Showing 1-50 of 150 posts. Most recent first | Next 50 
Stonehenge Visitors Centre to go ahead – but not till AFTER the Olympics?!!
"According to the Salisbury Journal the project might go ahead – but not till 2013.
"The newspaper says that on Thursday English Heritage project development manager Martin Harvey updated councillors and members of the public on progress made and quotes him as saying "If all goes well with the remainder of this year, we believe we can still start work on the site in 2012 and open for business the following year.""
More here -
http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2010/09/06/stonehenge-visitors-centre-to-go-ahead-but-not-till-after-the-olympics/
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Ridgeway: Barriers keep crime at bay
"BARRIERS installed along Britain's oldest road have helped cut poaching and hare-coursing, according to police.
"Oxfordshire County Council installed the temporary barriers between Hill Road, Lewknor and Hill Road, Watlington, on the Ridegway National Trail. And they have already seen results with a drop in crime. The blocks were fitted in April to stop poachers, harecoursers and deer stalkers in cars accessing the track, known as the Icknield Way, and to stop thieves driving to isolated farm buildings.
"The pre-historic Ridgeway track runs from Avebury, Wiltshire, to Ivinghoe near Dunstable, across South Oxfordshire."
More here - http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/8356258.Barriers_keep_crime_off_the_Ridgeway/
See also - http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/avebury-is-not-dudley/
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Field trip to archaeological excavation near the Monument
Field trip to the English Heritage archaeological excavation near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire and the Alexander Keiller Museum, Avebury.
Wednesday 1 September 2010.
10.30am - 4pm.
"The Icon Archaeological Group field trip will be visiting a research excavation being undertaken by the Archaeological Projects team at English Heritage. The excavation is evaluation the recently revealed Romano-British settlement located in the fields surrounding Silbury Hill. The day will include a guided tour of the excavation by the project manager as well as the opportunity to hear about the recent Silbury Hill conservation project.
"In the afternoon the field trip will move on to the site of Avebury and a guided tour of the Alexander Keiller Museum.
"A buffet lunch will be provided at the Red Lion Pub, Avebury."
More here - http://www.icon.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1284&Itemid=16
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"Included in the 3,500 records of items in the collections of Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes recently uploaded to the www.wiltshireheritagecollections.org.uk/ website, are records for the artefacts found at the 1969 excavation of Marden Henge, currently being excavated by English Heritage.
"The prehistoric site at Marden is 8 miles south east of Devizes and halfway between Avebury and Stonehenge. It is the largest henge monument in Britain, enclosing an area of around 14 hectares with its enormous bank and ditch. English Heritage's current excavations at Marden have resulted in more new and important discoveries being made, including the floor of a prehistoric rectangular building, estimated to be some 4,500 years old!"
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Three films on Silbury, including the BBC 2 Chronicle Series, Silbury Dig: The Heart of the Mound. First Broadcast on 27 July 1968.
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Visit to excavations at Marden Henge
Outing to excavations at Marden Henge. 13:45 on Thursday, 29 July 2010.
Venue:
13:00 - Optional lunch at The Triple Crown.
13:45 - Meet up for visit in Car Park.
14:00 - On site.
Visit will last approximately one and a half hours. Booking is essential as numbers are limited to 25.
More here -
http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=542&prev=1
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Off road bikers wrecking North Wales beauty and heritage spots:
"A campaign has been launched to crack down on illegal off-road bikers who are wrecking North Wales heritage sites.
"Moel y Gaer hillfort is just one of a number of historic locations across North Wales under siege from bikers and 4x4s carving up the countryside."
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Moving Stone through the Ages
Moving Stone through the Ages: Carl Wark Hillfort and the Burbage Quarries.
"A walk taking in quarries, iron smelting a prehistoric cainfield and the enigmatic Carl Wark Hillfort."
Wednesday, 21 July. 10:30-16:00. Meet at the pay and display car park, west of Upper Burbage Ridge. Up-to-date information on 01626 816200.
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Men-an-Tol, Men Scryfa, and the Nine Maidens
An introduction to the three monuments of Men-an-Tol, Men Scryfa, and the Nine Maidens by guide Adrian Rodda on Thursday, 22 July.
Meet at the car park at 11:00 and follow the signs to the monuments.
Organised by the Cornwall Archaeological Society. Up-to-date information on 01872 572725.
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Walk: Barbury Castle and the Ridgeway
"A guided tour around Barbury Castle and along the Ridgeway to Hackpen Hill White Horse to discover some of the archeology of the Marlborough Downs."
Meet at Barbury Castle on Saturday, 31 July at 14:00 (walk lasts until approx. 17:00). Up-to-date info from Wiltshire Council on 01249 705504.
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Avebury: A Journey of Discovery
National Trust experts will, "…lead you on a half-day journey of discovery through this very special landscape."
Meet outside the Barn Gallery on Tuesday, 20 July and Thursday, 22 July 2010 at 10:00.
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Meet the Experts at Avebury
Participate in an introductory tour, organised by the National Trust, of the Avebury stone circle and handle finds with archaeologist Nick Snashnall and Alexander Keiller Museum curator Ros Cleal on Sunday, 25 July and Sunday, 1 August 2010.
Meet outside the Barn Gallery at 13:00 on the 25 July and at 15:00 on the 1 August.
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unearthed
Exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts
22 June - 29 August 2010.
Venue: Lower Gallery, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
"This exhibition brings together prehistoric ceramic figurines from Japan and the Balkans for the first time. Over 100 figurines from Albania, Macedonia, Japan, Romania and the UK will be on display. These will include ornate Jōmon figurines (know as dogū) from the Robert and Lisa Sainsbury Collection."
More here - http://www.sainsbury-institute.org/
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Events this month
"June 5th - Morris dancing at the Stones at aprox. 12.00 noon. 1st Sedley Morris Men meet Ewell St Mary's Morris Men, for a dance-in in the stone circle.
"June 20th - Summer Solstice ceremony. The Cotswold Order of Druids will be hosting an open ceremony and celebration on Sunday 20th June at 3.00 pm. Everyone is welcome."
More here - http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/index.php/events/
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Bump (next Saturday).
Researching Stonehenge & Avebury
10:00 am, Saturday, 22 May, 2010
A joint research seminar organised by the Prehistoric Society and the Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society in association with the Avebury Archaeological and Historical Research Group.
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Prehistoric Geography
One for the diary as this is some time off -
Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Land use in the Solent Drainage System. An illustrated lecture by David Field, to be held at the Wiltshire Heritage Museum in Devizes from 2:30pm on Saturday, 20 November 2010.
"The River Avon and its tributaries drain a substantial portion of central southern England and has widely influenced activities within and beyond its catchment area. Using evidence provided by artefact distribution coupled with the location of archaeological monuments across the landscape, David Field will place the archaeological evidence from Wiltshire into a broader context and introduce new perspectives of the well-known Neolithic and Bronze Age material."
More here - http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=529&prev=1
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On Flowergate (road) in Whitby, north-east Yorkshire, is the famous stone Wishing Chair. It's not clear that the Wishing Chair is originally from a megalithic structure but, as British History Online* records, "The monoliths which exist in the parish possibly mark ancient British interments… North of the lane from Whitby Lathes to Stainsacre a stone 1 ft. square and 4 ft. high stood in Robin Hood Closes in 1816, while south of the lane, in Little John Closes… was a second pillar 2½ ft. high." so there is a possible connection between the Wishing Chair and a megalithic site. The Wishing Chair is now to be found outside the Little Angel pub in Flowergate road. British History Online again records that, "A diligence commenced in 1788 to run twice a week from the 'Turk's Head' and 'White Horse and Griffin' at Whitby to York and another to Scarborough began in 1793. The mail-coach started in 1795 and ran three times a week. A Sunderland coach commenced in 1796. All the coaches ran from the Angel Inn…" The Wishing Chair now has steps cut into it and was perhaps used to assist passengers in and out of their carriage, or riders on and off their horses.
* Taken from: 'Parishes: Whitby', A History of the County of York North Riding: Volume 2 (1923), pp. 506-528. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=64701
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London Stone: Making a Myth
Lecture. Museum of London, Tuesday, 13 April. 6.30-8pm. Free.
"John Clark has recently retired from a long and distinguished career as Senior Curator (Medieval) at the Museum of London. In this talk he investigates the strange history of London Stone, the mysterious block of limestone that currently sits, ignored by passers-by, in an alcove in the wall of a building opposite Cannon Street Station."
More here - http://heritageaction.wordpress.com/2010/03/17/london-stone-making-a-myth-3/
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Avebury - megaliths & myths
"A lecture at the University of Bath will explore the theories and myths surrounding Avebury stone circle.
"In the lecture on Wednesday 24 February, Roger Vlitos will give an illustrated lecture that compares and contrasts the beliefs of those who manage the site, with others who claim it as their traditional shrine."
More here - http://www.bath.ac.uk/news/2010/02/15/pl-avebury/
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CABE hits out at plans for the proposed £20m visitor centre
"Its footpaths are "tortuous", the roof likely to "channel wind and rain" and its myriad columns – meant to evoke a forest – are incongruous with the vast landscape surrounding it."
"So says the government's design watchdog over plans for a controversial £20m visitor centre at Stonehenge, the megalithic jewel in England's cultural crown. CABE, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, has criticised the design of the proposed centre, claiming the futuristic building by Denton Corker Marshall does little to enhance the 5,000-year-old standing stones which attract more than 800,000 visitors each year."
More here – http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/feb/07/stonehenge-city-garden-visitor-centre
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Stonehenge surrounded by two circular hedges?
A survey of the Stonehenge landscape suggests the monument was surrounded by two circular hedges.
Writing in the Guardian yesterday, Maeve Kennedy reports on the startling evidence of a Great Stonehenge Hedge. "Inevitably dubbed Stonehedge, the evidence from a new survey of the Stonehenge landscape suggests that 4,000 years ago the world's most famous prehistoric monument was surrounded by two circular hedges, planted on low concentric banks."
More here - http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/feb/04/stonehenge-hedge-discovery
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Bremore, Slane, Tara: How can we know the Dancer from the Dance?
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Evening Walks within the Stones
"Inspect and photograph (for non-commercial purposes only) the stones closely, and see the inscriptions, including the famous 'daggers' believed to date from prehistoric times and wander at will inside the circle..."
Walks will be led by David Dawson and will take place on -
10 June - 8.45pm to 9.45pm
14 June - 8.45pm to 9.45pm
9 July - 7.30pm to 8.30pm
More here - http://www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk/events/index.php?Action=2&thID=500&prev=1
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Wiltshire museums join forces to tell story of Stonehenge
"English Heritage, the Salisbury and South Wiltshire Museum, and the Wiltshire Heritage Museum have agreed to collaborate on presenting and interpreting the story of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site.
"The two museums will make loans from their collections to English Heritage for display in the proposed new visitor centre, while English Heritage will assist the two museums with their own displays and enhancing their archives to support the co-ordinated approach."
More here - http://wiltshireheritagemuseum.blogspot.com/2010/01/wiltshire-museums-join-forces-to-tell.html
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Giants of the Royal Society
Bill Bryson, writing in The Times today, pays homage to (among others) John Lubbock who, "...was a banker by profession, but was in addition a distinguished botanist, astronomer, expert on the social behaviour of insects, politician and antiquarian. Among much else, he coined the terms palaeolithic, mesolithic and neolithic in 1865. But his real contribution to life was to push through Parliament the first Ancient Monuments Protection Act, which became law in 1882. People forget how much of Britain's historic fabric was nearly destroyed in the past. Before Lubbock's intervention, nearly half of Avebury was cleared away for housing, and at one point it was even threatened that Stonehenge, then still in private hands, might be dismantled and shipped to America. Without Lubbock, many stone circles, tumuli and other historical features of the landscape would have vanished long ago.
More here -
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/non-fiction/article6979468.ece
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To Wedge Tombs and the Wild (and William O'Brien)
"The latest issue of Archaeology Ireland has reported the first dating evidence, ever, from a Burren area wedge tomb."
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Archaeology 2010
Archaeology 2010 is a two day conference at the British Museum from the 26-28 February 2010 (the presentation of heritage research awards is on Friday, the 26 February and is free and open to anyone, although reservations are needed).
On Saturday, 27 February The Stonehenge Riverside Project will be discussed. Participants for the session include Dr Mike Parker Pearson, Professor of Archaeology, Sheffield, University and co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. Dr Josh Pollard, Reader in Archaeology, University of Bristol and co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. Dr Julian Thomas, Professor of Archaeology, University of Manchester and co-director of the Stonehenge Riverside Project. The Moderator for the session will be Julian Richards.
More here – http://www.archaeology.co.uk/london-2010/london-2010.htm
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Showing 1-50 of 150 posts. Most recent first | Next 50
Studied art and design at Swindon School of Art, Wiltshire, England and afterwards Japanese painting and calligraphy at Kyoto University of Fine Arts, Kyoto, Japan.
In 1966 I was a lay monk at the Zen Buddhist temple of Ryozen-an in Kyoto and practiced under the guidance of its Director, Ruth Fuller-Sasaki and senior monk Dana R Fraser (co-translator of Layman P'ang: A Ninth Century Zen Classic).
Also present at Ryozen-an was the author and poet Gary Snyder. Gary Snyder was one of the first Westerners in Japan to study Zen Buddhism and was the inspiration for Jack Kerouac's book, The Dharma Bums.
I was assistant conservator (paintings) at Kyoto National Museum from 1969-1980 and Chief Conservator (Eastern Pictorial Art) at the British Museum from 1980-1986. Japan Foundation Fellow 1973-1974 and Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works since 1985.
Interests include ancient history, classical music, comparative religion, the fine arts, poetry and writing.
Home: Chelmsford, Essex ENGLAND
weblogs:
Avebury Matters http://aveburymatters.blogspot.com/
Megalithic Poems http://megalithicpoems.blogspot.com/
Silbury
http://silbury-hill.blogspot.com/
The moral right of the author with regard to text, illustrations and photographs has been asserted.
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