Trethevy Quoit in danger

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VBB Mar 2, 2013 20:05:50
Replying to Sanctuary

Sanctuary wrote:
VBB wrote:
nigelswift wrote:
I must say,it's hard to think there isn't a danger of the capstone sliding off when you see this picture from 11 years ago http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11/trethevy_quoit.html#images
(the last one in the last line but one, posted by phil).
I can only presume the EH engineers have calculated that friction will keep it in place.

So far as the other movement is concerned, have you been able to replicate any of the early pictures on TMA in order to show a change?

A word of caution - a desk based assessment of historic images by people that actually knew the Avebury stones very well suggested the Cove stones might fall, but when they spent a packet on engineering kit and scaffolding and excavated below, the stone giving rise to concern was found to be roughly 7x4.5x1.5m with 3m of it under the ground and estimated at 100 tonnes - one of the largest in Britain and it wasn’t likely going anywhere…
I don't know if that is strictly true VBB as leaning massively heavy stones do continue to move albeit very slowly. If it wasn't going to then that further suggests it was always like that...which it wasn't was it?

Anyway, that apart, we could have got a couple of spades out and dug down the side of one of the ends without putting the stone at risk at all of falling and told them how deep it was. We could have made a few bob out of that while saving them a few grand as well :-)
Mind you it would have taken us an age with the RL just over the road!!

LOL! The thought of you and me with buckets and spades Roy, we sat at the table outside the Red Lion and couldn't manage a pint between us!

I mentioned the Cove stone in the context of desk based assessments using photographs, my point being that things are not as they may seem particularly if you come it from the restoration angle (no pun intended - honest!).

I have to say looking down in that hole and seeing how big that stone actually revealed itself to be was awsome. That was some feat to get that upright. If I were there and it had slipped in I wouldn't be giving a toss what angle it was at as I would be pooped along with everyone else.

S Sanctuary
Sanctuary Mar 2, 2013 20:10:01
Replying to VBB

VBB wrote:
Sanctuary wrote:
VBB wrote:
nigelswift wrote:
I must say,it's hard to think there isn't a danger of the capstone sliding off when you see this picture from 11 years ago http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/11/trethevy_quoit.html#images
(the last one in the last line but one, posted by phil).
I can only presume the EH engineers have calculated that friction will keep it in place.

So far as the other movement is concerned, have you been able to replicate any of the early pictures on TMA in order to show a change?

A word of caution - a desk based assessment of historic images by people that actually knew the Avebury stones very well suggested the Cove stones might fall, but when they spent a packet on engineering kit and scaffolding and excavated below, the stone giving rise to concern was found to be roughly 7x4.5x1.5m with 3m of it under the ground and estimated at 100 tonnes - one of the largest in Britain and it wasn’t likely going anywhere…
I don't know if that is strictly true VBB as leaning massively heavy stones do continue to move albeit very slowly. If it wasn't going to then that further suggests it was always like that...which it wasn't was it?

Anyway, that apart, we could have got a couple of spades out and dug down the side of one of the ends without putting the stone at risk at all of falling and told them how deep it was. We could have made a few bob out of that while saving them a few grand as well :-)
Mind you it would have taken us an age with the RL just over the road!!

LOL! The thought of you and me with buckets and spades Roy, we sat at the table outside the Red Lion and couldn't manage a pint between us!

I mentioned the Cove stone in the context of desk based assessments using photographs, my point being that things are not as they may seem particularly if you come it from the restoration angle (no pun intended - honest!).

I have to say looking down in that hole and seeing how big that stone actually revealed itself to be was awsome. That was some feat to get that upright. If I were there and it had slipped in I wouldn't be giving a toss what angle it was at as I would be pooped along with everyone else.

I'd like to see them drag that bugger along on rollers from the Downs especially as they wouldn't have had such fine specimens of manhood as us to help them :-)