must admit I have changed my mind about Stonehenge. Before my visit it was a ghastly tourist trap, that you could only get a few distant snap shots of as you jostled with the masses by the boundary rope. But it does have a soul and also something to say. "Visit me on a cold clear winter morning. Wander among my bones and muscles and wonder how. Drift through time with me to an innocent age and marvel at what you see". If you haven't already tried an out of hours access visit then I strongly recommend it. To me it was worth every penny and really has changed my view of Stonehenge. :o) Scubes

Posted by scubi63 4th December 2008ce

Comments (1)
Thanks for that Scubes - you paint a truthful picture. Was there earlier this year, though not in an out-of-hours visit. Sat by the fence for twenty minutes or so... guess we're accustomed to seeing big buildings so Stonehenge might come across as 'smallish'. Then you sit and think for a while... stones dragged there from miles away and erected in such an ordered form - millennia ago. Sinks into you that does, given a bit of time. Don't need the guidebooks or the audio guides - just a question of sitting there a while and imagining...	Posted by Littlestone 7th December 2008ce
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