I had the great pleasure today of participating in the trial run of the Henge Hopper. David Dawson, director of the Wiltshire Heritage Museum has obtained funding to run a 'henge hopper' initally for a three month period this summer.

http://www.stonehenge-avebury-bus.org.uk/

I set off from Swindon this morning on the 9.10am 49 bus (Swindon-Devizes-Trowbridge) this arrived almost outside the Wiltshire Heritage Museum at 10am where David Dawson and a small group of people were waiting in the Museum carpark to start the tour. The first part of the tour was to Stonehenge via Marden Henge, the River Avon, Durrington Walls/Woodhenge, Amesbury and Stonehenge. After a break of about half an hour at Stonehenge (one of the group wanted to go into stone circle) the bus took off towards Avebury via the Alton Barnes White Horse, Adam's Grave, Knap Hill, the Lockeridge Sarsen Drift, Overton Round Barrows, the Sanctuary, WKLB, Silbury and of course finishing at Avebury. Then back to Devizes as the ticket cost includes admission to the Wiltshire Heritage Museum. The itinerary will allow for people to leave the bus at various points and be collected later - it is also hoped that two buses will run on the same day to facilitate flexibility.

All in all the tour took approximately three and half hours not including travelling time to Devizes. A great archaeological initiative which I thoroughly enjoyed - I wish the Wiltshire Heritage Museum and all involved in the project all the success it deserves.